Obama sells the internet to foreign countries

[Great Kauthar]

http://fortune.com/2016/09/30/internet-oversight-transfer-saturday/

(Reuters) – A long-planned transfer of the internet’s technical management from the U.S. government to a global community of stakeholders is expected to take place on Saturday despite last-minute attempts by conservative politicians and officials to delay the changeover.

The U.S. Department of Commerce is due to cede stewardship of ICANN, or the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, as scheduled after a lawsuit seeking to halt the transition was denied by a federal judge in Texas on Friday.

The U.S. government has been the primary manager of the internet’s address book since 1988 largely because it was invented in the country. Critics of the handover have attempted to block or delay it on grounds it could jeopardize free speech online, claims that the Obama administration and technology companies have said lack merit.

The lawsuit filed on Wednesday against the federal government by the Republican states of Arizona, Texas, Nevada and Oklahoma argued the handover was unconstitutional and required congressional approval.

ICANN, a California-based nonprofit, manages the database for top-level domain names such as .com and .net and their corresponding numeric addresses that allow computers to connect.

After the transfer, ICANN will be governed by a collection of academics, technical experts, private industry and government representatives, public interest advocates and individual users around the world, in what it calls a “multi-stakeholder process.”

So lads, our liberty is gone now. Barack Obama continues his crusade against freedom, and sells the internet to foreign countries. A collection of "academics... private industry and government representatives" means you could have foreign countries, like Saudi Arabia and China controlling the internet. What do you all think of this???
Senator Cruz' Press Release on it

[FelrikTheDeleted]

I would prefer it to remain in America.

[Vassenor]

How does one sell "the internet" to anyone?

The US does not control the internet. Despite what Trump seems to think.

[Sassinia]

They should be transparent and tell us who they're selling it to.

[Ifreann]

As a dirty foreigner, I'd like to be the first to say "Thanks, Obama".

[Galloism]

Honestly, I go back and forth on this. I can't decide if this is a good move or bad one.

[Petrolheadia]

Well, I think the control over internet should be more democratic, so IMHO it's a good move.

[UIJ]

That's not how this works.

[Tananat]

This could be a good move. Removing the internet from the control of a government that perpetrated the greatest and most extensive monitoring and surveillance system of all time in the NSA is something that everyone committed to a free internet finds desirable.

Of course, the new people in control could end up being worst, but I think its a risk worth taking.

[Genivaria]

Well this OP makes no sense, maybe if I squint at it.

[Grinning Dragon]

Headline is misleading, since a president cannot sell or give away govt property or entities without congressional approval.
What the main issue is whether or not this move is constitutional since there is (well was) federal govt oversight.

Since 1997, the Commerce Department has controlled the root server for the domain name system, a digital directory that tells your computer where to go when you type in a Web address, including “.gov” or “.edu,” giving the U.S, potential - if hazy - ownership rights to the Internet. The U.S. also created the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, in 1998 to keep the management of networks in the hands of a private sector system of committees representing multiple stakeholder including companies, academics and governments.

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/201 ... -the-world

I myself would have preferred that it be left alone.

[New Werpland]

BBC told me that while the government had the final say, they were following all of ICANN's advice anyway. Apparently they rarely were opposed. I think this would equate to selling out to foreigners if he ceded to Putin and Xi's demand that it be placed in the hands of the UN.

[Byzanthia]

What if we created an international agency (perhaps administered by the UN) that regulated the Internet? Perhaps this agency, should it be created, could help run the internet along with support with other countries. Personally, I do not support having one country control a resource that is used by over 100 nations. Also, it is virtually impossible to "sell" the internet. I do not know what the OP is saying, but Obama is not selling the internet; he is just transferring part of the control/administration of it to other countries.

[Hebalobia]

Actually, the NTIA is ceding IANA to ICANN. This transfer has wide support by the Internet technology companies including Intel, Google, Facebook, Cisco, Microsoft and even the US Chamber of Commerce.

This is just another example of conservatives getting up in a huff about something simply because they don't understand how things works.

[Vassenor]

Actually, the NTIA is ceding IANA to ICANN. This transfer has wide support by the Internet technology companies including Intel, Google, Facebook, Cisco, Microsoft and even the US Chamber of Commerce.

This is just another example of conservatives getting up in a huff about something simply because they don't understand how things works.

It means they can't make Bill Gates shut the internet down.

[The Black Forrest]

That Obama seems to get control of anything.

We should elect him again and tell him to take over ISIS.

[Socialist Nordia]

Er... sell the internet? Are you even trying to understand how this works?

[Byzanthia]

Actually, the NTIA is ceding IANA to ICANN. This transfer has wide support by the Internet technology companies including Intel, Google, Facebook, Cisco, Microsoft and even the US Chamber of Commerce.

This is just another example of conservatives getting up in a huff about something simply because they don't understand how things works.

Well, in that case, we have nothing to worry about. Seeing that ICANN is a non-profit organization and is not working for just one nation, I would say that the internet is in safe hands.

[Byzanthia]

Er... sell the internet? Are you even trying to understand how this works?

The internet cannot be sold. In fact, it can't even be owned. The internet is simply too complex and too large to do something like that. I am a bit unsure what the OP is saying, but I think he/she means to say that Obama is "transferring control of the internet" instead of "Selling the internet" to other companies/organizations.

[Jamzmania]

What if we created an international agency (perhaps administered by the UN) that regulated the Internet? Perhaps this agency, should it be created, could help run the internet along with support with other countries. Personally, I do not support having one country control a resource that is used by over 100 nations. Also, it is virtually impossible to "sell" the internet. I do not know what the OP is saying, but Obama is not selling the internet; he is just transferring part of the control/administration of it to other countries.

Yeah let's give the likes of Russia, Iran, North Korea, China, and all the other characters power over the Internet. That seems fun.

[The Black Forrest]

What if we created an international agency (perhaps administered by the UN) that regulated the Internet? Perhaps this agency, should it be created, could help run the internet along with support with other countries. Personally, I do not support having one country control a resource that is used by over 100 nations. Also, it is virtually impossible to "sell" the internet. I do not know what the OP is saying, but Obama is not selling the internet; he is just transferring part of the control/administration of it to other countries.

Yeah let's give the likes of Russia, Iran, North Korea, China, and all the other characters power over the Internet. That seems fun.

Ok. Tell me how they can control it?

[Minivanistan]

Well this OP makes no sense, maybe if I squint at it.

It is dreadfully oversimplified, and security is more the issue than liberty as US specific domains will just have their legs spread a little wider for penetration.

[Jamzmania]

Yeah let's give the likes of Russia, Iran, North Korea, China, and all the other characters power over the Internet. That seems fun.

Ok. Tell me how they can control it?

An international agency with regulatory powers over the Internet?

[Sassinia]

Ok. Tell me how they can control it?

An international agency with regulatory powers over the Internet?

The internet should be completely unregulated. That includes free from American influence.

[Montesardo-East Adanzi]

Internet
International Network.
You cannot sell the internet to anyone. It's already international as is!