,i  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #egcg  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,november #ai1 #bjad 
,mr4 ,kelly of ,pennsylvania 7for       
himself and ,mr4 ,mc,caul7 introduced   
the following bill2 which was referred  
to the ,committee on ,energy and        
,commerce  ,a ,,bill  ,to prohibit the  
,national ,telecommunications and       
,information ,administration from       
relinquishing responsibilities with     
respect to ,internet domain name        
functions unless it certifies that it   
has received a proposal for such        
relinquishment that meets certain       
criteria1 and for other purposes4  #a4  
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,defending ,internet ,freedom ,act  
of #bjad4  #b4 ,requirements for ,,ntia 
relinquishment of ,,dns responsibilities
  7a7 ,in general ,unless the ,assistant
 ,secretary submits the certification   
described in subsection 7b7 to the      
appropriate congressional committees at 
least #fj days before the date described

 in subsection 7c7--  7#a7 the          
,assistant ,secretary may not relinquish
 the responsibilities of the ,,ntia with
 respect to ,internet domain name       
functions1 including responsibility with
 respect to the authoritative root zone 
file1 the ,,iana functions1 or the      
related root zone management functions2 
7#b7 if there exists on such date an    
option to extend the ,,iana functions   
contract1 the ,assistant ,secretary     
shall exercise such option2 and  7#c7 if
 there does not exist on such date an   
option to extend the ,,iana functions   
contract1 the ,assistant ,secretary     
shall seek to enter into a new contract 
for the performance of the ,,iana       
functions that meets the requirements of
 subsection 7d74  7b7 ,certification    
described ,the certification described  
in this subsection is a written         
certification that the ,assistant       
,secretary has received a proposal for  
relinquishing the responsibilities of   
the ,,ntia with respect to ,internet    

domain name functions that ensures the  
following3  7#a7 ,control over the      
management of the ,internet domain name 
system will not be exercised by a       
governmental or intergovernmental body4 
7#b7 ,the bylaws of ,,icann will be     
amended to provide for the following3   
7,a7 ,no director or officer of ,,icann 
will be selected by or represent a      
governmental or intergovernmental body4 
7,b7 ,,icann is prohibited from         
receiving advice from the ,governmental 
,advisory ,committee unless such        
,committee reaches consensus regarding  
such advice4 ,for purposes of the       
preceding sentence1 the term consensus  
means general agreement in the absence  
of any formal objection4  7,c7 ,,icann  
is committed to upholding freedom of    
speech1 freedom of the press1 freedom of
 assembly1 and freedom of association1  
applying a standard that is at least as 
protective of such freedoms as is the   
,first ,amendment to the ,constitution4 
7,d7 ,the term supermajority is defined 

for purposes of the bylaws of ,,icann to
 mean1 with respect to a vote of the    
board of directors1 an affirmative vote 
by at least four-fifths of all          
directors4  7,e7 ,a change in the bylaws
 of ,,icann will require a vote of a    
supermajority of the board of directors4
  7,f7 ,a change in the fees that       
,,icann charges for its services will   
require a vote of a supermajority of the
 board of directors4  7,g7 ,the         
directors1 president1 secretary1 and    
chief financial officer of ,,icann will 
be subject to removal in a vote of      
confidence by the board of directors at 
least once every #c years and will serve
 no longer than #i years in a single    
position4  7,h7 ,,icann will have a     
simplified1 transparent process for     
selecting its directors under which such
 selections are linked with key         
stakeholders in the ,internet community4
  7,i7 ,,icann will have an independent 
process 7such as the process between    
,,icann and the ,international ,centre  

for ,dispute ,resolution for independent
 review of contested actions of the     
board of directors of ,,icann and under 
which the ,centre serves as a dispute   
resolution service provider for         
objections to new generic top-level     
domain expansions7 for resolving        
disputes between ,,icann and external   
parties in all matters related to the   
operations of ,,icann4  7#c7 ,,icann has
 adopted1 if necessary through amendment
 to its bylaws1 measures recommended by 
the multistakeholder community to       
increase the transparency of ,,icann    
deliberations and decisions1 such as    
providing public access on the ,internet
 to meetings of the board of directors  
and associated materials4  7#d7 ,,icann 
will adopt policies and procedures for  
disclosing to the public records and    
other information that are at least as  
protective of public access as the      
policies and procedures required by     
section #eeb of title #e1 ,united       
,states ,code 7commonly known as the    

,freedom of ,information ,act74 ,the    
policies and procedures adopted will    
include a means by which the denial of a
 request for access to records or other 
information may be appealed through the 
independent dispute resolution process  
described in paragraph 7#b77;,i74  7#e7 
,there will be established a private1   
nonprofit corporation1 to be known as   
the ,,iana ,consortium1 that is financed
 and managed by the top-level domain    
registries and not by ,,icann4  7#f7    
,the ,,iana ,consortium1 and not        
,,icann1 will--  7,a7 manage the content
 of the root zones2  7,b7 select an     
entity to carry out the editing of the  
root zone files that--  7i7 is separate 
from the ,,iana ,consortium2 and  7ii7  
the ,,iana ,consortium is satisfied     
demonstrates technical competence that  
is at least equal to that of ,veri,sign2
 and  7,c7 oversee the performance of   
such entity in the editing of the root  
zone files4  7#g7 ,there will be        
established within ,,icann a body to be 

known as the ,internet ,freedom ,panel1 
which shall be composed of              
representatives of the ,internet        
community1 including registrars1        
technology groups1 and civil society4   
,no member of the ,panel will be        
selected by or represent a governmental 
or intergovernmental body4  7#h7 ,the   
bylaws of ,,icann will provide that the 
,internet ,freedom ,panel will have the 
power to review and to veto changes to  
the domain name system proposed by      
,,icann that the ,panel considers to    
threaten freedom of expression1 the     
openness1 stability1 resiliency1 or     
security of the ,internet1              
responsiveness to the user community1 or
 other commitments undertaken by ,,icann
 in the ,affirmation of ,commitments in 
effect between the ,,ntia and ,,icann on
 the date of the enactment of this ,act4
 ,any such veto will be final and will  
not be subject to override by any       
director or officer of ,,icann4  7#i7   
,the entity selected by the ,,iana      

,consortium to carry out the editing of 
the root zone files in accordance with  
paragraph 7#f77;,b7 will implement a    
policy decision adopted by ,,icann      
unless the ,internet ,freedom ,panel    
vetoes such decision4  7#aj7 ,,icann    
will remain subject to ,united ,states  
law 7including ,state law7 and to the   
jurisdiction of ,united ,states courts  
7including ,state courts74  7#aa7 ,the  
,united ,states ,government will be     
granted ownership of the 4gov and 4mil  
top-level domains1 and the ,a and ,b    
root servers that manage such top-level 
domains will be maintained in the       
,united ,states4  7#ab7 ,,icann will    
conduct and publicly release the results
 of an audit of its operations during   
its #e fiscal years preceding the fiscal
 year in which the proposal is submitted
 to the ,assistant ,secretary and       
demonstrate that its financial and      
management decisions during such #e     
fiscal years have been sound and comport
 with accepted business practices4      

7#ac7 ,an annual audit of ,,icann and   
the ,,iana ,consortium will be performed
 by an internationally recognized       
auditing firm that will not have had a  
contract with ,,icann during the #b-year
 period preceding the audit4 ,the costs 
of the audit will be paid by ,,icann and
 the ,,iana ,consortium4  7#ad7 ,neither
 ,,icann nor the ,,iana ,consortium will
 enter into an agreement or modify an   
existing agreement to impose on a       
registrar or registry with which ,,icann
 or the ,,iana ,consortium1 as the case 
may be1 conducts business any condition 
7such as a condition relating to the    
regulation of content7 that is unrelated
 to ,,icann's core mission of           
coordinating the global interoperability
 and uniqueness of domain names4  7#ae7 
,there will be established a joint      
office of inspector general for ,,icann 
and the ,,iana ,consortium that will be 
jointly funded by ,,icann and the ,,iana
 ,consortium4 ,such office shall be     
headed by an ,inspector ,general that is

 appointed by the board of directors of 
,,icann for a non-renewable1 fixed term4
 ,the ,inspector ,general will be       
granted full access to ,,icann and the  
,,iana ,consortium1 which will include  
access to such matters as the finances1 
documents1 and activities of ,,icann and
 the ,,iana ,consortium4  7#af7 ,the    
reports of the ,inspector ,general will 
be made publicly available and will not 
be subject to approval or editing by    
,,icann1 the ,,iana ,consortium1 or the 
officers or directors of ,,icann or the 
,,iana ,consortium4  7c7 ,date described
 ,the date described in this subsection 
is the following3  7#a7 ,during the base
 period of performance of the ,,iana    
functions contract1 the date on which   
the ,assistant ,secretary must give     
,,icann preliminary written notice of   
the intent to exercise the option to    
extend the contract through the first   
option period4  7#b7 ,during the first  
option period of the ,,iana functions   
contract 7if the contract is extended   

through such period71 the date on which 
the ,assistant ,secretary must give     
,,icann preliminary written notice of   
the intent to exercise the option to    
extend the contract through the second  
option period4  7#c7 ,during the second 
option period of the ,,iana functions   
contract 7if the contract is extended   
through such period71 the date on which 
such period expires4  7d7 ,requirements 
for new contract for performance of     
,,iana functions ,a contract for the    
performance of the ,,iana functions     
meets the requirements of this          
subsection if such contract--  7#a7 is  
between the ,,ntia and ,,icann or       
another private1 nonprofit entity2 and  
7#b7 provides for each assurance listed 
in paragraphs 7#a7 through 7#af7 of     
subsection 7b71 except that1 in the case
 of a contract with an entity other than
 ,,icann--  7,a7 each assurance listed  
in such paragraphs with respect to      
,,icann shall be considered to be an    
assurance with respect to such entity2  

and  7,b7 such contract is required to  
provide for the assurance listed in     
paragraph 7#ab7 of such subsection only 
with respect to years during which such 
entity is in existence4  7e7            
,definitions ,in this section3  7#a7    
,appropriate congressional committees   
,the term appropriate congressional     
committees means the ,committee on      
,energy and ,commerce of the ,house of  
,representatives and the ,committee on  
,commerce1 ,science1 and ,transportation
 of the ,senate4  7#b7 ,assistant       
,secretary ,the term ,assistant         
,secretary means the ,assistant         
,secretary of ,commerce for             
,communications and ,information4  7#c7 
,base period of performance ,the term   
base period of performance means1 with  
respect to the ,,iana functions         
contract1 the period beginning on       
,october #a1 #bjab1 and ending on       
,september #cj1 #bjae4  7#d7 ,first     
option period ,the term first option    
period means1 with respect to the ,,iana

 functions contract1 the period         
beginning on ,october #a1 #bjae1 and    
ending on ,september #cj1 #bjag4  7#e7  
,,iana ,consortium ,the term ,,iana     
,consortium means the private1 nonprofit
 corporation established pursuant to    
subsection 7b77#e74  7#f7 ,,iana        
functions ,the term ,,iana functions    
means the ,internet ,assigned ,numbers  
,authority functions4  7#g7 ,,iana      
functions contract ,the term ,,iana     
functions contract means the contract   
that is in effect on the date of the    
enactment of this ,act between the      
,,ntia and ,,icann under which ,,icann  
is required to perform the ,,iana       
functions4  7#h7 ,,icann ,the term      
,,icann means the ,internet ,corporation
 for ,assigned ,names and ,numbers4     
7#i7 ,internet ,freedom ,panel ,the term
 ,internet ,freedom ,panel means the    
body established pursuant to subsection 
7b77#g74  7#aj7 ,,ntia ,the term ,,ntia 
means the ,national ,telecommunications 
and ,information ,administration4  7#aa7

 ,second option period ,the term second 
option period means1 with respect to the
 ,,iana functions contract1 the period  
beginning on ,october #a1 #bjag1 and    
ending on ,september #cj1 #bjai4  7#ab7 
,state ,the term ,state means each of   
the several ,states1 the ,district of   
,columbia1 each commonwealth1 territory1
 or possession of the ,united ,states1  
and each federally recognized ,indian   
tribe4