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ICANN Rejects .ORG Sale to Private Equity Firm
- rvz 6y ago> The sale threatened to bring censorship and increased operating costs to the nonprofit world. As EFF warned, a private equity-owned registry would have a financial incentive to suspend domain names—causing websites to go dark—at the request of powerful corporate interests and governments. Exactly. That is the risk of what was going to happen had that went ahead. > This decision by ICANN is a hard-fought victory for nonprofit Internet users. But the .ORG registry still needs a faithful steward, because the Internet Society has made clear it no longer wants that responsibility. A triumphant victory to everyone involved in stopping this catastrophic sale.
- godzillabrennus 6y agoIf Ethos Capital is still looking to put their investor money to work in a manner that does subscribe to the same ethos I hear usury pays well. Maybe payday lending is in their future?
- brazzy 6y agoMy impression was that the only reason for Ethos Capital to exist was to hide that fact that key ISOC decision makers were giving .org at a bargain price to themselves and their buddies while getting rid of the pesky non-profit status at the same time. It doesn't actually have people with the skillset to manage an investment fund and will likely be wound down after failing its mission.
- detaro 6y agoprevious discussion when it happened: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23038637 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23038637
- thrwn_frthr_awy 6y agoIs this rejection a more final decision than withholding consent or is this the same decision?
- detaro 6y agoIt's the same thing: The article here is 17 days old and links the same ICANN press release that's the subject of the linked HN discussion.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- excerionsforte 6y ago"But the .ORG registry still needs a faithful steward, because the Internet Society has made clear it no longer wants that responsibility." Stopping the sale doesn't prevent a "distasteful" actor from acquiring it eventually. Definitely need to get on the road to picking a capable successor or else this will be for nothing.
- renewiltord 6y agoI'm told that CCOR doesn't plan on bidding in 2029 for .org (w/ or w/o Afilias) so this looks like a temporary thing at best. It doesn't look like there is a coherent alternative. Honestly, ISOC was on this path after they eliminated trustee elections.
- p0llard 6y agoThis is an old article referencing the event that happened several weeks ago, not a new development.
- dang 6y agoHere are some of the major threads on this ongoing topic. In reverse order: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23149732 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23149732 - What the heck happened with .org? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23038637 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23038637 - ICANN board withholds consent for a change of control of the .org registry https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22895784 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22895784 - ICANN delays .org selloff after California’s attorney general intervenes https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22363787 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22363787 - Internet Society told to halt .org sale by its own advisory council https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21931258 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21931258 - The NRO Issues Inspection Request to ICANN Concerning .ORG Sale https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21800085 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21800085 - ICANN Delays .ORG Sale Approval https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21723682 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21723682 - Why ISOC sold .ORG to VCs https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21689121 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21689121 - The .Org Fire Sale: How it sold for less than half its valuation https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21667355 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21667355 - ISOC sold the .org registry to Ethos Capital for $1.1B https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21656960 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21656960 - Why I Voted to Sell .ORG https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21626677 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21626677 - ICANN races towards regulatory capture: the great .org heist https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21611677 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21611677 - Save .org https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21592297 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21592297 - Internet world despairs as non-profit .org sold to private equity firm https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21582622 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21582622 - Private Equity Is Going to Ruin the .Org Domain System and Screw Nonprofits https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21557779 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21557779 - ICA asks ICANN to block .Org private equity deal in damning letter https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21526982 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21526982 - Private Equity company acquires .org registry https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20263561 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20263561 - Regulatory Capture at ICANN I'm pretty sure there have been others, if anybody finds one.
- seibelj 6y agoI will also say that there is a group (other than nonprofits) that stood to lose massive amounts of money - domain speculators. Maybe ICANN should raise the fee to $100 per year for all domains? Then it would 90% less profitable to own a shitload of domains for speculation.