EFF letter asking ICANN to halt .Org sale — 18,000 sign
Hundreds of nonprofits ask ICANN to pause deal to sell .Org registry to for-profit private equity firm.
Over 400 nonprofit entities and 18,000 individuals have signed on to a letter authored by Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), asking ICANN to halt the sale of .Org until changes are made.
The letter asks for “legally binding commitments to safeguard the rights of NGOs and other non-commercial registrants against financial exploitation and arbitrary censorship” by any group that runs .Org. Ethos Capital is buying the .org registry from Internet Society (ISOC).
The signatories are concerned regarding price increases on .org domains and the ability for whoever runs the registry to censor domain registrants.
An additional letter to Internet Society, which is selling the registry for $1.135 billion, asks it to abandon the deal.
Signatories include unions, libraries, mental health clinics, and more. Notable signatories include Communication Workers of America, Girl Scouts, and the League of Women Voters. Two Internet Society chapters (Netherlands and Jakarta) are also on the list.
