The private-equity firm trying to buy the nonprofit that manages the dot-org internet domain registry last week announced additional steps it was taking to quell fears of nonprofits opposed to the sale.
Ethos Capital had previously pledged to limit price increases for nonprofits and take other steps designed to demonstrate accountability and allay objections to the transfer of control of the dot-org domain from nonprofit to for-profit ownership.
The changes from Ethos include a more detailed timeline for imposing price increases for dot-org domains plus several modifications to what the company calls its public-interest commitment.
But with a week to go until a key decision about the sale is expected on April 20 from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, nonprofit advocates said the announcements were hollow gestures designed to make the $1.1 billion sale easier to swallow.
“There is nothing that Ethos has done or said that alleviates any of the concerns of the dot-org community,” said Rick Cohen, chief communications and operations officer at the National Council of Nonprofits, which opposes the sale of Public Interest Registry, a nonprofit that manages the dot-org registry. “It’s window dressing. It’s just a matter of the company doing what it needs to do from a public-relations standpoint to make the sale go through.”
Avoiding Conflicts of Interest
In an announcement last week, Ethos said it had made changes to its public-interest commitment that detail planned price increases through 2027, saying they will rise from $9.93 per domain to $19.35 in that time.
The changes also specify that Ethos will have its .ORG Stewardship Council running within six months of the transfer. Ethos proposed the council in February, saying such a body would be a check against potential abuse. Ethos said the council would have oversight over some aspects of its administration of the dot-org registry, such as censorship issues and the sale of dot-org user data.
Among other changes announced in the update, Ethos said it would not allow any of its investors or any immediate family members of any Public Interest Registry staff to serve on the Stewardship Council.
Amy Sample Ward, CEO of NTEN, an organization that represents nonprofit technologists, fundraisers, and others, said the proposed changes to the commitment fell short. She pushed for Icann to hold a competitive public-bid process to determine the future of the Public Interest Registry.
She also said that putting out changes less than two weeks ahead of a decision left too little time for public input, especially with the coronavirus pandemic upending life across the globe. Icann public-comment periods on issues such as a change to a registry operator agreement are usually 30 days long.
“If PIR and Internet Society are no longer going to be the stewards of dot-org, then Icann should open a public process,” said Sample Ward.
If Icann signs off on the transaction April 20 by approving changes to the dot-org operating agreement, Sample Ward reiterated that her organization was still prepared to challenge the sale in Pennsylvania’s court system, where the Public Interest Registry is incorporated.
“No matter what happens, there will be lawyers involved, whether that’s PIR and Ethos’s lawyers fighting to keep this going or the courts in Pennsylvania deciding if this is really in the public interest,” she said.
Officials from Ethos declined a request to conduct a phone interview for this article.
