The .org deal is still not over the finish line, but Ethos Capital is making some big steps to try to put the deal to bed.
ICANN recently sent a letter to the Internet Society, the current controller of .org, that stated that ICANN believes it can cancel the deal based on grounds beyond stability and security.
In response, Ethhos agreed to add a Public Interest Commitment (PIC) to enforce some of the public promises the company has made. These include commitments to cap the .org price for the first eight years after the sale. Capping the price increase at 10% each year “on average”. They also stated that the price increase can’t be front-loaded, even though the trigger date will be dated back to June 2019.
Currently, a .org domain is $9.93, which could increase to $21 after the 8-year promised cap expires. After the 8-year cap, the price of .org domains could increase without limit.
Ethos has also agreed to the .org Stewardship Council’s authority to veto changes to .org policy changes including those regarding freedom of expression, censorship, and registrant and user data. Additionally, a Community Enablement Fund will be established to support initiatives benefitting .org registrants with $10 million being contributed to this fund by PIR during the 8 years.
You can read the entire Public Interest Commitment here.
