Author

Brian Weiss

USTelecom, CTIA, and NCTA Alert Congressional Committees About Google’s New Browser Protocol

Washington, D.C. – USTelecom | The Broadband Association, CTIA, and NCTA – The Internet & Television Association today sent a letter to several Congressional committees alerting them to a controversial new internet browser protocol that Google intends to implement.

The committees that received the letter include:

  • Senate Committee on the Judiciary
  • House Committee on the Judiciary
  • Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee
  • House Energy and Commerce Committee
  • Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs
  • House Committee on Homeland Security

The letter states:

“Google is beginning to implement encrypted Domain Name System lookups into its Chrome browser and Android operating system through a new protocol for wireline and wireless service, known as DNS over HTTPS (DoH). If not coordinated with others in the internet ecosystem, this could interfere on a mass scale with critical internet functions, as well as raise data competition issues.”

“Moreover, the centralized control of encrypted DNS threatens to harm consumers by interfering with a wide range of services provided by ISPs (both enterprise and public-facing) and others. Over the last several decades, DNS has been used to build other critical internet features and functionality including: (a) the provision of parental controls and IoT management for end users; (b) connecting end users to the nearest content delivery networks, thus ensuring the delivery of content in the fastest, cheapest, and most reliable manner; and (c) assisting rights holders’ and law enforcement’s efforts in enforcing judicial orders in combatting online piracy, as well as law enforcement’s efforts in enforcing judicial orders in combatting the exploitation of minors.”

A copy of the letter can be found here.

Share