Icann stops .org-tld sale to investor

The Icann has decided not to authorize the sale of the .org top-level domain to investor Ethos Capital. The acquisition had previously been postponed by half a month, but the sale has now been definitively cancelled.

Selling the TLD to an investor would cause “unacceptable uncertainty,” Icann reports. The organization feared that Ethos Capital would ultimately only serve the interests of its “corporate stakeholders” and not the .org community. Withdrawing consent to the acquisition therefore feels reasonable and the right thing to do. Icann also published the decision.

Last November it was announced that investment company Ethos Capital wants to take over the Public Interest Registry. The PIR manages the .org-tld. In this takeover, this management would fall into the hands of a private company. However, the .org tld is actually used by many foundations. Partly for this reason, the Internet Society NL, among others, previously rejected the takeover. Icann earlier this week promised to reassess the acquisition after a California attorney general spoke out against the acquisition.