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A private equity firm is buying all of the .org domains. Here's what that means
In a move that could shake up the internet, private equity firm Ethos Capital is buying the company that owns every .org domain on the web.

Ethos, which was founded in May 2019, is expected to close its deal to acquire the Public Interest Registry (PIR) during the first quarter of 2020. The sale price has not been released.

Now, nonprofits, which make up the majority of the .org domains, are panicking about the purchase, scampering to sign a petition spearheaded by the National Council of Nonprofits that calls for blocking the deal.

Full story Here

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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
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Full story Here

Share your thoughts?


Yeah, but this thread is a bit different. SirDrago links the CNN article
But he added it's a bigger hit for "domainers," or people who own website domains as an investment. "If you have 50,000 domains and you're sitting on them, then that is a bigger hit to your annual costs," Nevett said.

.e.g. Now it's reaching more national news.

...

upload_2019-11-27_21-12-32.png


I mean, this has been covered on Harvard.edu blog (11/23/2019), and a lot of other niche websites, but not sure how much national coverage it's received until now. Curious to see if anything, when, and what televised news has to say about this.
 
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It a dis-heartening sale I wish (like many holders) will never come to reality
 
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exactly why is it so bad? we'll still get to own the domains, right?
 
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exactly why is it so bad? we'll still get to own the domains, right?

Sure. For any arbitrary price the registry decides.

If they want a million dollars a year. There is nothing to stop them from charging it.

There are absolutely no protections in place for the millions of registrants.

Brad
 
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Sure. For any arbitrary price the registry decides.

If they want a million dollars a year. There is nothing to stop them from charging it.

There are absolutely no protections in place for the millions of registrants.

Brad

but we don't know if they'll raise the prices...? We're just all assuming it will be bad... The previous .org registry could've arbitrarily increased prices too.
 
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but we don't know if they'll raise the prices...? We're just all assuming it will be bad... The previous .org registry could've arbitrarily increased prices too.

When you hand a not-for-profit enterprise over to profit based one prices have to go up to give increased returns to the shareholders. Does anyone seriously thinks someone buys a company without hoping to get a big and increasing return on their investment?
 
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I guess everyone is rushign to renew their .orgs for 10 years...
 
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The funny thing about this story, somehow this newly formed party is the best suited organization in the entire World to take over .org, I don't remember seeing any formal bid process for a sale.

This is a total side show, I just can't see how ICANN can't be held accountable.
 
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The funny thing about this story, somehow this newly formed party is the best suited organization in the entire World to take over .org, I don't remember seeing any formal bid process for a sale.

This is a total side show, I just can't see how ICANN can't be held accountable.

yep. that's how domaining goes. there are laws, so at least it's not as bad as crypto was. But it's still sort of a "street rulez" industry.

randomly a company can just buy out all the .orgs in the world, including those used by multi-billion dollar non-profits like the Gates' foundation. All just like dat :D..

Probably happened on a Sun night discord private message XD: "HEYZ MEN! U WANNA SAIL ME ALL UR .ORGS? I BUY OUT UR COMPANY ! C'MoN! How bout LYKE 4.5 mil?"

"sry was eating pizza. but ok sounds good."


Boom. All .orgs new overlord.
 
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yep. that's how domaining goes. there are laws, so at least it's not as bad as crypto was. But it's still sort of a "street rulez" industry.

randomly a company can just buy out all the .orgs in the world, including those used by multi-billion dollar non-profits like the Gates' foundation. All just like dat :D..

Probably happened on a Sun night discord private message XD: "HEYZ MEN! U WANNA SAIL ME ALL UR .ORGS? I BUY OUT UR COMPANY ! C'MoN! How bout LYKE 4.5 mil?"

"sry was eating pizza. but ok sounds good."

Boom. All .orgs new overlord.
I am assuming current insiders within ICANN will be alotted jobs, or options within Ethos in the future when they eventually leave ICANN. Basically ICANN is giving these people a blank check at the mercy of non profits. .org isn't as speculative of an extension, there is a good portion in use for important things. $10 per year is a fair registration, for an electronic service which doesn't cost much across 10 million registrations, the costs become fixed eventually. It is just a transfer of wealth that needs to happen from 8 million people to about 5 or 6 parties. The entire greed effect, and the 1%.
 
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When you hand a not-for-profit enterprise over to profit based one prices have to go up to give increased returns to the shareholders. Does anyone seriously thinks someone buys a company without hoping to get a big and increasing return on their investment?
That's the point, a for-profit business won't mind going an extra mile as long as profit is assured.

User's view and their experience (good or bad) becomes secondary only after their profit is secured primarily.
 
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Regulations aside, which I know nothing about, business is business. If you do business yourself, you should not be surprised, and most certainly not appalled when others do. IMO.
 
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Regulations aside, which I know nothing about, business is business. If you do business yourself, you should not be surprised, and most certainly not appalled when others do. IMO.
Business is business, open, and transparent.

With all these billion dollar tech companies, how did a newly formed company with no holdings, or trade history, created by ex chair of icann acquire .org registry?

.org was not created solely for profit, but other purposes, along the way it became profitable, but a lot of things don’t add up, but much of what is going on seems to have many things don’t add up.

These parties need to be held to ethical standards especially when dealing with millions of non profit agencies.
 
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but we don't know if they'll raise the prices...? We're just all assuming it will be bad... The previous .org registry could've arbitrarily increased prices too.

They will raise prices. They will start holding back dropped names (noticed .biz holds back expired names). Its not a matter of if but a matter of when.

If we don't fight it that is.

Regulations aside, which I know nothing about, business is business. If you do business yourself, you should not be surprised, and most certainly not appalled when others do. IMO.

.org was never intended for business. They sold out before and sold out again. Basically they are putting the entire .org namespace at danger the way they're moving forward.

Domainers aside, there's absolutely nobody protecting endusers.
 
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If something is illegit - proof is a nice thing to have.
 
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Seems to me most are referring to the acquisition being in some way corrupt. Where is the corruption?
 
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If something is illegit - proof is a nice thing to have.
Well if you do your homework ex chair of Icann created Ethos domain name, day before icann cleared the sale.

Ex icann employees are using their connections within to create a sweetheart deal for themselves, no idea what promises are being made to current employees. The .org registry was undersold based on the revenue it generates, along with potential in regards to current market ratios.

There are a lot of things that don’t add up if you take the time to read up, on the surface all business, is business, but there is a lot more to it. These extensions were never meant to belong to a single for profit venture capital group, there is a message, and standard of trust that .org portrays.

That is why we have thousands of gtlds, they are all for profit, go at it, but these legacy tlds need protections. There is no shortage of domains out there, it is the principal of trust that they portray, and that is why many non profit organizations chose a .org, over per say .com etc...

To be honest most domainers only hold a small % of their portfolio in .org, there are probably more in the past 3 years who have shifted to .org, as .net collapsed, but it’s not as large as you think.

You basically have 4-5 people squeezing money from charities so they can buy a bigger house, or boat, it’s just a transfer of wealth from millions to a few rich people who want to be richer. It really goes against what is happening today in society, as you have a few thousand people who control more wealth than a few billion people, it makes very little sense for them to hoard such assets when the funds can be used for a greater good.

For a company to make $100 million dollars, and have expenses of $20 million dollars, seems like a pretty fair margin. Now to go, and try to squeeze people for more, when their costs go down over time, that seems a bit opportunistic.
 
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Sure it may be ”Unethos Capital”. But is there a law or regulation that has been breached? If there is - they should be in court. If not - vote for someone that will reform corruption legislation to encompass this type of ”scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” behaviour.

I’ve heard that Icann is corrupt since I first discovered the industry 10 years ago. Still noone has proved anything.
 
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Sure it may be ”Unethos Capital”. But is there a law or regulation that has been breached? If there is - they should be in court. If not - vote for someone that will reform corruption legislation to encompass this type of ”scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” behaviour.

I’ve heard that Icann is corrupt since I first discovered the industry 10 years ago. Still noone has proved anything.

It’s an obvious conflict of interest and behind the scenes deal.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/11/20/org_registry_sale_shambles/
 
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“Pressure is now mounting for ICANN to block the transaction. Since it involves a top-level internet domain, the transfer of .org to a new owner requires the agency’s formal approval.

In a statement to the FT, however, ICANN appeared to brush aside the calls for action, saying that it “does not have authority over the proposed acquisition”. Instead, it said its job was simply to “assure the continued operation of the .org domain” — implying that it could only stop the sale if the stability and security of the domain name infrastructure were at risk.

That minimalist interpretation of its responsibilities has not appeased its critics. Mr Rotenberg said that ICANN had taken a broader interest in ensuring appropriate ownership of top-level domain in the past — including when the .org registry was first transferred to the Internet Society.

Others, meanwhile, claim the sale highlights a deeper governance problem at key institutions involved in the smooth workings of the internet.

It raises the question again: Who is ICANN accountable to? Under the current governance structure, it’s only accountable to itself,” said Nao Matsukata, an executive in the domain-name industry, which has long chafed at the way ICANN has handled the internet’s addressing system.”

Complete article https://www.ft.com/content/08066a5a-11b2-11ea-a7e6-62bf4f9e548a
 
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Sure it may be ”Unethos Capital”. But is there a law or regulation that has been breached? If there is - they should be in court. If not - vote for someone that will reform corruption legislation to encompass this type of ”scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” behaviour.

I’ve heard that Icann is corrupt since I first discovered the industry 10 years ago. Still noone has proved anything.

Next you'll be saying you DON'T believe in aliens.
 
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