National Telecommunications and Information Administration: Difference between revisions

During a session hosted by Darrell West and the Brookings Institution on principles of Internet Governance, NTIA Assistant Secretary Larry Strickling strongly pointed out the importance of supporting the multistakeholder model in internet governance to maintain a free and open internet and its continuous growth.  

He said that despite the call of some entities for a unilateral action by the U.S. government to overturn the decision of ICANN to implement the new gTLD expansion program, NTIA did not give in. According to him, the multistakeholder process which was applied by the global internet stakeholders in developing the policies to implement the program should be respected even if others do not accept. He emphasized that he is aware of the concerns raised by the critics of the new gTLD program and responded by encouraging ICANN to resolve all the issues and recommended some specific actions to improve the program including additional protection protection mechanisms for new gTLDs, implementation of a stronger Registrar Accreditation Agreement ([[RAA]]) etc. He said, "What I did not do was the demand that ICANN abandon its multistakeholder processes to deal with these concerns." Furthermore, he said that challenging ICANN's multistakeholder process will mean providing "ammunition" to other countries who are actively advocating for an internet controlled by governments." Moreover, Strickling encouraged the internet stakeholder to step up, actively support and participate in the multistakeholder process of internet governance to ensure and open and free internet and its continuous growth. The same internet governance principle was adopted and articulated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in developing global internet policy, which was described by the secretary as a major achievement in 2011. <ref>