Protect Your Website’s .org Registration from Massive Price Hikes and Potential Censorship

Prices for nonprofit website addresses ending in .org may soon increase dramatically and censorship may become a distinct possibility because of two seemingly connected events. Earlier this year, the governing body overseeing the .org domain, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), removed price caps despite 97 percent of the more than 3,200 submitted comments expressing opposition. The removal leaves nonprofits vulnerable to abrupt, unanticipated, and significant cost increases at a moment’s notice. Then, in November 2019, the nonprofit Internet Society announced it had sold its ownership of the .org Public Interest Registry to a private equity firm, Ethos Capital.

The proposed sale would put the rights to more than 10 million domains in the hands of venture capitalists, who – without the longstanding cost controls in place to protect nonprofits – could take more than $750 million from nonprofit missions. The conversion of the .org registry to for-profit control raises the specter of corporate interests shutting down websites that do what nonprofits do: speak truth to power. A new letter sent to the Internet Society in opposition to the sale, which the National Council of Nonprofits and more than 11,000 others have already signed, also states, “Decisions affecting .org must be made with the consultation of the [nonprofit] community, overseen by a trusted leader. If the Internet Society can no longer be that leader, it should work with the [nonprofit] community and [ICANN] to find an appropriate replacement.”

Lawmakers are also seeking answers. U.S. Senators Wyden (D-OR), Blumenthal (D-CT), and Warren (D-MA), and Representative Eshoo (D-CA) sent a series of questions to the Internet Society and Ethos Capital, which responded with broad, nonbinding answers. The same Members, joined by Senator Markey and Representative Pocan, followed up by sending a separate letter to ICANN urging the rejection of the sale. Additionally, a new nonprofit was formed by several internet and nonprofit leaders to provide an alternative that would keep the .org registry managed by a nonprofit. 

On January 17, 2020, the National Association of State Charity Officials (NASCO) sent a letter expressing significant concerns about the proposed sale of the .org domain to a private equity firm.  Among those concerns are the potential removal of federal and state oversight of charitable assets, governance, and tax-exempt status; loss of the mission of serving the public interest online; the likelihood that a for-profit owner would maximize its profits at the expense of nonprofits; and the adverse impact on the credibility of the .org domain as an indication that content on websites is published “for reasons other than profit.”

ICANN had previously sent Internet Society and Ethos Capitol a series of questions regarding the sale, which re-started the clock for ICANN approval. ICANN and Public Interest Registry agreed on an extension to February 17, 2020. If the sale is approved by ICANN, the purchaser must also go before state court to explain Ethos’ intended conversion of charitable assets currently dedicated to public good into assets designed to generate profits.

What You Can Do

Nonprofits are encouraged to take one or more of the following actions to protect their .org domain names as well as the entire nonprofit community:

• Sign the letter in opposition to the sale found at SaveDotOrg.org.
• Watch and listen to a recording of a nonprofit community call (1:00:53) with the parties to the sale hosted by NTEN.
• Spread the word to colleagues in your organization who handle your websites and urge them to get engaged.

Letters

• Letter to the Internet Society in Opposition to the Sale, Open Community Letter, SaveDotOrg.org
• Letter to ICANN, Internet Society, Public Interest Registry, Ethos Capital, January 22, 2020.
• Letter to ICANN, Packet Clearing House, January 22, 2020.
• Letter to the Internet Society and ICANN, CEOs of Ten International Nonprofits, January 21, 2020.
• Letter to ICANN, National Association of State Charity Officials (NASCO), January 17, 2020. 
• Letter to Public Interest Registry Confirming Extension, ICANN, January 17, 2020.
• Letter to ICANN, Sens. Warren, Wyden, Blumenthal, and Markey, and Reps. Eshoo and Pocan, January 16, 2020.
• Response to Sens. Wyden, Blumenthal, and Warren and Rep. Eshoo, Internet Society, Public Interest Registry, Ethos Capital, January 6, 2020.
• Letter to ICANN, Address Supporting Organization, December 27, 2019.
• Letter to Internet Society, Public Interest Registry, and Ethos Capital, Sens. Wyden, Blumenthal, and Warren and Rep. Eshoo, December 23, 2019. 
• Letter to ICANN, United Nations Human Rights Council, December 20, 2019.
• Letter to U.S. Department of Commerce, ASAE, December 18, 2019.

Resources

• What a Sale of the .org Registry to a For-Profit Private Equity Firm Could Mean for Your Nonprofit, National Council of Nonprofits blog, January 22, 2020.
• Comments to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), National Council of Nonprofits, April 26, 2019.
• Community Call Recording: Internet Society Sale of Public Interest Registry / .ORG (1:00:53), NTEN (with co-presenters from Electronic Frontier Foundation and National Council of Nonprofits), December 5, 2019.
• Questions About .org, The Mozilla Blog, December 3, 2019.
• The .ORG Controversy, or How a Private Equity Company Will Manage a Nonprofit TLD, ICDSOFT, November 27, 2019. 

Articles

• The Shaky Future of .org Domains, The New York Times, January 27, 2020.
• SaveDotOrg Supporters Protested Outside ICANN, NonProfit Times, January 24, 2020.
• Sale of Dor-Org to Venture Capital Firm Draws Ire From Lawmakers, Charity Regulators, and Nonprofit Leaders, Chronicle of Philanthropy, January 23, 2020.
• ISOC's broken funding model and profligate spending, Domain Name Wire, January 22, 2020.
• Where We Are: The Pending Billion-Dollar .ORG Deal to Ethos Capital, NonProfit PRO, January 21, 2020.
• A Private Equity Firm Is Trying To Buy The .Org Domain. Now, Greenpeace, The ACLU, And Color Of Change Are Protesting, Buzzfeed News, January 21, 2020.
• State Charities Officials Want Stalling Of .ORG Sale, NonProfit Times, January 20, 2020.
• Don't give your dot-org domain away to a private company, Washington Post, January 17, 2020.
• ICANN Needs To Ask More Questions About the Sale of .ORG, Electronic Frontier Foundation, January 17, 2020.
• Internet Nonprofit Leaders Fight Deal to Sell Control of .org Domain, The New York Times, January 8, 2020.
• Inside the Billion-Dollar Battle Over .Org, The New York Times, January 7, 2020.
• Co-op aims to block PIR sale to venture firm, NonProfit Times, January 7, 2020.
• Nonprofits Prepare for Fight Over Future of Dot-Org Domain, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, December 13, 2019.
• The internet’s .org registry is snatched up by a private equity firm, provoking outrage, Los Angeles Times, December 12, 2019.
• Sale of .org domain to private equity firm sparks battle over internet freedom, Financial Times, November 28, 2019.
• A private equity firm is buying all of the .org domains. Here’s what that means, CNN, November 27, 2019.
• As pressure builds over .org sell-off, internet governance orgs fall back into familiar pattern: Silence, The Register, November 26, 2019.
• Nonprofits Fight Sale of .org Registry, NonProfit Times, November 22, 2019.
• .org Websites Face Uncertain Future, Politico, November 22, 2019.
• Price Increases Expected After .org Registry Sold, NonProfit Times, November 21, 2019. 
• Nonprofits Fear Cost of .org Domain Names Will Rise Sharply, Wall Street Journal, November 20, 2019
• Internet world despairs as non-profit .org sold for $$$$ to private equity firm, price caps axed, The Register, November 20, 2019.