Is the Federal Government Seizing the Internet?

ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (the entity that distributes domain names and IP addresses), will be asked by Congress to submit to direct US government control.  ICANN is currently administered as a Joint Powers Authority (JPA), an administrative system mixing public and private control.

In a letter to Gary Locke, Secretary of Commerce, dated August 4, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired…