The United States has given up control of the Internet’s domain system after international pressure prompted by revelations of the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance programs. A Commerce Department spokesperson said the U.S. control was only supposed to be temporary. (NextGov, March 17, 2014, by Brendan Sasso, National Journal)
The Commerce Department denied that they were giving up control of the Internet to authoritarian governments like Russia and China who could put pressure on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to censor online content. (NextGov, March 19, 2014, by Brendan Sasso, National Journal)
The Center for Democracy & Technology said that the change is fraught with dangers. It urged that ICANN make their March 23-27 Singapore meeting open to all stakeholders with accountability and transparency to better insure that a free Internet prevails. (Center for Democracy & Technology, March 19, 2014, by Matthew Shears)
See also Center for Internet and Society, March 14, 2014, by Richard Forno.