[pastProlog]

> What exactly is wrong with the current setup?

What exactly was wrong with the 1998 setup? ISI and Jon Postel were managing fine back then.

I also don't recall a "US control over ICANN" that could be "relinquished" being part of the original ICANN proposal. I don't think that would have gone over well with the European operators at the IETF meetings. If it had been they probably would have stuck with the CCITT's x.25 networks, Minitel and such.

[kijeda]

The 1997 white paper that triggered the creation of ICANN sums up the thoughts at the time:

"From its origins as a U.S.-based research vehicle, the Internet is rapidly becoming an international medium for commerce, education and communication. The traditional means of organizing its technical functions need to evolve as well. The pressures for change are coming from many different quarters:

* There is widespread dissatisfaction about the absence of competition in domain name registration.

* Conflicts between trademark holders and domain name holders are becoming more common. Mechanisms for resolving these conflicts are expensive and cumbersome.

* Many commercial interests, staking their future on the successful growth of the Internet, are calling for a more formal and robust management structure.

* An increasing percentage of Internet users reside outside of the U.S., and those stakeholders want to participate in Internet coordination.

* As Internet names increasingly have commercial value, the decision to add new top-level domains cannot be made on an ad hoc basis by entities or individuals that are not formally accountable to the Internet community.

* As the Internet becomes commercial, it becomes less appropriate for U.S. research agencies to direct and fund these functions."

[hackuser]

> What exactly was wrong with the 1998 setup? ISI and Jon Postel were managing fine back then.

John Postel did great things for the Internet. However, to make a point or as a 'test', one day in 1998 he redirected most of the Internet's DNS root server traffic to different servers. That was the last straw - maybe the only straw. Here's the Wikipedia version, which matches my vague memory of the story:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Postel#DNS_Root_Authority...

[davidofone]

And this may be one of the more immediate reasons for the change ... the control and behavior of the servers. The servers and what the servers do beyond their traditional/current roles under ICANN. The architecture and operational functions can be changed/controlled so as leverage being a focal point to gather and control beyond being a url/address gateway. Reiterating what others have already said ... Obama and other despotic players on the world stage are no friend to liberty and freedom. Freedom where the least of which is freedom of speech, association, movement and private property.