For-profit firm seeking to run .org names makes concessions

Protesters in Los Angeles outside the headquarters of the regulatory body for domain names, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. A private equity firm announced what it calls legally binding commitments designed to ease concerns that its proposed US$1.1bil private takeover of the dot-org domain-setting registry would lead to price gouging and censorship. — AP

LOS ANGELES: A private equity firm seeking to buy rights to operate the Internet's.org suffix said Feb 21 it will cap price hikes and create an advisory board with veto powers to ease concerns from the nonprofit community.

Ethos Capital has offered US$1.1bil (RM4.64bil) to buy the Public Interest Registry, the nonprofit corporation that runs the databases containing more than 10 million.org names registered worldwide. Organisations ranging from the Girl Scouts of the USA and Consumer Reports to the American Bible Society have opposed the sale, warning of potential price gouging and censorship. California's attorney general and four congressional members have also requested information to evaluate a deal's potential impact to nonprofits.