Last week the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) denied a bid by Ethos Capital LLC to purchase the Public Interest Registry (PIR) from the Internet Society (ISOC). PIR oversees millions of .ORG addresses for non-profit organizations, many of whom own multiple domains. The 2019 proposal was met with much dispute, with opponents arguing the fees could rise significantly after the ICANN removed longstanding caps on renewal fees for domains. The San Antonio Chamber has tracked this issue closely, raising concerns for several months that the potential for increased fees would harm organizations’ abilities to project these operating expenses.
In a statement released by ICANN, they said, “After completing its evaluation, the ICANN Board finds that the public interest is better served in withholding consent as a result of various factors that create unacceptable uncertainty over the future of the third largest gTLD registry.” PIR has controlled the .ORG registry since 2002.
Your Chamber is pleased with the decision by ICANN and believes that it is a win for non-profit organizations that offer support services for individuals across every community in this country.
