The board of the Internet Association for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICAAN) has rejected the sale of the Public Interest Registry to private equity firm Ethos.
Since 2003, PIR has operated the .ORG generic top-level domain (gTLD) as a not-for-profit organization, as well as six other gTLDs. Per the gTLD Registry Agreements, ICANN must either approve or withhold consent of a proposed change of control, the deadline for which is 4 May 2020.
After completing its evaluation, the ICANN Board finds that the public interest is better served in withholding consent as a result of various factors that create unacceptable uncertainty over the future of the third largest gTLD registry.
Good news for public organizations with .ORG websites. We don’t need another private company jacking up prices.
Check It Out: The ORG Domain Won’t Be Sold to a Private Entity After All
