DOTCOM Act of 2014

Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters Act of 2014 or the DOTCOM Act of 2014 - Prohibits the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information from relinquishing or agreeing to any proposal relating to the relinquishment of the responsibility of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) over Internet domain name system functions (including the authoritative root zone file, Internet Assigned Numbers Authority functions, and related root zone management functions) until the Comptroller General (GAO), within one year after the NTIA receives a relinquishment proposal developed in a process convened by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) at the request of the NTIA, submits a report to Congress regarding the role of the NTIA with respect to the Internet domain name system.

Requires such GAO report to include: (1) advantages and disadvantages of such relinquishment of NTIA responsibility; (2) any principles or criteria that the NTIA sets for relinquishment proposals, as well as an analysis of each proposal received by the NTIA; (3) the processes used by the NTIA and any other federal agencies for evaluating proposals; (4) any national security concerns; and (5) a definition of "multistakeholder model" as used by the NTIA with respect to Internet policymaking and governance.

[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4342 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4342

      To prohibit the National Telecommunications and Information 
  Administration from relinquishing responsibility over the Internet 
 domain name system until the Comptroller General of the United States 
 submits to Congress a report on the role of the NTIA with respect to 
                              such system.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 27, 2014

  Mr. Shimkus (for himself, Mr. Rokita, Mrs. Ellmers, Mr. Latta, Mr. 
 Barton, and Mrs. Blackburn) introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To prohibit the National Telecommunications and Information 
  Administration from relinquishing responsibility over the Internet 
 domain name system until the Comptroller General of the United States 
 submits to Congress a report on the role of the NTIA with respect to 
                              such system.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Domain Openness Through Continued 
Oversight Matters Act of 2014'' or the ``DOTCOM Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. NTIA RETENTION OF DNS RESPONSIBILITIES PENDING GAO REPORT.

    (a) Retention of Responsibilities.--Until the Comptroller General 
of the United States submits the report required by subsection (b), the 
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information may 
not relinquish or agree to any proposal relating to the relinquishment 
of the responsibility of the National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration (in this section referred to as the 
``NTIA'') over Internet domain name system functions, including 
responsibility with respect to the authoritative root zone file, the 
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority functions, and related root zone 
management functions.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date on which the NTIA 
receives a proposal relating to the relinquishment of the 
responsibility of the NTIA over Internet domain name system functions 
that was developed in a process convened by the Internet Corporation 
for Assigned Names and Numbers at the request of the NTIA, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a 
report on the role of the NTIA with respect to the Internet domain name 
system. Such report shall include--
            (1) a discussion and analysis of--
                    (A) the advantages and disadvantages of 
                relinquishment of the responsibility of the NTIA over 
                Internet domain name system functions, including 
                responsibility with respect to the authoritative root 
                zone file, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority 
                functions, and related root zone management functions;
                    (B) any principles or criteria that the NTIA sets 
                for proposals for such relinquishment;
                    (C) each proposal received by the NTIA for such 
                relinquishment;
                    (D) the processes used by the NTIA and any other 
                Federal agencies for evaluating such proposals; and
                    (E) any national security concerns raised by such 
                relinquishment; and
            (2) a definition of the term ``multistakeholder model'', as 
        used by the NTIA with respect to Internet policymaking and 
        governance, and definitions of any other terms necessary to 
        understand the matters covered by the report.
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