Commerce Secretary Gary Locke is giving "serious attention to the critical responsibilities" of his department's role with respect to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, he told Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., in a June 29 letter circulated this week. Nelson and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, wrote to him in May urging Commerce and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to help find "a permanent accountability mechanism to replace the oversight that has historically been provided by the department." ICANN's formal relationship with the U.S. government is slated to expire in September, which has prompted calls for greater scrutiny of the California-based nonprofit on Capitol Hill.

"Given the Internet's importance as a global medium supporting economic growth and innovation, any decision that the department makes with respect to the future of the joint project agreement with ICANN will be guided by the need to continue preserving the security and stability of the Internet's domain name and addressing system," Locke wrote. While ICANN has made progress in the last 10 years, "accountability remains a threshold issue," as recognized by NTIA's call for public comment that ended last month, he said. NTIA also asked stakeholders whether sufficient safeguards are in place to ensure that ICANN's model of private, bottom-up' policymaking is working for everyone involved.