ACTION ALERT: Don’t Let .ORG Registry Be Sold To A Private Equity Firm #SaveDotOrg

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Everyone in this field is likely aware of how important the .ORG domain extension is to nonprofits. And for nearly two decades, decisions regarding how .ORG registrations and renewals are handled have been the purview of the Internet Society (ISOC).

This organization is responsible for policy decisions such as registration fees, suspensions, and rights protections.

A recent action alert from NTEN highlights a plan by ISOC to sell off the Public Interest Registry to a private equity firm.

Have you heard the news? Control of the .ORG domain is being sold to a private equity firm.

Nonprofits around the world rely on .ORG. It’s become synonymous with the nonprofit sector. Yet the Internet Society has decided to sell it in a betrayal of its 2002 promise to have all .ORG decisions driven by the nonprofit sector.

NTEN has grave concerns about the sale and is one of 26 organizations that have signed a letter in opposition. .

Can I count on you to add your name to the letter right now? We need as many people as we can get to join the opposition. Can we start with you?

If allowed, this sale could put nonprofits at serious risk of price hikes for .ORG domain name registrations and renewals, the influx of organizations abusing .ORG status, and the ability to challenge registration suspensions.

NTEN has joined with 26 nonprofit service organizations* to craft an action campaign that provides everything you need to send a letter to ISOC’s leaders insisting they do not allow this sale.

Send The Letter

*Sadly, neither the League of American Orchestras nor Opera America are among those original signers.

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

View all posts by Drew McManus | Website

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