Overnight Tech: Internet domain transition under scrutiny

LEDE: The group leading the transition away from American control of the Internet domain name system expects Congress to impose accountability measures and said they will guide the process forward.

The president of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), Fadi Chehadé, will testify on the group’s expectations before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Communications and Technology Subcommittee on Wednesday.

In his testimony, Chehadé will say a final transition plan is expected to be ready by October and new accountability recommendations will likely be approved at the same time.

{mosads}ICANN is leading the transition away from government oversight of the system that allows users to easily navigate the Web using domain names linked to websites. The House recently passed a bill that would allow Congress to review a final deal for 30 legislative days before any transition goes through. It would also require accountability measures to take effect within ICANN, which has historically been contracted by the government to maintain the system.

“For planning purposes, ICANN assumes that the Dotcom Act of 2015 (H.R. 805) will become law and will guide next steps,” Chehadé will say.

ICANN CONTRACT EXTENSION?: Larry Strickling, who leads the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, will also testify. He is expected to reiterate that the administration will have to temporarily extend its contract with ICANN in September since the transition will not be finished in time. The agency is still determining the length of the extension.

The Dotcom Act requires a number of accountability measures that the Commerce Department had already promised. After Congress last year blocked the transition through the appropriations process, Strickling is expected to say he welcomes the new bipartisan legislation to ensure a transition is done in “a transparent, responsible and timely manner.”

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: House Energy and Commerce’s Communications and Technology Subcommittee has two other hearings currently scheduled for July. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler will appear before the panel along with Republican commissioner, and his frequent public foil, Ajit Pai on July 28. The subcommittee also plans to discuss ways to boost investment in broadband on July 14.

LIST OF COMPANIES FLYING COMMERCIAL DRONES: The Federal Aviation Administration has handed out exemptions to more than 500 companies to test commercial drones in the United States. The list stretches far beyond Amazon, which acquired an exemption to do outdoor testing to develop its drone delivery system, called Prime Air. The Verge, with the help of Bard College, compiled a list Tuesday of the hundreds of companies that have so far received limited permission from the FAA to fly commercial drones.

MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS LOBBYIST GOES TO HEATHER PODESTA + PARTNERS: Robert Hoffman, currently Corporate Vice President of Government Affairs at Motorola Solutions, is joining the firm. He has experience at ITI and with several members of Congress. The firm reps tech companies like FitBit, DISH and Snapchat.

GOOGLE TAKES SELF-DRIVING CARS TO AUSTIN: Google is testing its self-driving cars in Austin, Texas. It’s the first time the company has put any of the vehicles on the road outside of Mountain View, Calif., where it is based. The search firm has been operating a modified Lexus SUV for weeks in the Texas city, with another slated to arrive this week. They appear to have gotten the city’s buy-in. “Austin is special in part because we welcome new technologies that could help improve our daily lives, and we can easily see the potential self-driving cars have to reduce accident rates and congestion, and to provide mobility for people who can’t get around easily,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler said in a company press release. “We welcome the Google self-driving car team for this next phase of their testing and look forward to seeing them around town.”

AND THE COMPANY DROPS JUNE ACCIDENT NUMBERS: Google’s driverless cars were rear-ended twice in June, according to data released by the company.

ON TAP

At 10 a.m., the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of House Energy and Commerce hosts a hearing on the domain name transition.

Also at 10 a.m., the Senate Judiciary Committee hosts a hearing on encryption featuring FBI Director James Comey.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Hillary Clinton said pending cybersecurity legislation in Congress does not go far enough to increase coordination between the government and the private sector.

A group filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) arguing that Google should allow users to request that information about them be taken down from the search engine.

Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX, says the company is still piecing together the events that led to one of the firm’s rockets breaking apart during a flight last month.

GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush said former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden should receive “no leniency” for his leak of government surveillance programs.

The cybersecurity boom on Wall Street is growing.

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