Texas Sues Obama Administration To Prevent Transfer Of Internet Oversight

AUSTIN, TX — For the second time in nine days, Texas filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration — the latest litigation on Thursday filed to prevent the transfer of oversight of the internet to an international organization.

Officials with the Obama administration's National Telecommunications & Information Administration previously said they would transfer internet domain name authority on Oct. 1 to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

The plan effectively privatizes the internet's governance, as Fortune magazine asserted. Last month, federal government officials announced final plans for the transfer of control to ICANN.

NTIA officials insist the move won’t affect internet users in any meaningful way, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Rather, it's seen as a necessary step designed to prevent governance fragmentation among nations as the internet continues to grow and expand, the WSJ report reads.

Republican members of Congress beg to differ. They see the move as a federal government "giveaway" that will lead to monopolized web domain pricing, Fortune reported. Among those objecting to the transfer is Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who joined like-minded colleagues in sending a letter to the White House strongly objecting to the transfer.

The dissenters' main point of contention: The internet domain name registration company Verisign, with which ICANN works exclusively in registering web domains. In transferring the federal government's domain naming process to ICANN, it effectively awards Verisign exclusive authority to to name its own price for the domain name registration process, lawmakers opposed to the transfer complained in their letter.

On Thursday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton joined the fray with Texas' preferred mode of expressing dissent with the Obama administration: litigation. The AG is joined by his counterparts in Arizona, Oklahoma and Nevada in the lawsuit preventing a halt to the scheduled internet governance transfer.

In a press advisory announcing his lawsuit, Paxton paints a more sinister picture than price control should the transfer take effect, saying ICAAN "...lists several authoritarian regimes as advisors [sic] to its board."

Paxton's office contends the scheduled transfer is also unconstitutional. "The Obama Administration’s decision violates the Property Clause of the U.S. Constitution by giving away government property without congressional authorization, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by chilling speech, and the Administrative Procedure Act by acting beyond statutory authority," the advisory reads.

In summation, Paxton reiterated his contention that the move would hand control to unnamed authoritarian regimes.

“Trusting authoritarian regimes to ensure the continued freedom of the internet is lunacy,” Paxton said in a prepared statement. “The president does not have the authority to simply give away America’s pioneering role in ensuring that the internet remains a place where free expression can flourish.”

A copy of Paxton's complaint can be viewed here.

This is roughly the 45th time Texas has sued the Obama administration over a proposed measure — a brisk pace of litigation of which Gov. Greg Abbott and others have boasted.

Just nine days ago, Texas sued Obama over a proposed "overtime rule" intended to broaden the number of workers eligible for overtime pay. And in August, the state sued the federal government effort to prohibit the denying or limitation of health coverage for transgender individuals.

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