EFF to ICANN: Stop .ORG Domain Registry Sale To Private Equity Firm – EFF

San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today said a private equity firm newly created by domain name industry insiders should be stopped from acquiring the .ORG domain registry, which provides a home on the Internet to thousands of public interest nonprofits organizations.

EFF joins groups ranging from the Girl Scouts and the League of Women Voters, to Farm Aid and Meals On Wheels, and other organizations working in the public interest around the world in the arts, culture, the environment, race, and poverty, in opposing the sale.

EFF this week called on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to halt a transaction that puts nonprofit organizations at risk of censorship and financial exploitation. EFF also provided to ICANN a petition signed by over 500 nonprofit groups from around the world, plus thousands of Internet users, all voicing opposition to the $1.1 billion sale.

In a sneaky attempt to wrest control over the lucrative .ORG registry, Ethos Capital, a new private equity firm that lists two employees on its website and has no track record in public interest work, announced it would acquire Public Interest Registry (PIR). PIR is itself a nonprofit that, as a subsidiary of the nonprofit Internet Society, has for the past 17 years overseen the registry used by millions of organizations large and small.

“We are concerned that PIR may wield the threat of domain suspension to influence the political, social, religious, journalistic, or personal expression of .ORG registrants and their users at the request of corporations or governments,” EFF said in the letter. EFF’s letter joins one filed late last week by the Packet Clearing House, which actually services .ORG, pointing out the risk that the new owner will try to save money by degrading service.

The sale to Ethos Capital follows ICANN’s decision to remove price caps on registration fees for .ORG names, allowing PIR to raise prices at will on its captive customer base of nonprofits. And ICANN also gave PIR explicit permission to create new “protections for the rights of third parties”—often used as a justification and legal cover for censorship—without community input or accountability. Ethos Capital registered for business one day after ICANN was scheduled to announce it would be removing price caps, according to reports.

“The sale magnifies concerns that PIR has incentive to use its power to censor nonprofits whose work runs counter to the interests of powerful corporate or governmental interests,” said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Mitch Stoltz. “PIR is a subsidiary of the Internet Society, a nonprofit that oversees the Internet’s basic technical standards and has operated the .ORG registry to provide a home for nonprofits everywhere. With this transaction, the Internet Society is treating the registry like an asset, a building or a piece of land that can be sold, and operated as a private, for profit entity.”

Ethos Capital’s founder was previously a partner at another private equity firm that invested in domain registries and acquired registry operator Donuts. In 2016, Donuts entered a private agreement with the Motion Picture Association of America to suspend domains based on accusations of copyright infringement from major movie studios, with no court order or right of appeal. Little is known about Ethos’s plans and goals for PIR.

“Ethos is paying over $1 billion for PIR, which earned $101 million in income last year. You don’t invest that kind of money without plans to boost profits,” said EFF Staff Attorney Cara Gagliano. “Nonprofits will be squeezed for those profits, and Ethos may seek profitable arrangements with other businesses whose interests conflict with the nonprofit community or threaten to degrade the service. We need to stop this sale and find an acquirer whose interests are aligned with the nonprofit world so that won’t happen.”

For EFF’s letter:
https://www.eff.org/document/letter-icann-regarding-org-sale
After three years of political discussions, MPs in Ghana’s Parliament voted to pass the country’s draconian Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill on February 28th. The bill now heads to Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo to be signed into law. President Nana Akufo-Addo must…
Special thanks to legal intern Alissa Johnson, who was the lead author of this post.EFF recently filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit urging the court to reverse a lower court decision upholding a State Department rule that forces visa applicants to…
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged a federal appeals court to reinstate X’s lawsuit challenging a California law that forces social media companies to file reports to the state about their content moderation decisions, and with respect to five controversial issues in particular—an unconstitutional intrusion into platforms’ right to…
In recent years, lots of proposed laws purport to reduce “harmful” content on the internet, especially for kids. Some have good intentions. But the fact is, we can’t censor our way to a healthier internet.When it comes to online (or offline) content, people simply don’t agree about what’s harmful. And…
It is troubling to see that the Indian government has issued new demands to X (formerly Twitter) to remove accounts and posts critical of the government and its recent actions. This is especially bears watching as India is preparing for general elections this spring, and concerns for the…
Security researchers’ work discovering and reporting vulnerabilities in software, firmware, networks, and devices protects people, businesses and governments around the world from malware, theft of critical data, and other cyberattacks. The internet and the digital ecosystem are safer because of their work.The UN Cybercrime Treaty,…
As part of the United Nations (U.N.) Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (IE SOGI) report to the U.N. Human Rights Council, EFF and Access Now have submitted information addressing digital rights and SOGI issues across the globe. The submission addresses…
UN Member States are meeting in New York this week to conclude negotiations over the final text of the UN Cybercrime Treaty, which—despite warnings from hundreds of civil society organizations across the globe, security researchers, media rights defenders, and the world’s largest tech companies—will, in its present form, endanger…
Back to top
Check out our 4-star rating on Charity Navigator.

source

About The Author

admin

See author's posts