Internet Regulator Blocks Sale of Dot-Org Domain to Private-Equity Firm

A sale that would have transferred control of the dot-org domain to a private-equity firm was blocked Thursday in a move that sent up a cheer among nonprofits and their advocacy groups.

“We’re glad that the online home for millions of nonprofits worldwide will continue to be run by a nonprofit,” said Rick Cohen, chief communications officer for National Council of Nonprofits, in a statement.

After months of delays amid heavy opposition to the sale, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or Icann, the internet’s most prominent governing body, concluded that the ownership transfer would not serve the public interest.

Icann said the mission-based nonprofit that currently runs the dot-org domain “has responsibly operated the dot-org registry for nearly 20 years.” It also noted that Ethos Capital, the firm trying to take over the dot-org domain, is “an entity that is bound to serve the interests of its corporate stakeholders” and that it “has no meaningful plan to protect or serve the dot-org community.”

Rejecting the sale was “the right thing to do,” Icann concluded.

Heavy Opposition

The Public Interest Registry, a Virginia-based nonprofit, has managed the dot-org registry since 2002. Ethos Capital’s $1.1 billion bid to take control of the domain generated fierce opposition from nonprofits worried that the private-equity firm would raise fees sharply and would be susceptible to corporate pressure to censor content.

Xavier Becerra, the attorney general of California, where Icann is headquartered, also weighed in against the sale.

Ethos Capital pledged to create an Ethos “Stewardship Council” to help ensure that the public interest would be protected, but nonprofit advocates called it a hollow gesture.