Hey, folks! If you have any connection to the world of NGO's, you must by, now, be aware of the great scam that has occured regarding the `.org` registry.
The tl;dr version of the story is that three not-for-profit organisations sold the `.org` registry to a private equity firm. Disclaimer: I don't know if the registry laws in the US are different from India or any other part of the world. I don't know if, this sale has any effect whatsoever on .org websites which are registered out of the US. That being said, recently we have seen a trend of Western atrocities finding their to the Indian subcontinent. There is a bit of back story to this incident. A few months ago, the ICANN removed all caps on the registration prices of the `.org` domain. This decision was widely unpopular and frowned upon. The `.org` registry is managed by PIR, which has as it's ICANN parent body. Both, PIR and ICANN are not-for-profit organisations. A few days ago, PIR, announced that it had sold `.org` registry and as a result of this sale was going to convert to for-profit organisation. I will reiterate the fact that, today the `.org` is synonymous to NGOs, educational institutes, FOSS projects, and other institutes of non-commercial nature. There are two concerns here: 1. Should the `.org` registry be managed by a for-profit firm? 2. Who will make sure that the private firm will not strong-arm the `.org` clients, by hiking prices or some other means? This incident, is just one of the many, where we see a private body, which is completely opaque, seize control of what should, rightfully, be public-property. Proprietary software, which is one of the many ways, in which capitalism has manifested itself in our society, threatens our most fundatemental right, the Right to Freedom.[5] The internet, is a safe public place, for people and organisation to display their opinions. It must remain like that. If, you are in a position of influence, I suggest checking out [0]. [0]: https://savedotorg.org/ [1]: https://drewdevault.com/2019/11/29/dotorg.html [2]: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2019/11/isoc-pir-ethos-capital-deal-timeline/ [3]: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/11/20/org_registry_sale_shambles/ [4]: http://blogs.harvard.edu/sj/2019/11/23/a-tale-of-icann-and-regulatory-capture-the-dot-org-heist/ [5]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_Rights,_Directive_Principles_and_Fundamental_Duties_of_India -- Tejas Sanap. (whereistejas on Freenode) https://whereistejas.me _______________________________________________ plug-mail mailing list plug-mail@plug.org.in http://list.plug.org.in/listinfo/plug-mail