Has anyone in this discussion actually bothered to read S. 705? The news
report that prompted this discussion, which claimed that it "would revoke
some of the fees that ICANN charges domain name holders", was inaccurate.
In fact, S. 705 says nothing about ICANN. Its sole purpose is to repeal the
ratification of the $15 NSF domain tax.
Here is S. 705 in its entirety:
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1st Session
S. 705
To repeal section 8003 of Public Law 105-174.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED
STATES
March 24, 1999
Mr. ASHCROFT introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To repeal section 8003 of Public Law 105-174.
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 `Home Page Tax Repeal Act'.
SEC. 2. REPEAL.
(a) REPEAL- Section 8003 of the 1998 Supplemental Appropriations and
Rescissions Act (112 Stat. 93) is repealed.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE- The repeal made by subsection (a) shall be
effective as of April 30, 1998.
SEC. 3. USE OF FUNDS.
The National Science Foundation may use funds appropriated for fiscal
year 1999 to meet any obligations resulting from the enactment of this Act.
--- end S. 705
Section 8003 of the 1998 Supplemental Appropriations and Rescissions Act
reads as follows:
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SEC. 8003. RATIFICATION OF INTERNET INTELLECTUAL INFRASTRUCTURE FEE. (a) The
30 percent portion of the fee charged by Network Solutions, Inc. between
September 14, 1995 and March 31, 1998 for registration or renewal of an
Internet second-level domain name, which portion was to be expended for the
preservation and enhancement of the intellectual infrastructure of the
Internet under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation,
and which portion was held to have been collected without authority in
William Thomas et al. v. Network Solutions, Inc. and National Science
Foundation, Civ. No. 97-2412, is hereby legalized and ratified and confirmed
as fully to all intents and purposes as if the same had, by prior Act of
Congress, been specifically authorized and directed.
(b) The National Science Foundation is authorized and directed to
deposit all money remaining in the Internet Intellectual Infrastructure Fund
into the Treasury and credit that amount to its Fiscal Year 1998 Research
and Related Activities appropriation to be available until expended for the
support of networking activities, including the Next Generation Internet.
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