{"id":4204,"date":"2019-11-23T18:13:26","date_gmt":"2019-11-23T22:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/?p=4204"},"modified":"2019-12-04T12:16:13","modified_gmt":"2019-12-04T16:16:13","slug":"a-tale-of-icann-and-regulatory-capture-the-dot-org-heist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/2019\/11\/23\/a-tale-of-icann-and-regulatory-capture-the-dot-org-heist\/","title":{"rendered":"ICANN races towards regulatory capture: the great .ORG heist"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Updates<\/strong>: EFF letter<\/a>,\u00a0PIR’s update<\/a>; IGP’s insider take<\/a>; ICANN resolution<\/a>;
\n<\/em>Ways to act, Reg<\/a>\u00a0essay x2<\/a>,\u00a0Ohashi<\/a>, Tim Berners-Lee<\/a>\u00a0response;
\nLetters from<\/em> ISOC<\/a>(😇),\u00a0Ethos<\/a><\/em>(🌈), and a\u00a0banker<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(🚩🚩📜)
\n(See also Part 2<\/strong>: How to Flip .org<\/a><\/em>)<\/p>\n

Ethos Capital<\/a>, a new commercial investment firm founded in the past few months in Boston, has 2 staff and only one pending investment: a deal to acquire the 501c3 non-profit that currently runs the\u00a0<\/b>.org<\/strong><\/code>\u00a0domain (valued at a few $B<\/strong>), for an undisclosed sum. This was initiated\u00a0immediately<\/em> after ICANN<\/a> decided in May, over almost\u00a0universal<\/strong> opposition, to remove the price cap on .org<\/strong><\/code> registrations with no meaningful price protections<\/a> for existing or future registrants.<\/p>\n

This seems to run afoul of a range of ethical, ICANN, ISOC, and non-profit guidelines.\u00a0 It is certainly the privatisation of a not-for-profit monopoly into a for-profit one, which will benefit ISOC and a few individuals by inconveniencing millions of others.\u00a0 I have questions<\/em>:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n