Will posts like this one survive in the Internet’s brave new world?

Ali Meyer of the Washington Free Beacon highlights a report that should disturb supporters of the Internet’s free flow of information.

The U.S. government did not conduct a sufficient analysis of the consequences of giving up control of the corporation responsible for assigning web addresses, increasing the risk that foreign governments will eventually gain control of the Internet, according to documents obtained by the group Americans for Limited Government.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration currently has authority over the Internet’s domain name system through a contract with a private, international organization called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN. The contract is set to expire on September 30. The agency has not decided whether to extend the contract.

Americans for Limited Government, a conservative group, requested records through the Freedom of Information Act to see if the agency had completed any analysis concerning antitrust issues for ICANN if the agency relinquishes its control over the Internet.

Antitrust laws promote competition and prohibit monopolies, but do not apply to the federal government. While most private companies can be taken to court if they engage in monopolistic behavior, ICANN’s contract with the U.S. government shields it from antitrust lawsuits, according to Brett Schaefer, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

“If the contract expires, it increases the likelihood that ICANN will face lawsuits involving its monopolistic position, which creates a legal vulnerability for ICANN,” Schaefer said. “This places ICANN in a bit of a conundrum because it could spend considerable time and resources fighting in courts and possibly paying penalties.”

“To protect itself, ICANN could seek out protection from antitrust in another way than the U.S. government contract through a relationship with the [UN International Telecommunication Union] or other UN organizations, which also have legal protections and immunities under international law,” he said.

There is no indication that the agency has conducted legal or policy analysis related to ICANN antitrust issues, according to the documents obtained by Americans for Limited Government.

“Because the NTIA failed to explore the antitrust issue and ask Congress to pass legislation granting ICANN some limited antitrust protections before our relationship ends, they are placing ICANN in legal jeopardy,” Schaefer said. “The irony is that this negligence could lead ICANN to explore a relationship with the UN or the ITU, which the NTIA says that it strongly opposes and most in the ICANN community agree would be the worst possible outcome because it would create greater opportunity for governments to control Internet content.”