House Republicans Oppose International Internet Regulation
House Communications Subcommittee Republicans seek to oppose any international effort to impose regulations on the Internet, according to a majority staff memo that circulated among lobbyists this week. The Subcommittee has a hearing Thursday that will feature testimony from FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, among others. The GOP memo said there’s bipartisan agreement that the U.S. should “stand firm” and oppose any treaty provisions that expand the jurisdiction of the ITU over the Internet.
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The ITU plans to consider changes to the international telecom regulations that could incorporate the Internet into its governance of traditional telephone service at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in December. Russia and China are proposing to establish an international cybersecurity regime, which the majority memo said could lead to more Internet censorship in the name of national security. Such changes could deviate from the Internet’s current multi-stakeholder model, Republicans said, and “weakens the Internet, harming its ability to spread both prosperity and freedom."
There’s concern that other ITU nations are proposing to regulate the rates for the international exchange of Internet traffic, the memo said. It would be “inappropriate” to impose a settlement regime on the “dynamic, information-driven Internet,” the memo said, “especially since the Internet does not adhere to political boundaries.” A “top-down” regulatory regime for the Internet would “quickly become untenable,” the memo said.
Philip Verveer has been appointed to head U.S. negotiations leading up to the WCIT, and he’s the deputy assistant secretary of state and the U.S. coordinator for international communications and information policy. The memo noted that Verveer, who plans to testify before the subcommittee Thursday, recently said in a White House Office of Science and Technology blog post (http://xrl.us/bm9qk6) that the U.S. “remains committed ... to defend and strengthen the open, interoperable and innovative Internet.” The FCC “is on board” with the White House’s opposition to ITU Internet regulations, McDowell said during a recent Senate Commerce Committee hearing (CD May 17 p1). The U.S. must prevent the ITU from “swallowing the highly successful, non-governmental, private sector, multi-stakeholder model for Internet governance,” he told lawmakers.