American non-profit organization The Internet Society (ISOC) , including the Public Interest Registry (PIR), which manages the .org domain zone. Created in the "public interest" for public organizations, the domain zone passes into the hands of the commercial firm Ethos Capital for an unknown amount. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter. 2020 (see ).
So a registry of 10 million domain names. org and cash flow management are given to a commercial company. Interestingly, five months ago ICANN . In support of its decision, ICANN provided two comments from the public. At the same time, during the public comment period, the organization received 3315 comments, of which (98,2%).
Critics say this was a pre-sale by ISOC and ICANN was misled (or colluded). Apparently, now the suspicions have been confirmed.
Ethos Capital, a newly formed private limited company, will acquire both ISOC and the PIR entity, which was formed in 2002 to manage the .org registry.
Everyone opposed the removal of price restrictions, including domain name registrars. It is now clear that if a registry is sold, price increases are almost inevitable. The main losers will be the current owners of .org domains. for which renewal prices will increase.
The managers who orchestrated the deal are pleased with the agreement: "This is an important and exciting development for both ISOC and the PIR registry," said Andrew Sullivan, President and CEO of Internet ISOC. "The deal will provide the Internet Society with sustainable funding and resources to advance our mission on a larger scale as we continue our work to make the Internet more open, accessible and secure."
However, not everyone is sure that PIR, as a non-profit organization, will continue to work in the same spirit. It is obvious that the new owner has other commercial interests.
Community concerns were expressed by the Internet Commerce Association in to ICANN. In fact, she took it upon herself to put into words what others do not say, although thoughts are in the air:
βOf course, now you can appreciate the terrible mistake you made. Critical policy decisions that have multi-billion dollar implications and that affect the stability of the Internet should be the subject of active board involvement and not left to ICANN staff.
If you were led to believe that depricing .org domain names was the smart thing to do because the registry would remain in the hands of a non-profit foundation, you have clearly been misled. If you have been led to believe that although you are the actual owner of the .org registry, you should somehow let your service providers quote prices for services, and not vice versa, you have been misled. If you've been told that .org domains have no commercial value in the community sector, you've been misled. If you've been told that competition from other gTLDs will keep .org prices down, you've been misled."
Section 7.5 of the registry agreement between the Public Interest Registry and ICANN states:
Except as set forth in this Section 7.5, neither party may assign any of its rights or obligations under this Agreement without the other party's prior written consent, which will not be unreasonably withheld.
Thus, ICANN has the right to block the transfer of the .org service contract, which it is being asked to do. The open letter ends with these words:
βIf your miscalculation of entering into a perpetual agreement without any price cap was based on the fact that the registry remains in the hands of an organization serving the public interest, then the planned sale of the registry to a commercial firm should cause you to reconsider your approach. Fortunately, the proposed sale of the .org registry gives you the option to withhold your permission, terminate the Registry Agreement after any completed transaction, and put the contract up for auction.
Where is the ICANN board when it comes to protecting the interests of non-profit organizations that have registered domains?β
In 2018, the Public Interest Registry generated about $101 million in revenue, of which nearly $50 million was donated to the Internet Society, up from $74 million the previous year.
A call to ICANN to terminate the contract with the registrar under clause 7.5 may be a cry to the void if ICANN members themselves are involved in this transaction. And there are such suspicions.
The founder and CEO of Ethos Capital is Eric Brooks, who until recently worked for an investment company . A year ago, Abry Partners acquired Donuts, the operator of the .guru, .software and .life domain zones, and 240 other TLDs. Akram Atallah, former President of ICANN's Global Domains Division, was appointed as the Executive Director of Donuts, while the Donuts co-founder took over as Executive Director of the Public Interest Registry. In addition, Ethos Capital employs former ICANN Senior Vice President Jon Nevett and former ICANN Executive Director Fadi ChehadΓ© is an advisor to Abry Partners, Domain Name Wire.
In other words, Abry Partners is "very well connected" to ICANN.
Ethos Capital itself was created quite recently, just before the deal to buy the .org zone. The domain name EthosCapital.com was registered at the end of October 2019.
Scheme with the employment of former officials in new commercial enterprises . For example, one of the main suppliers of DPI equipment for blocking Telegram and other services in Russia is the company RDP.ru, which owns 40% of the capital in the company "Traffic Technologies", created four days after the "sovereign Runet" bill was submitted to the State Duma. Another 60% belongs to the IT Invest company, where the former Deputy Minister of Communications Ilya Massukh worked as the general director.
It looks like these schemes can even work at the ICANN level.
Source: habr.com