OpenAI Launches Stargate Community Plan to Offset Energy Costs and Support Local Power Infrastructure 
Apple China Holiday Sale Offers Discounts Up to 1,000 Yuan on Popular Devices 
Nintendo Stock Jumps as Switch 2 Becomes Best-Selling Console in the U.S. in 2025 
Court Allows Expert Testimony Linking Johnson & Johnson Talc Products to Ovarian Cancer 
Bolsonaro to Be Moved to Papuda Prison After Supreme Court Order 
Supreme Court to Hear Cisco Appeal on Alien Tort Statute and Human Rights Liability 
Supreme Court Signals Doubts Over Trump’s Bid to Fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook 
FTC Blocks Edwards Lifesciences’ JenaValve Acquisition in Major Antitrust Ruling 
Elon Musk Seeks $134 Billion in Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Microsoft Over Alleged Wrongful Gains 
New York Sues Trump Administration Over Offshore Wind Project Freeze Impacting Clean Energy Goals 
Federal Judge Clears Way for Jury Trial in Elon Musk’s Fraud Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Microsoft 
New York Judge Orders Redrawing of GOP-Held Congressional District 
U.S. Prosecutors Investigate Fed Chair Jerome Powell Over Headquarters Renovation 
Publishers Seek to Join Lawsuit Against Google Over Alleged AI Copyright Infringement 
Apple Stock Jumps as Company Prepares Major Siri AI Chatbot Upgrade 
Boeing Reaches Tentative Settlement With Canadian Victim’s Family in 737 MAX Crash Lawsuits 
Right now, the U.S. has control over the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers or ICANN, which is an organization that records all domain names and their corresponding IP addresses. This control is about to expire come Friday with no hope of it getting renewed. The ICANN will gain true independence.
For 18 years, the ICANN has maintained control over what was essentially the address book of the internet, ensuring that every domain name will have a coordinated number match. Throughout those years, the U.S. has had a lot of influence over how the organization worked, USA Today reports. Once the contract with the U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration ends on September 30th, this will no longer be the case.
Ever since the possibility of the U.S. losing control over such an important aspect of the smooth functioning of the internet was brought up, politicians in favor of renewing it have been lobbying to do just that. Among the most prominent of these public figures is Senator Ted Cruz, Texas-R, who considers the move a threat to internet freedom.
Many in the Republican Party are particularly incensed at the idea of giving up control over the organization, saying that it’s giving away the internet. Unfortunately for them, the ICANN, as well as the Commerce Department, believe otherwise, Ars Technica reports.
Since its inception, the organization was always meant to be a completely independent body at some point. This should have actually happened earlier, but it was put on hold during the Bush administration.
In a statement, the ICANN stated that not only does America not own the organization right now, it never has. More than that, nothing will change once the contract expires.
"The US government has never, and has never had the ability to, set the direction of the (ICANN) community’s policy development work based on First Amendment ideas," the statement reads. "Yet that is exactly what Senator Cruz is suggesting. The US government has no decreased role. Other governments have no increased role. There is simply no change to governmental involvement in policy development work in ICANN."
