Four state attorneys general filed a lawsuit in Texas to stop the Obama Administration from giving control of the Internet to an worldwide organization that lists several authoritarian regimes as advisers on its board. And though this entity, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), has played this vital role for years, the retreat of USA control has sparked charges that President Barack Obama’s administration is abandoning the final vestiges of a crucial – if rarely exercised – oversight position.
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“Trusting authoritarian regimes to ensure the continued freedom of the internet is lunacy”, Paxton said in announcing the lawsuit.
After Congressional Republicans were unable to block the move; the attorneys general of several states, including Ken Paxton of Texas, filed suit Wednesday night to stop the transfer.
And though a technical change that will not affect everyday users, a number of Republican lawmakers raised hell over the plan, including Sen. Ted Cruz. A court hearing on the suit is scheduled for September 30.
President Obama has come under fire from some who have accused him of “giving away the internet” and now fear that other political powers will gain control.
Yet a small group of vocal opponents continue to argue that the transition will cede “control” of the internet to countries like China and Russian Federation and should therefore be delayed or blocked.
The US Department of Commerce will be ceding control after a lawsuit which sought a halt in the transition, which was denied by a federal judge in Texas.
The four states further contend that ICANN could revoke the US government’s exclusive use of.gov and.mil, the domains used by states, federal agencies and the USA military for their websites.
Until Saturday, ICANN is contracted by the Department of Commerce to administer the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority under the watch of the NTIA.
The move is part of a decades-old plan by the USA to “privatize” the internet, and backers have said it would help maintain its integrity around the world. But the network relies on an addressing system called the domain name system, or DNS, which includes directories that help route data like email and web requests where it needs to go.
A governmental advisory committee, which includes the United States, will continue to update ICANN “on issues of public policy, and especially where there may be an interaction between ICANN’s activities or policies and national laws or worldwide agreements”.
Still, Jones suggested scenarios that could unfold when ICANN is controlled by an global board without US government oversight.
“The U.S. government is handing over control of the “vast democratic forums of the Internet” to private parties, and giving those parties free reign employ prior restraints”, the state’s said in their lawsuit.
Advocates of this approach say that the many interests will work together to keep the Internet stable and free.
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It also claims there’s a threat to the First Amendment if ICANN doesn’t commit to complying with its free-speech protections. And their position will be substantially strengthened if the USA reneges on its promise at the eleventh hour, potentially setting the stage for an actual power grab in the future.
