The US lock of the Web – ache
The article argues that the US exerts disproportionate control over the global web through dominance in domain registries, certificate authorities, cloud infrastructure, and content platforms, creating a single point of failure that threatens a truly decentralized internet.
Background
- The article argues the US government — not big tech — holds ultimate power over the global web. Almost all critical internet infrastructure (DNS root servers, the IANA root zone, SSL/TLS certificate authorities, BGP, the .arpa zone) is under US jurisdiction, run by US-based entities like ICANN, Verisign, and the US Dept. of Commerce.
- ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) manages domain names and IP addresses. Though supposedly international, its final authority remains with the US via a contract with NTIA.
- The US can compel ICANN/Verisign to modify TLD registries, alter root zone files, or block domains — a structural "kill switch."
- Certificate Authorities (CAs) like Let's Encrypt and DigiCert are US-based and subject to US law, meaning the US could force them to issue forged HTTPS certificates for surveillance.
- BGP (internet routing) and .arpa (reverse DNS) are also US-managed. The author notes "Sovereign CAs" and DNS over HTTPS as partial mitigations, but says none fully escape US legal reach.