11/22/2019

.Org Domain Sold to Private Equity Firm

The online costs for these domains may skyrocket

The Ohio Society of Association Executives (OSAE), the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and other nonprofit organizations are concerned about increased online costs after the recent sale of the .org domain to a private equity firm called Ethos Capital LLC.

Last week, Public Interest Registry said it reached an agreement to be acquired by Ethos for an undisclosed price. The deal is expected to close early next year. Public Interest Registry has managed the .org domain registry since 2002. There are roughly 10 million .org domains in operation, including most web addresses used by associations.

The concern that Ethos will raise the fee to renew domain names has heightened since the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a global entity that manages the Internet’s address system, took steps in June to remove the longstanding price cap of 10 percent for renewal of .org domain names. ASAE submitted comments to ICANN earlier this year arguing that removing the price cap would expose the vast association and tax-exempt sector to exploitative pricing in the years ahead. ICANN reasoned that competition will keep prices in check, but associations with established web addresses will not risk changing their web address and losing their online identity.

“Stating that nonprofit organizations can easily switch from one domain name to another if they don’t like the pricing structure ignores the reality that established nonprofits have a longstanding Internet presence built on a .org domain name – a name and online reputation that the organization (not the registry operator) has spent decades cultivating,” ASAE said in its comments.

The ICANN contract allows existing registrants to renew their domain names for up to 10 years at current prices before price hikes take effect but ASAE believes this only delays the inevitable pricing instability to come.

A spokesperson for Ethos told The Wall Street Journal this week that the firm is committed to reasonable pricing for domain name renewals, but ASAE added its name to a coalition letter this week urging the Internet Society to stop the sale of Public Interest Registry to Ethos.

“A registry could abuse these powers to do significant harm to the global NGO sector,” the letter states. “We cannot afford to put them into the hands of a private equity firm that has not earned the trust of the NGO community. .Org must be managed by a leader that puts the needs of NGOs over profits.”

This article was provided to OSAE by the Power of A and ASAE's Inroads.