Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller Urges ICANN to Act Upon GAC Advice

On Wednesday, June 26, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller sent a letter to ICANN Board of Directors Chairman Steve Crocker, urging ICANN to “fully consider and act upon the GAC safeguard advice.” Senator Rockefeller’s letter details the progress of the new gTLD program over the last two years, including the hearing that the Senate Commerce Committee held in December 2011. He also encourages ICANN to engage in a limited first round of new gTLDs before considering a full gTLD rollout. We believe this letter applies important and necessary pressure to ICANN as it moves forward with an unprecedented expansion of Top Level Domains in the internet ecosystem.