Seems to me that somebody has to pay for the service and I'd rather pay for it myself rather than have the U.S. taxpayer foot the bill. Note that I am NOT a U.S. taxpayer, not yet anyway. But that saying about no taxation without representation cuts both ways. I'm quite happy to see the tax money, and therefore the U.S. government, out of the loop.
Inferencing the US govt. is out of the loop is a logical leap of faith. Tell me who owns the "." and why wouldn't the Feds of some denomination step in to "stabilize" the namespace. In other words, why would they risk such a valuable resource, built in the past with US taxpayer money, walk away to a potentially non-US private enterprise or a consortium. I'm just pointing out one more plausible outcome, not meaning to argue. Regards, Sanjay.