Internet nonprofit leaders fight deal to sell control of .org domain

Hundreds of nonprofits have already objected to the transaction, worried that Ethos will raise registration and renewal prices, cut back on infrastructure and security spending, or make deals to sell sensitive data or allow censorship or surveillance. — Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO: A group of prominent Internet pioneers is mobilising to block the US$1.1bil (RM4.51bil) sale of control of the .org Internet domain, arguing that the takeover of .org by a newly formed private company would hurt the millions of nonprofits that rely on it.

Registrations for websites ending in .org have long been overseen by the US nonprofit Internet Society, which unexpectedly announced in November that it was selling control to a year-old company called Ethos Capital. The firm counts a recent former head of ICANN, the Internet's governing authority, as one of its advisers.