ICANN rejects sale of.org registry to for-profit investor group

Staff from the ICANN group setting up a virtual meeting space in Playa del Rey, California, March 6. On April 30, ICANN rejected a controversial bid to let a private equity firm control the .org online neighbourhood known as a haven for nonprofits. — AFP

SAN FRANCISCO: A body overseeing web addresses said it has vetoed a US$1.1bil (RM4.73bil) deal to sell control of domain names ending in.org to a private investment firm after an outcry from Internet pioneers and officials including California's attorney general.

The surprise plans by the Internet Society to sell the Public Interest Registry to a newly formed for-profit firm, Ethos Capital, announced in November, provoked alarm from many of the more than 10 million entities that use the.org suffix, associated with non-profit organisations.