Cruz’s Crusade Against IANA Transition Continues with Senate Hearing

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Cruz’s Crusade Against IANA Transition Continues with Senate Hearing

	By Michele Neylon MD of Blacknight Solutions
	September 08, 2016 Views: 7,539 Add Comment

Senator Cruz’s against the IANA transition will continue next week with a senate hearing next week.

The hearing is entitled: Protecting Internet Freedom: Implications of Ending U.S. Oversight of the Internet

While the hearing is being chaired by Cruz, no indication of who else will be speaking has been made public so far.

In a press release from Cruz’s offices earlier this evening, the Senator continued his almost hysterical and misleading narrative:

“ICANN is a global organization consisting of 162 countries, including authoritarian regimes such as China, Russia, and Iran, which do not have a First Amendment right to free speech.”

While ICANN might be global, to say that it consists of 162 countries is completely misleading. That wording suggests that it’s run by governments. It isn’t.

The constant harping on about “First Amendment right to free speech” is also intentionally misleading in my view. The only country in the world that has a “First Amendment right to free speech” is the US. Other countries have freedom of speech, but since they don’t have the US Constitution, they can’t have 1st Amendment rights.

You can read the rest of the release below —

* * *

Next Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts, will convene a hearing titled ‘Protecting Internet Freedom: Implications of Ending U.S. Oversight of the Internet.’ The hearing will investigate the possible dangers of the Obama administration’s proposal to relinquish oversight of the Internet to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), scheduled to take place on October 1. ICANN is a global organization consisting of 162 countries, including authoritarian regimes such as China, Russia, and Iran, which do not have a First Amendment right to free speech.

Sen. Cruz has championed efforts in the Senate to stop this Internet giveaway, including introducing the Protecting Internet Freedom Act in June with Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.), which would prevent the Obama administration from relinquishing oversight of critical Internet functions and protect national security by ensuring that the United States maintains sole ownership of the .gov and .mil top-level domains.

Last week, Sen. Cruz also unveiled a new countdown clock site raising awareness of the looming September 30 deadline for Congress to take action to stop the administration’s transition.

Wednesday, September 14

10:00 a.m. ET – Washington, D.C.
Sen. Cruz chairs hearing
Dirksen Senate Office Building
Room 226

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The hearing is scheduled for 1000 EST on Wednesday September 14 and will be streamed live here.

By Michele Neylon, MD of Blacknight Solutions

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