I don't really follow ICANN news. I have some vague idea that they've made some questionable moves over the past several years.

I know nothing of the Obama administration's involvement.

Could somebody translate the article into a form I understand? ICANN manages the sale/assignment of IP addresses and manages the Root DNS Servers, right?

How does USA currently control them and what does the proposed change mean?

Wasn't able to read the article since it was paywalled, but I'd guess this Economist piece is on the same matter: http://www.economist.com/news/international/21693922-organis...

"The Internet as we know it won’t survive if other governments get their way."

Here's a quick recap from TechDirt on the kind of Internet the author of this article would prefer:

https://www.techdirt.com/blog/?tag=gordon+crovitz

Background:

http://www.ipjustice.org/internet-governance/ip-justice-jour...

>It’s up to Congress to block a surrender that could give control to authoritarian rulers.

Oh, the irony!

google link to bypass paywall [1]

[1]:https://www.google.com/#q=http:%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%...