Private Equity Ghouls Buy Non-Profit That Handles .Org Domains

ronjor · Nov 14, 2019

Jennings Brown 14 Nov 2019

Ethos Capital did not respond to a request for comment on whether non-profits should be concerned that PIR could raise domain fees. In a public statement, Ethos CEO Erik Brooks said his company is “committed to ensuring complete continuity of PIR’s operations and enhancing the relationships PIR has established over the years,” adding that the company will continue “PIR’s longstanding partnerships and vendor affiliations to ensure domain operations run smoothly and without interruption.”
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zapjb · Nov 14, 2019

Another ** greed grab.

ronjor · Nov 22, 2019

Nonprofit Community Stands Together to Protect .ORG

By Elliot Harmon November 22, 2019
EFF and 26 other organizations just sent a letter to the Internet Society (ISOC) urging it to stop the sale of the Public Interest Registry (PIR)—the organization that manages the .ORG top-level domain—to private equity firm Ethos Capital. Our message is clear: .ORG is extremely important to the non-governmental organization (NGO) community, and our community should have a voice in decisions affecting the future of .ORG. From our letter:
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guest · Nov 25, 2019

Girl Scouts join protest over sale of .org domain
November 25, 2019
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50515786

They are among thousands of organisations and individuals concerned about the sale of the Public Internet Registry (PIR), which runs .org.
The scale of the protests have led the internet's overseer to look into the terms of the deal.

And the Internet Society has been sent almost 7,000 letters asking it to halt the sale of PIR to Ethos, as part of a campaign co-ordinated by the SaveDotOrg website.
Among the organisations to have sent them are the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Internet Archive, the National Council of Non-Profits, the Wikimedia Foundation and the American Alliance of Museums, as well as the Girl Scouts of America and the YMCA.

Separately, the Internet Commerce Association and domain register Netcheap have sent their own letters of complaint.
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guest · Nov 28, 2019

Why I Voted to Sell .ORG
November 27, 2019
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20191127_why_i_voted_to_sell_org/

Hi, I'm Richard. I've been around the Internet for a while. I work for Cisco now, and used to lead security for Firefox. I've published a few RFCs and served on the Internet Engineering Steering Group (the board of the IETF). I was a co-founder of Let's Encrypt and I currently serve on its board. I care about the Internet, and I care about nonprofits.

I'm also a member of the Board of the Internet Society, and in that role, I joined the board's unanimous decision to sell the Public Interest Registry (PIR), the registry for the .org top-level domain, to Ethos Capital. Since this transaction has gotten some attention, I'd like to speak a little about why, in my estimation, this deal is a good one for the Internet.
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The .ORG Sale Is a Radical Departure That Puts the Internet at Risk
November 28, 2019
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20191...radical_departure_that_puts_internet_at_risk/

ISOC should not have the right to sell .ORG. It was given that right by the community. It promised that it would work with the community. It should be the community that agrees with what happens next. That is the approach aligned with historical practice.
But instead of doing that, 13 people on the ISOC Board have decided that they know best. They abruptly sold .ORG with no prior consultation. This, in no way, approaches any model for Internet Governance.

Everything I have worked on since I left the United Nations fought against this kind of top-down decision-making. It injects a huge amount of instability and risk. This is the decision-making that will destroy the very processes that keep the Internet stable.
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guest · Dec 1, 2019

Internet Society CEO: Most people don't care about the .org sell-off – and nothing short of a court order will stop it
November 29, 2019
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/11/29/isoc_ceo_dot_org_sale/

Your correspondant asked Sullivan whether he expected the amount of criticism from the internet community that has erupted in recent days.

"I did expect some people to be unhappy with the decision, I expected some pushback," he told The Register, adding: "But the level of pushback has been very strong."
Overblown
But when we pressed him on the fact that the concerns seem much deeper and broader than that – one ISOC Chapter has accused the organization of "severely harming" its reputation "by even contemplating this transaction" – he rejected the idea.

"I think claims that there has been an outpouring of support against the sale are overblown. If you look there is a relatively small number of people complaining. We may be overstating the feeling; most people haven't noticed. Most people don't care one way or another."
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longshots · Dec 1, 2019

Planned .Org Registry Sale Puts The Pirate Bay at Risk
https://torrentfreak.com/planned-org-registry-sale-puts-the-pirate-bay-at-risk-191129/

guest · Dec 2, 2019

Powerful internet authority says it’s powerless to stop billion dollar .org takeover
December 1, 2019
https://mashable.com/article/dot-org-private-equity-sale-icann-update/

The private equity takeover of one of the internet’s biggest domain name extensions is growing more convoluted by the day.
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the organization empowered to manage the internet’s domain name system, has said it will not stop the sale of the .org top level domain (TLD) extension from a nonprofit to a private equity firm.

In a statement to the Financial Times, ICANN says that it "does not have authority over the proposed acquisition" and that its role is to simply "assure the continued operation of the .org domain."

On Friday, the sale price of the .org extension to the private equity firm, Ethos Capital, was disclosed: $1.135 billion.
Furthermore, the connections between current and former CEOs at Ethos Capital, ICANN, and the .org registry in the lead up to this sale is a tangled mess, with major players in the acquisition trading various managerial roles at each organization over the years
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guest · Dec 15, 2019

ICANN Delays .Org Sale Approval, Calls For More Transparency
ICANN Blog: .ORG Update

On 14 November 2019, PIR formally notified ICANN of the proposed transaction. Under the .ORG Registry Agreement, PIR must obtain ICANN’s prior approval before any transaction that would result in a change of control of the registry operator. Typically, similar requests to ICANN are confidential; we asked PIR for permission to publish the notification and they declined our request.

Public announcements made by PIR, ISOC, and Ethos Capital contain relevant facts that were not required in the request for approval. Today, we sent PIR an additional information request to ensure that we have a full understanding of this proposed acquisition. We have asked PIR to provide information [...]
ICANN will thoroughly evaluate the responses and then ICANN has 30 additional days to provide or withhold its consent to the request. The Registry Agreement requires a standard of reasonableness for ICANN’s determination.

We acknowledge the questions and concerns that are being raised and directed to ISOC, PIR, and ICANN relating to this change. To ease those concerns and maintain trust in the .ORG community, we urge PIR, ISOC, and Ethos Capital to act in an open and transparent manner throughout this process. We have sent a letter to both ISOC and PIR today, asking them to please be clear and open in all of their communications.
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ICANN takes its responsibility in evaluating this proposed transaction very seriously. We will thoughtfully and thoroughly evaluate the proposed acquisition to ensure that the .ORG registry remains secure, reliable, and stable.
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ronjor · Dec 18, 2019

The internet’s name regulator says it’s ‘uncomfortable’ with the .org deal

By Kim Lyons Dec 17, 2019
ICANN can’t kill the deal but it could slow things down
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guest · Dec 22, 2019

Global NGO Community Demands a Stop to the Sale of .ORG
December 19, 2019
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/12/global-ngo-community-demands-stop-sale-org

Over 500 organizations and 18,000 individuals have signed a letter urging the Internet Society to stop the private equity takeover of the Public Interest Registry (PIR), the organization that manages the .ORG top-level domain.
Censorship as a Service
One of the NGO community’s primary concerns is that the new RA lets the registry implement new processes to suspend organizations’ domains, and that a for-profit company is likely to take advantage of those powers if it becomes lucrative to do so.
The new RA contains language about suspending domain names based on accusations of “activity contrary to applicable law.” We don’t know how Ethos and PIR plan to implement those policies [...]

The new RA also gives the registry owner the ability to implement new enforcement processes to protect “the legal rights of third parties.” We have some evidence of how registry owners have used those powers in the past.
ICANN Stop It
Fortunately, ICANN is taking action to review the sale.
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guest · Dec 23, 2019

Congress worries sale of .org could harm non-profits
They want assurances this won't limit access to a crucial internet domain
December 23, 2019
https://www.engadget.com/2019/12/23/congress-letter-over-dot-org-domain-concerns/

Control over the .org internet domain is close to changing hands, and American politicians aren't happy. Senators Richard Blumenthal, Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden have joined Rep. Anna Eshoo in sending a letter demanding answers over the Internet Society's sale of .org and the Public Interest Registry (which manages the domain) to a private equity firm, Ethos Capital.

The congresspeople want everyone involved to both outline how transparent they'll be as well as assurances that they'll keep the domain accessible, neutral and safe for non-profits.
The Senate-led group was particularly concerned that any price hikes for .org should be "reasonable," and that policies will both respect the non-profit community and get input on issues like costs.

The recipients have until January 6th, 2020 to answer the questions. It's not certain that they'll get satisfactory answers or take action if the organizations fall short of expectations.
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guest · Jan 5, 2020

The Number Resource Organization (NRO) Issues Inspection Request to ICANN Concerning the .ORG Sale
December 31, 2019
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20191231_nro_issues_inspection_request_to_icann_for_dot_org_sale/

The Number Resource Organization (NRO), acting as the Address Supporting Organization (ASO), today announced it has submitted correspondence to ICANN regarding the Internet Society's proposed transfer of ownership of PIR, the .org registry, to Ethos Capital.
This is a historic step [...]

"ICANN's handling of this proposal to be an important Internet governance decision, with bearing on the community's trust in ICANN, and the legitimacy of the ICANN model."
NRO's formal request:

"As a Decisional Participant in the Empowered Community and pursuant to ICANN Bylaws section 22.7, the ASO hereby submits this Inspection Request to inspect the records of ICANN [...] for the purpose of determining whether the ASO's may have need to use its empowered community powers in the near future relating to the potential assignment of the .org Registry Agreement.
For this purpose, the ASO seeks to inspect any ICANN records which pertain to or provide relevant insight to the process by which ICANN will consider (and potentially approve) the assignment of the .org Registry Agreement [...]
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ronjor · Jan 8, 2020

Internet pioneers join forces to block the sale of .org domain

Mariella Moon, @mariella_moon 08 Jan 2020
Together, they formed the Cooperative Corporation of .ORG Registrants.
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Bill Woodcock · Jan 18, 2020

Hi. I ran across your thread on the .ORG takeover topic. I'm on the board of the Cooperative Corporation of .ORG Registrants, ccor.org, which was put together to represent .ORG domain holders, as an alternative to being sold out to private equity.

We've arrived at this situation because an organization that was supposed to be looking out for the .ORG domain reneged on that arrangement, and sold it out instead... We're trying to learn from that failure and come up with a solution that will be more permanent, so we aren't back here fixing this same problem again in a few years. The cooperative structure seemed like a good way to do that, because the board can't modify the Articles or Purposes once the membership is instantiated... and we've defined the membership as the full set of .ORG registrants, a majority of whom (six million globally) would have to vote to make any changes. There's a copy of the Articles at:

https://medium.com/@ccor/charitable...ative-alternative-for-org-domain-769b61b40de2

...and it should be downloadable from the California Secretary of State web site eventually. Your input would be appreciated. We'd like to make this document as strong as possible, before it's locked in and immutable.

If you all have any suggestions for us, or questions I can answer, please let me know.

-Bill Woodcock
CCOR board member
Packet Clearing House executive director

guest · Jan 18, 2020

ICANN Needs To Ask More Questions About the Sale of .ORG
January 17, 2020
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/01/icann-needs-ask-more-questions-about-sale-org

Over 21,000 people, 660 organizations, and now six Members of Congress have asked ICANN, the organization that regulates the Internet’s domain name system, to halt the $1.135 billion deal that would hand control over PIR, the .ORG domain registry, to private equity.

The process so far, including information that the buyer, Ethos Capital, provided to ICANN in late December, raises more questions than it answers. U.S. lawmakers are correct that “the Ethos Capital takeover of the .ORG domain fails the public interest test in numerous ways.”
ICANN Needs To Ask More Questions
As the group that controls the top level of the domain name system, ICANN has the power to stop .ORG from changing hands, and to name a new organization to steward that important resource. Before the deal goes any further, ICANN needs to ask more questions of ISOC and Ethos. We’ve compiled a handy list.
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ronjor · Jan 22, 2020

A Private Equity Firm Is Trying To Buy The .Org Domain. Now, Greenpeace, The ACLU, And Color Of Change Are Protesting.

Alex Kantrowitz January 21, 2020
They say that selling the .org top-level domain to a private equity firm would “irreparably harm global civil society.”
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guest · Jan 29, 2020

Blacknight boss calls for calm over .org sale to Ethos Capital
Neylon warns against "hyperbolic hysteria"
January 29, 2020
https://www.techcentral.ie/blacknight-backs-org-sale-to-ethos-capital/

Founder and CEO of domain registrar and Web hosting company Blacknight, Michele Neylon, has pushed back against concerns over the sale of the Internet’s Society’s sale of the Public Interest Registry’s .org domain to Ethos Capital for $1.1 billion.

Neylon, who sits on the GNSO council of ICANN, wrote on a company blog: “While many of those who have voiced concerns do so in sincerity, there are also some whose interests in .org aren’t quite that kosher. It’s pretty clear that some people and organisations are using the current debacle to raise their own profiles. While that in itself might not be such a bad thing, the level of hyperbolic hysteria surrounding the current situation is unhelpful.”
“The entire Internet industry faces many more pressing issues currently, such as censorship, child abuse, privacy and misinformation, among other things,” wrote Neylon.
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guest · Feb 1, 2020

Sale of .org domain registry delayed by California attorney general
January 31, 2020
https://mashable.com/article/california-attorney-general-dot-org-sale/

The .org domain takeover has been delayed, at least for now.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra sent a letter to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) demanding more information about the private equity takeover of the .org domain registry. The attorney general is seeking answers to 35 questions concerning the sale as well as documents sent between ICANN, private equity firm Ethos Capital, and Public Interest Registry (PIR), which manages the .org domain.
ICANN, the non-profit organization that oversees domain names, disclosed the letter on its website along with its own correspondence with PIR, informing it of the development.

ICANN says it's "fully cooperating" with the request.
As ICANN's letter states, it has terms in its contract with PIR which forbid the organization from disclosing information that the registry deems confidential unless required by law. ICANN clearly views the AG's letter as applicable.
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It’s a stunning development that certainly vindicates the concerns of non-profits, internet activists, and domain name holders.
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ICANN: ICANN Receives Letter from California Attorney General Regarding .ORG Change of Control

ronjor · Feb 21, 2020

Firm unveils new promises in bid to buy dot-org registry

Robert Jablon Associated Press February 21, 2020
A private equity firm has unveiled what it calls legally binding commitments designed to ease concerns that its proposed $1.1 billion private takeover of the dot-org domain-setting registry would lead to price gouging and censorship
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guest · Feb 27, 2020

Empty Promises Won’t Save the .ORG Takeover
February 26, 2020
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/02/empty-promises-wont-save-org-takeover

The Internet Society’s (ISOC) November announcement that it intended to sell the Public Interest Registry (PIR, the organization that oversees the .ORG domain name registry) to a private equity firm sent shockwaves through the global NGO sector.
Ethos finally responded last Friday with an announcement that its promises to limit price increases and establish a “stewardship council” would be written into the registry agreement.

In a letter published today in the Nonprofit Times, EFF Executive Director Cindy Cohn and NTEN CEO Amy Sample Ward explain why the proposed measures wouldn’t solve the many problems with the sale of .ORG: [...]
Cohn and Ward go on to explain that the limits on fee increases also fail to provide comfort to NGOs worried about price hikes: if Ethos raises prices as allowed by the proposed rules, the price of .ORG registrations would more than double over eight years.
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guest · Mar 6, 2020

.ORG Isn’t Broken, and We Don’t Need Private Equity to ‘Fix’ It
March 4, 2020
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/org-isnt-broken-and-we-dont-need-private-equity-fix-it

Ethos Capital—the private equity firm poised to purchase the .ORG domain registry for $1.1 billion—and Public Interest Registry (PIR, the entity Ethos wants to buy) have been attempting to respond to the concerns raised by the .ORG community.

Our post explained why that proposal doesn’t solve the problems with the planned sale. Since then, Ethos and PIR have hosted two webinars to discuss how their plan supposedly addresses the concerns that EFF and over 800 other organizations—along with Members of Congress, UN Special Rapporteurs, and state charity regulators [pdf]—have raised.

Nothing said on those webinars changed our analysis. Instead, they only further reinforced that Ethos’s plan for a for-profit PIR is one that’s unsound at its very foundation.
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The .ORG registry should decidedly not be in the business of taking risks with non-profits’ essential infrastructure by adding bells and whistles that no one is asking for.
In Conclusion, Ethos and PIR Want to Change Something That Works Into Something Untested
The for-profit PIR that Ethos envisions would be a fundamentally different organization than today’s PIR, and we have serious concerns about its business model and financial stability.
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guest · Apr 17, 2020

EFF, Other Nonprofits, and California’s Attorney General Tell ICANN To Stop The Private Equity Takeover of .ORG
April 16, 2020
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/...as-ag-tell-icann-stop-private-equity-takeover

ICANN, the organization at the top of the Internet’s domain name system, may be close to deciding whether the takeover of the .ORG domain registry by a private equity firm can go forward. EFF, along with the Domain Name Rights Coalition, NTEN, Access Now, and others, wrote to ICANN this week urging them to stop the sale.

Just today, the Attorney General of California (where ICANN is incorporated) wrote to ICANN urging it to reject the transfer, voicing the same concerns that EFF and others have raised. The Attorney General of Pennsylvania is still also investigating the deal and could step in to modify or block the sale regardless of what ICANN decides. Access Now and Packet Clearinghouse also wrote letters echoing this call.
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hawki · Apr 17, 2020

mood said: ↑

EFF, Other Nonprofits, and California’s Attorney General Tell ICANN To Stop The Private Equity Takeover of .ORG
April 16, 2020
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/...as-ag-tell-icann-stop-private-equity-takeover
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"ICANN delays .org sell off after California's attorney general intervenes at last minute, tears non-profit a new one over sale...

ICANN has again delayed a decision on the sale of the .org registry, pushing the issue off for another month multiple sources with knowledge of Thursday's meeting, have told The Register..."

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/17/icann_california_org_sale_delay/

guest · May 1, 2020

ICANN rejects sale of .org registry to for-profit investor group
May 1, 2020
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-icann-org-sale-idUSKBN22D4FV

A body overseeing web addresses said it has vetoed a $1.1 billion deal to sell control of domain names ending in .org to a private investment firm after an outcry from internet pioneers and officials including California’s attorney general.
In particular, it cited concerns that there would be a drive to reward Ethos stockholders while repaying $300 million in debt taken on during the transaction.

“The ICANN Board finds that the public interest is better served in withholding consent as a result of various factors that create unacceptable uncertainty,” the Los Angeles-based body said on its website.
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ICANN: ICANN Board Withholds Consent for a Change of Control of the Public Interest Registry (PIR)

EFF: Victory! ICANN Rejects .ORG Sale to Private Equity Firm Ethos Capital

In a stunning victory for nonprofits and NGOs around the world working in the public interest, ICANN today roundly rejected Ethos Capital’s plan to transform the .ORG domain registry into a heavily indebted for-profit entity. This is an important victory that recognizes the registry’s long legacy as a mission-based, non-for-profit entity protecting the interests of thousands of organizations and the people they serve.
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