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

SAN FRANCISCO: A group of prominent internet pioneers is mobilizing to block the $1.1 billion 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 U.S. nonprofit Internet Society via the Public Interest Registry (PIR). In November, the Internet Society unexpectedly announced 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.

In a move to press the U.S.-based ICANN to block the sale, prominent internet executives told Reuters they have created a nonprofit cooperative they are offering as an alternative owner of .org.