Why do international organizations WANT control of something they did not create, and something nobody really has any serious problems with?

China, of course, has obvious political motivations. I'd guess there are a handful of fragments of the former Soviet Union with similar ideas. But after reading the piece Mary Anne linked to -- which spoke almost exclusively of China -- I asked myself nearly the same question you did, Tom:

"Why would the EU want control of the Internet, as they are all ostensibly committed to the same fundamental liberties as the US?"

The first answer that came to me yesterday, and the only one that lingers: They see it as a source of revenue, which right now is entirely in the hands of the private sector.

Mind you, I'm no expert on the economics of being an ISP or a web host, but I'm fairly certain that anyone with the infrastructure can enter the market without licensing or inspections. I also understand (please, correct me if I'm wrong) that domain names are owned by individual entities, whether private citizens or corporations, and that annual renewal of ownership is a relatively minor cost. In other words: it's no more complicated than opening, say, a bookstore (since the commodity is information, a bookstore is probably the best analogy).

That might change, if countries with histories of state-owned utility monopolies gain the opportunity to apply the same tactic to what has become as important a "utility" as telephone and electric service.