WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, released the following statement on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announcement that it plans to transition certain Internet oversight to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN):

“The U.S. helped create the Internet, and we want to see it grow and stand on its own. It doesn't need a nanny state, or a collection of nanny states, trying to stifle it. It needs – and deserves – a strong multi-stakeholder system free from the control of any government or governmental entity and which keeps the critical Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions insulated from the politics of Internet governance. My colleagues and I on the Commerce Committee will be watching closely to see if the transition NTIA has announced results in an acceptable structure to ensure a stable and free Internet, but I trust the innovators and entrepreneurs more than the bureaucrats -- whether they're in DC or Brussels. 
 
“While ICANN will convene the process to craft a transition plan for the IANA functions, we need all stakeholders who believe in an open and innovative Internet to participate in the conversation. There are people who want to see the Internet fall into the grip of the U.N. or who would allow ICANN to become an unaccountable organization with the power to control the Internet, and we cannot allow them to determine how this process plays out.”

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