ANA Tells Congress that ICANN's Program for an Unlimited Expansion of Top Level Domain Names (TLDs) is a Reckless Experiment that Should be Delayed

WASHINGTON (Dec. 8, 2011) - The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) told the Senate Commerce Committee today that ICANN's plan for an unlimited expansion of the generic Top Level Domain (TLD) Name program is a "reckless experiment" that would seriously threaten both businesses and consumers in the online marketplace.

Dan Jaffe, ANA Executive Vice President, Government Relations testified today on behalf of the Association and CRIDO, the Coalition for Responsible Internet Domain Oversight. CRIDO is a coalition of 154 major national and international companies and trade associations united in opposing the roll-out of ICANN's program, which is scheduled for next month. The ANA/CRIDO written statement is available here.

Jaffe stated: "The ICANN program would pile billions of dollars of cost onto a challenging global economy, resources that could be much better spent on job creation. This is not merely a bad policy choice but a serious threat to the legitimate interests of both companies and consumers on the internet. We believe both the decision and the process ICANN followed are fundamentally flawed and the roll-out should be delayed."

On November 10, ANA and CRIDO sent a Petition to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce expressing strong objections to the new TLD expansion program. In addition to the members of CRIDO, other groups including the National Retail Federation (NRF), the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) have written to the Department of Commerce expressing opposition to the ICANN expansion.

Jaffe stated: "These are not just the concerns of the business community. Yesterday, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz told a House Judiciary Subcommittee that the unlimited gTLD roll-out could be a 'disaster' for businesses and consumers and could dramatically increase problems for law enforcement. When the Chairman of the chief consumer protection agency in the U.S. labels the program a 'disaster,' that should be a clear signal to everyone that this program should be delayed."