[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.