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Private equity firm buys .org domain months after ICANN lifted price caps, Ars Technica

Private equity firm buys .org domain months after ICANN lifted price caps, Ars Technica


      Cashing in –

             

ICANN eliminated price protections for .org domain owners earlier this year.

      

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The word DOT ORG written in vintage wooden letterpress type in a wooden type drawer.

Enlarge/The word DOT ORG written in vintage wooden letterpress type in a wooden type drawer.

Public Internet Registry, a subsidiary of a nonprofit called the Internet Society, has managed the .org domain since 2002. Earlier this year, ICANN asked for public comment on a new contract for the organization. The most significant change was the elimination of provisions limiting price increases for .org domain owners.

According toone tally, more than 3, 00 0 parties wrote in opposing the removal of price caps. Only six comments supported the change. Yet ICANN ignored this lopsided response andapproved the contractin June. At the time, the PIR said that it had “no specific plans for any price changes.”

But earlier this month,PIR announcedthat its parent organization, the Internet Society, was selling PIR to the private equity firm Ethos Capital.

“This transaction will provide the Internet Society with an endowment of sustainable funding and the resources to advance our mission on a broader scale as we continue our work to make the Internet more open, accessible and secure, “the Internet Society said.

The announcement was little noticed at the time — I only heard about it after seeing astory in the Registerabout the transaction. The Register story, which is worth reading in full, notes that Ethos Capital has a number of close connections to former ICANN officials.

PIR insists that it “will continue to meet the highest standards of public transparency, accountability, and social performance in line with its longstanding purpose-driven mission. “

But notably absent from the announcement is any commitments to limit future price increases. That means there’s a risk that Ethos Capital could dramatically raise prices for .org customers in the coming years.

It’s not clear if ICANN has any authority to block the transaction or impose additional protections for .org domain holders. It’s also unclear who must approve the transaction, or when the deal will finally close. Ars has reached out to ICANN, the Internet Society, and PIR asking for comment about the possibility of price hikes and the process for completing the transaction, and we’ll update this story if we receive a response.

                                 

                  

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