Doyle Criticizes DOTCOM Act; Shimkus Responds

Rep. John Shimkus’ Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters Act (HR-805) is “misguided and hurts the cause he claims to support,” Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., said in an email Tuesday. “Delaying this [IANA] transition allows anti-democratic nations to continue to use the IANA contract as a red herring to falsely claim ‘the U.S. government controls the Internet’ and call for a greater role for governmental entities like the United Nations and the ITU,” he said. “Further delaying NTIA’s transition process only strengthens these arguments.” Shimkus, R-Ill., told us Monday that the lack of clarity about the term “multistakeholder community” is one of the primary reasons some lawmakers are skeptical of the transition (see 1502100049). Doyle's comments "suggest we ought to have a greater concern for what Russia and China think than what is in the best interest of the American people and the future of our free and open Internet,” Shimkus emailed Wednesday. “Even now, the fact is that this transition will not move forward until NTIA is satisfied with the multistakeholder proposal," he said. "All my bill asks is that Congress also have an opportunity to review the proposal, through our non-partisan investigative arm, before a final, irreversible decision is made," Shimkus said. "That’s not dilatory, that’s due diligence.”