The international umbrella organization for the maintenance of the Internet infrastructure, the Internet Society (ISOC), wants to sell the registry organization for the administration of the .org domain to a private investor. ISOC and ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which is responsible for IP addresses and the domain name system, have attracted criticism from several quarters. The potential buyer Ethos Capital now apparently wants to take a step towards the critics and accept rules against excessive fee increases as well as an external supervisory body with veto rights, reports Business Wire.
Independent committee with veto power
If Ethos Capital acquires the .org registrar Public Interest Registry (PIR) from ISOC for more than half a billion US dollars, the company will be subject to legally binding rules to prevent drastic fee increases for non-commercial domain holders, according to a report by Business Wire. Ethos Capital would also accept an independent management committee ("ORG Stewardship Council") which would have a veto right on changes to PIR policies on censorship, freedom of speech and the use of user data (domain holders). ISOC, to which PIR reports its surpluses, has justified the planned sale by arguing that it needs to overcome its dependence on the domain business in order to broaden its financial base.
Within ICANN there are different views on the proposed sale, which is currently under consideration. For example, user representatives had warned that the sale could not be decided by ICANN without a hearing. The Attorney General of California recently looked into the matter and now wants to know from ICANN how the non-profit organisation PIR is to be transformed into a commercial enterprise. The Attorney General of Pennsylvania has already written to ISOC, PIR and Ethos Capital with questions. The Verge reports that PIR intends to continue its review of the sale until 20 March, after the ICANN meeting in Cancun from 7 to 12 March, which is expected to be an online conference due to the coronavirus
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