U.S. control of the Internet (Score 1)

The question is not, "Would the Internet still function without the U.S.?" but instead "Would the Internet still function without U.S. companies?" Shutting down U.S. ISPs would slow the routing of traffic, and would take some time for equipment to re-route, but it wouldn't stop the eventual delivery to most destinations. However, forcing backbone carriers such as IBM, UUNet, and PSINet *could* possibly bring the Internet to its knees since access over their network extends into all parts of the world.