Critics of a proposed sale of the nonprofit behind the dot-org web domain have gained some prominent allies over the past few days, including several Democratic lawmakers and a coalition of state charity regulators.
They are demanding that the organization in charge of assigning who manages online addresses halt a plan by Internet Society to sell its subsidiary nonprofit Public Interest Registry, which manages the dot-org web domain, to private-equity firm Ethos Capital for more than $1 billion.
On Wednesday, the executive directors of 11 major nonprofits released a letter at the Davos World Economic Forum calling on the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to block the sale.
“This proposed sale presents an additional danger to civil society and undermines the safety and stability of the digital space for countless nongovernmental organizations, their partners and their broader communities,” says the letter signed by heads of groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, Color of Change, Consumer Reports, Greenpeace International, Human Rights Watch, Sierra Club, and 350.org.
The potential sale of Public Interest Registry has raised a variety of concerns from major nonprofit activists, including fears of price increases for registering nonprofit websites, censorship, and data privacy. Representatives for Ethos have pushed back against those concerns, saying they remain committed to improving the dot-org registry and have promised to not raise prices more than an average of 10 percent per year.
Lawmakers Sign On
Activists opposed to the sale cheered a letter issued Friday from several Democratic lawmakers urging Icann to block the proposed sale. The letter, signed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Edward Markey, and Ron Wyden and Reps. Anna Eshoo and Mark Pocan, argues “the Ethos Capital takeover of the dot-org domain fails the public interest test.”
In another key development, the National Association of State Charities Officials last week issued a letter criticizing the proposed sale and asking for more time to review the matter.
“The conversion of PIR from a charitable to a for-profit enterprise, and the possible impacts it could have on the dot-org landscape, has the potential to undermine public faith in the charitable sector,” the letter says.
Rick Cohen, chief operating officer of the National Council of Nonprofits, welcomed the flurry of statements opposing the sale.
“The nonprofit community should be comforted in the fact that just about any person other than those who are parties to the sale see reason for concern,” said Cohen.
While the sale has generated a lot of heat from those opposed, the temperature came down a bit last week when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers announced it had reached an agreement with Public Interest Registry to extend by a month the consideration period of the sale. Now, a decision from Icann is expected no later than February 17. Icann’s board is scheduled to meet this week. Activists opposed to the sale are planning to protest outside Icann’s Los Angeles headquarters during its meeting on Friday.
