AP EXPLAINS: What's at stake as US cedes internet control

NEW YORK (AP) — On Saturday, the U.S. government plans to cede control of some of the internet's core systems — namely, the directories that help web browsers and apps know where to find the latest weather, maps and Facebook musings.

No single government, business, organization or individual controls all the computers and pipelines making up the internet.

[...] the network relies on an addressing system called the domain name system, or DNS, which includes directories that help route data like email and web requests where it needs to go.

[...] DOES THE U.S. RUN THAT SYSTEM?

Since 1998, an organization called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has overseen the directories, mostly by setting rules and creating mechanisms for settling disputes.

Late Wednesday, the attorneys general from Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma and Nevada — all Republicans — filed a federal lawsuit to block the transfer because of worries it might affect government websites ending in ".gov."

[...] critics objected to letting authoritarian regimes like Iran and China get equal votes on matters affecting speech.

The directories themselves aren't changing, and people don't interact directly with domain names as often in the era of Google searches, phone apps and Facebook links.

[...] few people would even know about the transition were it not for the noise from Capitol Hill.

Republican critics claim that the transition would give countries like Russian and China the ability to control online speech — something supporters of the transition plan deny given the multi-party approach.