"The Subcommittee on Science,
Technology and Space has focused in the last year on a number of
challenges facing the Internet. In particular, this panel has looked
at questions of cybersecurity in the context of e-commerce and as
it relates to the terrorist threat. "Just last month the full Commerce
Committee reported out S. 2182. The Cyber Security Research and
Development Act seeks to significantly increase the amount of cybersecurity
research being done. It also seeks to coordinate the research efforts
of government, academia, and industry, and educate more cybersecurity
researchers to deal with future threats. "Today the Subcommittee
takes on a different challenge, examining issues relating to the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers or "ICANN."
ICANN is, of course, the non-profit corporation that manages the
system of Internet domain names and addresses. "ICANN isn't exactly
a household name; I think it is a safe bet that most Americans know
little about what ICANN is or what it does. But virtually all Americans
want an Internet that functions smoothly, that uses easy-to-remember
addresses, and that enables users to consistently and reliably find
the websites they need. They also want a fair, reasonably priced
system for registering Internet addresses. "In short, management
of the domain name system may seem like a technical subject, but
it is crucially important to the continued success of the Internet.
"The question of how best to perform this important function is
still unsettled. The Internet has become such a daily fact of life
that it is easy to forget just how new it is. It wasn't that long
ago that the Internet's addressing system was managed largely by
a single individual, and key decisions could be made on a consensus
basis by a small handful of interested parties. "But as the Internet
transcended its academic roots to become a mainstream avenue of
communications and commerce both in the United States and worldwide,
management of the domain name system became more complicated.
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