The agency has been a part of the U.S. Commerce Department since the Internet was fashioned, but President Obama has indicated that the agency will become independent of the U.S. government on October 1, when the current contract to operate it through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration expires.

The lawsuit filed by the states of Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, and Nevada, claims they will suffer ‘particularized and significant injury’ if that happens.

“This is because the States have no assurance that ICANN will not delete the .gov top-level domain name or otherwise increase costs for the states,” the lawsuit states.  “This lack of protection is an injury that will occur the moment NTIA relinquishes its contractural rights.”

“Such unbridled discretion, even without actual denial or revocation of a license, is factually unconstitutional,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Galveston.  “Plaintiffs request that this Court enjoin NTIA from ceding control of the root zone file to a private party without first ensuring that such control will have limits on the private party’s discretion that are consistent with the First Amendment.  If it relinquishes its contractural rights without such limits, NTIA’s actions will create an immediate First Amendment injury to the States and their citizens.”