registries Ethos Capital to Acquire Public Interest Registry (.ORG) from the Internet Society (ISOC)

[Soofi]

Public Interest Registry Will Continue Management and Mission of .ORG Under New Ownership

Reston, VA (November 13, 2019) – The Internet Society and Public Interest Registry (PIR) today announced that they have reached an agreement with Ethos Capital, under which Ethos Capital will acquire PIR and all of its assets from the Internet Society. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of next year.

“This is an important and exciting development for both the Internet Society and Public Interest Registry,” said Andrew Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Society, the organization that established Public Interest Registry. “This transaction will provide the Internet Society with an endowment of sustainable funding and the resources to advance our mission on a broader scale as we continue our work to make the Internet more open, accessible and secure – for everyone. It also aligns Public Interest Registry with Ethos Capital, a strong strategic partner that understands the intricacies of the domain industry and has the expertise, experience and shared values to further advance the goals of .ORG into the future.”

“Since the inception of Public Interest Registry, our mission has been to enable the .ORG Community to use the Internet more effectively and change the world for the better,” stated Jon Nevett, CEO of Public Interest Registry. “That will not change. We have enjoyed a long and successful relationship with the Internet Society, and are thrilled that we will be able to continue – and expand – our important work with Ethos Capital while sustaining our commitment to the .ORG Community going forward.”

Following the close of the transaction, PIR will continue to meet the highest standards of public transparency, accountability, and social performance in line with its longstanding purpose-driven mission, and will consider seeking B Corporation certification. All of PIR’s domain operations and educational initiatives will continue, and there will be no disruption of service or support to the .ORG Community or other generic top-level domains operated by the organization.

“We are excited to support PIR’s mission and build upon the incredible work it has done to promote success and positive impact for the .ORG Community,” said Erik Brooks, Founder & CEO of Ethos Capital. “As part of our commitment to setting the gold standard of registry operations, we will be establishing a Stewardship Council that will serve to uphold PIR’s core founding values and provide support through a variety of community programs.”

Mr. Brooks added: “Importantly, throughout the transition and beyond, we are committed to ensuring complete continuity of PIR’s operations and enhancing the relationships PIR has established over the years. We look forward to continuing PIR’s longstanding partnerships and vendor affiliations to ensure domain operations run smoothly and without interruption.”

Vint Cerf, former Chairman of the Board of ICANN and founding President of the Internet Society, said: “When the Internet Society won the bid to operate the .ORG registry, it enabled a productive and sustainable future for the organization. Public Interest Registry exercised its stewardship to the benefit of the registrants and the Internet Society’s mission. I am looking forward to supporting Ethos Capital and PIR in any way I can as they continue to expand the utility of the .ORG top level domain in creative and socially responsible ways.”

PIR was established by the Internet Society in 2002 to manage and operate the .ORG domain. Since then, .ORG has risen to become the largest purpose-driven domain used by millions of organizations and others to achieve their online goals.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is serving as financial advisor to both the Internet Society and PIR. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and Proskauer Rose LLP are serving as legal advisors to the Internet Society and PIR, respectively. Macquarie Capital is serving as financial advisor and Morrison & Foerster LLP is serving as legal advisor to Ethos Capital.

Press release: source

Volunteer Disclosure: I am current Vice President, Internet Society Delhi Chapter.https://www.internetsociety.org/new...-interest-registry-from-the-internet-society/

 

[Samer]

How does this bode for the .org price hikes?

Samer

 

[Samer]

Trying say, Does it mean they are more likely?

Samer

 

[bmugford]

Just to summarize -

- Despite around 4000 comments (99.9% against removing the caps), ICANN ignored them and allowed unlimited price caps.

- The registry said they were not going to raise prices

- Months later PIR sells the .ORG operating rights to a private equity firm

The level of corruption is so brazen at this point. There is no shame.

PIR does not even own the extension. They are just allowed to operate it under contract.

So now we are in a position where a private equity firm holds the operating rights to a 30+ year old, highly used extension with no price caps in place to protect registrants.

Good job ICANN. You really are looking out for the greater good...

Brad

 

[Soofi]

Just to summarize -

- Despite around 4000 comments (99.9% against removing the caps), ICANN ignored them and allowed unlimited price caps.

- The registry said they were not going to raise prices

- Months later PIR sells the .ORG operating rights to a private equity firm

The level of corruption is so brazen at this point. There is no shame.

PIR does not even own the extension. They are just allowed to operate it under contract.

So now we are in a position where a private equity firm holds the operating rights to a 30+ year old, highly used extension with no price caps in place to protect registrants.

Good job ICANN. You really are looking out for the greater good...

Brad

@GeorgeK

 

[carob]

...we are committed to ensuring complete continuity of PIR’s operations and enhancing the relationships PIR has established over the years.

Read, enhancing the private profitability of the established dependency of charities and not-for-profit public service entitities, who have built on .org and depended on .org.

Why not set up a not-for-profit entity to run .org?

 

[bmugford]

More information from DomainInvesting.com -

Richard November 13, 2019 at 2:29 pm

Ethos Capital was incorporated in Delaware 2 weeks after the public comment period closed.

And then there’s this:

“Previously, Ms. Abusitta-Ouri has held a variety of positions at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), including Senior Vice President, Development and Public Responsibility and Director of Engagement, International and Inter-Governmental Organizations.“

Also, from DomainIncite.com

John Berryhill
November 13, 2019 at 7:39 pm
Domain Name: ethoscapital.org
Creation Date: 2019-05-07T14:42:38Z
Registrant Name: fadi chehade

Fadi Chehade is the former CEO of ICANN, also with ABRY –
http://abry.com/team/fadi-chehade/

The absolutely reeks of corruption.
The timing looks very orchestrated.

This needs to be investigated.

Brad

 

[NickB]

Just to summarize -


PIR does not even own the extension. They are just allowed to operate it under contract.

Brad

Brad, How long does the contract have left? Or where can i find the information relating to it?

 

[Lox]

@ domaininvesting comment on Nov 7 ; Donuts will probably try to acquire PIR

 

[bmugford]

Brad, How long does the contract have left? Or where can i find the information relating to it?

I believe (10) years. It was just renewed recently.
https://www.icann.org/resources/agreement/org-2019-06-30-en

ICANN should not allow a registry operator to just reassign a contract to whatever entity they choose without a proper approval process.

In this case, a private equity firm with no history. What could go wrong?

This is clearly not in the interest of the "multi-stake" shareholder model.

Brad

 

[NickB]

I believe (10) years. It was just renewed recently.
https://www.icann.org/resources/agreement/org-2019-06-30-en

ICANN should not allow a registry operator to just reassign a contract to whatever entity they choose without a proper approval process.

In this case, a private equity firm with no history. What could go wrong?

This is clearly not in the interest of the "multi-stake" shareholder model.

Brad

Not good, but very bloody clever and reeks of collusion/corruption, looks it's all about self interest and not the majority.

Would be very interested to see the purchase price if and when it is released

 

[jmcc]

In this case, a private equity firm with no history. What could go wrong?

Andrew Allemann on Domain Name Wire has an interesting article on the history and connections.

https://domainnamewire.com/2019/11/13/the-interesting-connection-between-the-org-deal-and-icann/

It is definitely not a newbie operation given the players involved.

Regards...jmcc

 

[Internet.Domains]

There has been some mention that DNS domains may replace crypto addresses in the near future. I can envision a scenario where this new "technology" driven organization spearheads .org to be the first to replace long and burdensome crypto addresses. This is just speculation as .org is already representing many "decentralized" organizations.

 

[Larion]

... so how many million$$$ did the "non-profit corporation" named "ICANN" make in that deal ?

 

[cooljub]

How does this bode for the .org price hikes?

Trying say, Does it mean they are more likely?

What do you think? They have 'capital' in their name

 

[premkumar]

I thought north America have very less corruption, but its seems it's outright and like a day light robbery

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Lots of unanswered questions, but this does not look good to me. I had naively thought the whole idea was to have a nonprofit run .org, since it is primarily intended for nonprofit organizations (although not restricted to use by them).
Bob

 

[carob]

There is a big article out now on this, well researched:

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/11/20/org_registry_sale_shambles/

The Chehade shell game
Former ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade personally registered the domain name currently used by Ethos Capital in May and it was registered as a limited company in the US state of Delaware on May 14. That date is significant because it is one day after ICANN indicated it was planning to approve the lifting of price caps through its public comment summary.

As such it appears that the plan to purchase the .org registry was predicated on the price caps going ahead and that those behind the deal had intricate knowledge of ICANN’s internal processes.

 

[carob]

Here is more from that Register article:

In fact there are virtually no controls on ICANN executives despite their ability to set the policies that guide a multi-billion-dollar market. As just one example, it appears that both board and staff members are free to hold shares in companies whose value is closely linked to decisions that they make and that they are not required to disclose such holdings. (We have asked ICANN to clarity this point.)

The deal developed by former ICANN CEO Chehade is worth billions of dollars. With that much money at stake, and with a longstanding non-profit registry turned into a for-profit with unlimited ability to raise prices, the internet community has started demanding answers to who knew what and when.

 

[cooljub]

It's ok everyone

Ethos Capital's Chief Purpose Officer "also serves as the Executive Director of the Digital Ethos Foundation, a global nonprofit committed to fostering a trustworthy, just and peaceful digital world."

Come on, we all know the Digital Ethos Foundation don't we? You know, that force for good that has become "global" in the 6 months since it was set up?