http://www.jonesday.com/html/biosquery.asp?ResultSet=Single&Column=ID&DataValue=987 Name: Joe Sims Group: Government Regulation Practice(s): Antitrust & Trade Regulation Location: Washington Title: Partner Description: Admitted 1970 Arizona; 1978 District of Columbia. Arizona State University (B.S. 1967; Comment Editor, Law Journal; J.D. magna cum laude 1970). Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Policy Planning and Legislation (1975-1977) and Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Regulated Industries and Foreign Commerce (1977-1978), ANTITRUST DIVISION, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. Joined Jones Day 1978. -------------------------------------------------------------------- DOJ, ICANN accused of collusion By Dan Goodin Staff Writer, CNET News.com July 29, 1999, 7:30 p.m. PT A leading Congressman complained of collusion between officials from the Justice Department and the nonprofit assuming control of core Internet functions, criticizing discussions about an ongoing antitrust investigation into the dominant registrar of domain names. Rep. Tom Bliley (R-Virginia) leveled his charges in letters sent to Attorney General Janet Reno and Esther Dyson, interim chair of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The chair of the powerful House Commerce Committee first raised the matter at a hearing called last week to explore whether the ICANN has exceeded its limited authority. Members introduced an email in which ICANN attorney Joe Sims recounted a conversation he had with a senior Justice Department official in charge of an ongoing investigation into Network Solutions (NSI). According to portions of the March 1999 email, the two discussed ways to "increase the level of pressure" on Commerce Department officials negotiating a key contract with NSI. They also discussed "how desirable it would be to get control of the root [server] away from NSI," Bliley wrote in one of the letters today. The root server is the master database that routes traffic on the Internet. ICANN recently took control of it after it had been maintained for six years by NSI. The conversations between ICANN and Justice appear to be "highly inappropriate," Bliley wrote to both Dyson and Reno, surmising that ICANN appeared to be making an end run around Commerce, which authorized the nonprofit agency to phase out NSI's cooperative agreement. He also took Justice Department officials to task for discussing an open investigation with an interested party, noting that shortly after the Sims' conversation with the official, the agency broadened its investigation into NSI. "Whether warranted or not, [the timing] certainly gives the impression of collusion between ICANN and your department on this sensitive enforcement and Internet policy matter," Bliley wrote Reno. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ============================================================ Michael Sondow I.C.I.I.U. http://www.iciiu.org Tel. (212)846-7482 Fax: (603)754-8927 ============================================================
