Inside the Billion-Dollar Battle Over .Org
A private equity firm wants to buy the internet domain used by nonprofits. A group of online pioneers says it is not the place to maximize profits.
By Steve Lohr • Jan. 7, 2020, 4:17 p.m. ET
Two months ago, Ethos Capital, a private equity firm, announced that it planned to buy the rights to a tract of internet real estate for more than $1 billion.
But it wasn’t just any piece of digital property. It was dot-org, the cyber neighborhood that is home to big nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations like the United Nations (un.org) and NPR (npr.org), and to little ones like neighborhood clubs.
The deal was met with a fierce backlash. Critics argued that a less commercial corner of the internet should not be controlled by a profit-driven private equity firm, as a matter of both principle and practice. Online petitions and letters of concern came from hundreds of organizations, thousands of individuals and four Democrats in Congress, including Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Rarely has the acronym-strewn realm of internet addresses — so-called domain names — stirred such passion.
Now, a group of respected internet pioneers and nonprofit leaders is offering an alternative to Ethos Capital’s bid: a nonprofit cooperative corporation. The incorporation papers for the new entity, the Cooperative Corporation of .ORG Registrants, were filed this week in California.
The goal of the group is not only to persuade the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which oversees internet domain names, to stop the sale. It is also to persuade ICANN to hand it the management of dot-org instead.
“This is a better alternative,” said Esther Dyson, who served as the first chair of ICANN, from 1998 to 2000, and is one of seven directors of the new cooperative. “If you’re owned by private equity, your incentive is to make a profit. Our incentive is to serve and protect nonprofits and the public.”
Since 2003, dot-org has been run by the Public Interest Registry [ PIR], which is controlled by the Internet Society, a nonprofit that helps develop internet standards, education programs and policy. The registry holds a contract to manage dot-org, which was renewed last year for 10 more years. With a sale to Ethos Capital, the Internet Society would gain an endowment to fund its operations and get out of the business of operating dot-org.
In buying the Public Interest Registry, Ethos Capital [ FOR PROFIT HEDGE FUND] would acquire the rights to run dot-org and collect annual fees from the nearly 10.5 million registered dot-org names, held by both nonprofits and domain-name speculators. Those yearly fees are $10 to $20 on average, but can be far higher for big sites that buy several names to protect their brand and get added services like security against online attacks.
Opponents of the private-equity sale said they feared that to make an attractive profit on its pricey deal, Ethos Capital would have to raise prices, cut expenses, skimp on service — and most likely sell users’ data.
Ethos Capital said those concerns were unfounded.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/07/technology/dot-org-private-equity-battle.html
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More on that:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/07/technology/dot-org-private-equity-battle.html
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ISOC, PIR, and Ethos respond to Wyden, Blumenthal, Warren and Eshoo Questions on Sale of .ORG
To see the full response letter,
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5dd7f6113c431419c139b89d/t/5e14dbe2e375184c7b0a12a6/1578425314581/ISOC_PIR_Ethos_Letter_Response_06Jan2020.pdf
“…Page 2 of 5even though, when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers(ICANN)awarded the operation of .ORG to the Internet Society in 2002, that agreement did not require that .ORG be operated by a non-profit entity or by a non-governmental organization. In fact, from 1993 to 2003, .ORG was operated by a for-profit company.”
Learn about DOMAIN NAME HISTORY, SAIC, John Postal, tld, IANA, Internic, IP INDEX …
Internet is that nobody owns it. ICANN’s contract with the
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-History.html
.orgs should NOT be made to pay ETHOS the highest rates ever to make the most profit !!!
History of the – Fee for Registration of Domain Names
ICANN’S DEALS OVER .ORG IN THE PAST
ETHOS CAPITAL deserves the Poop in My Fingernails song
Educational CyberPlayGround: All about ICANN.
How does all that happen? 2015 ICANN.Sucks web domains are
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-icann.html
Educational CyberPlayGround: What is ICANN? What does it really do? What does the …
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https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-icann_really.html
Educational CyberPlayGround: ABOUT ICANN – Overcoming ICANN:Forging Better Paths…
Internet policy development, implementation, and management. ICANN
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-icann-Letter.html
Educational CyberPlayGround: All about ICANN.
contract with the newly formed ICANN.. It would agree to be
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-icann-Fractures.html
Educational CyberPlayGround: ICANN Bucharest org bids, icannatlarge.com, Esther…
DoC running the DNS without ICANN, as if this is something to
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-icann-Bucharest.html
Educational CyberPlayGround: ICANN,KARL ARUERBACH DAVID FARBER PERTER NEUMANN…
He ran on a platform that criticized ICANN and vowed reform.
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-icann-smoking-gun.html
Educational CyberPlayGround: New ICANN top Level Domain names cost US $185,000.
used to be CFO for ICANN. – – Donuts – co-founder Dan Schindler
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-icann-new-domain-names.html
Educational CyberPlayGround: Porn sites get their own domain.xxx name.
Engines are already cencoring them. 6/25/10 ICANN, the not-for-
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-xxx-Domain.html
Educational CyberPlayGround: EPIC, ICANN, Network Solution, The Drivers Privacy…
has received only passing attention during the discussion of ICANN
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-whois-sale.html
Educational CyberPlayGround: DOMAIN NAME – Internet Corporation for Assigned…
Assigned numbers IANA and ICANN. ICANN was established in 1998
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-Domain_Name.html
Educational CyberPlayGround: ICANN announces 10 new top level domain name…
News/politics/0,1283,40228,00.html ICANN: The Winners Are …
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-10-new-domains-xxx.html
Educational CyberPlayGround: ICANN Stirring the “Dot-Whatever” Pot by Gary Chapman
users around the world voted five new at-large members onto ICANN
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-gary-chapman.html
Educational CyberPlayGround: ICANN – Which business registers & owns top level…
If true, this is a serious breach of ICANN‘s own rules and
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-icann-ORG.html
Educational CyberPlayGround: What is ICANN? What does it really do? What does the …
What is ICANN? What does it really do? What does the media
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-icann-takes-over-time-zone.html
Educational CyberPlayGround: The DOT Campaign: Making “.us” work for all of US by …
international policy for domain names, ICANN has become a
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-kopp.html
Educational CyberPlayGround: ICANN Votes to Allow Voting
Geist I have just completed a study on the ICANN UDRP that may
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-icann-Panelist-Bias.html
How does the Internet work?
There is an actual key ceremony controlled by ICANN who assigns
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/
How does the Internet work?
There is an actual key ceremony controlled by ICANN who assigns
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Home_Internet.html
Educational CyberPlayGround: NETWORK SOLUTIONS TRYING TO STEAL THE INTERNET AGAIN?
President and CEO — roberts@icann.org The Department of
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/Domain-Name-network-solutions-hoards.html