30 votes

Ethos Capital has acquired the Public Interest Registry, manager of the .org top-level domain

7 comments

  1. [4]
    Deimos
    (edited )
    Link
    This is obviously a very PR-oriented blog post, but this does not seem good to me. A private equity company taking control of the TLD largely used by not-for-profits and similar organizations,...

    This is obviously a very PR-oriented blog post, but this does not seem good to me. A private equity company taking control of the TLD largely used by not-for-profits and similar organizations, after ICANN recently removed all price caps on .org domains is terrifying and could cause some major issues in the future for sites that are established on a .org domain.

    28 votes
    1. [3]
      mieum
      Link Parent
      If price caps are removed for .org domains, does that mean that there may be situations in which established .org websites may be forced to "pay higher rent" so to speak? Or would it only effect...

      If price caps are removed for .org domains, does that mean that there may be situations in which established .org websites may be forced to "pay higher rent" so to speak? Or would it only effect new registrations?

      8 votes
      1. [2]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. mieum
          Link Parent
          Thank you for such a thorough response!

          Thank you for such a thorough response!

          1 vote
      2. Deimos
        Link Parent
        I'm not sure. @ReapersGale's comment was good for explaining where the price increase could come from, but what we'd be worried about is option #1, where the registry itself can increase the...

        I'm not sure. @ReapersGale's comment was good for explaining where the price increase could come from, but what we'd be worried about is option #1, where the registry itself can increase the prices. We'd need to figure out what restrictions (if any) were put on the .org TLD as a whole or if there are any provisions for it in the contracts people agree to when they buy a domain (e.g. saying that the renewal cost won't increase by more than a certain amount over a period of time).

        Other TLDs are definitely already able to charge considerably higher fees though. Looking quickly on Namecheap, I can see multiple TLDs that cost $2000 USD per year: .protection, .security, .auto, .car, .cars, .inc. There are others that cost hundreds of dollars per year, and various other price-points. I'm only paying about $10/year for a .org, so that's a pretty huge range.

        4 votes
  2. heady
    Link
    I think it is absurd that a for-profit is able to acquire a non-profit public interest at all.

    I think it is absurd that a for-profit is able to acquire a non-profit public interest at all.

    25 votes
  3. JeanBaptisteDuToitIV
    Link
    They sound very trustworthy and ethical. I don't think there is anything to worry about.

    They sound very trustworthy and ethical. I don't think there is anything to worry about.

    1 vote