CCOR Statement on ICANN’s Rejection of the Dot Org Transfer to Private Equity

CCOR applauds the decision by ICANN’s Board to reject the sale and transformation of the dot-org domain to a for-profit enterprise against the interests of its constituents. This is a positive outcome for the dot-org community and an affirmation of the importance of multi-stakeholder governance.

Although the recent decision is a valuable and necessary step, there is still much work to be done to secure the public-interest future of dot-org. CCOR calls upon ICANN to proceed with the established multi-stakeholder led open request for proposals for stewardship of the dot-org domain.

ICANN needs to engage all stakeholders and the millions of nonprofit organizations which rely on dot-org in a collaborative, multi-stakeholder process similar to the one that was established for dot-org in 2002. A fair, transparent, and well-executed process can stand as a lasting example of the values that ICANN was intended to embody.

“Back in 1998, we set up ICANN to limit both government and commercial oversight in favour of serving the worldwide Internet community as a whole,” said Esther Dyson, founding chairman of ICANN (1998–2000) and CCOR board member. “Our mission at CCOR is to see ICANN continue to deliver on that commitment with respect to dot-org in particular. Today is a happy day, and we look forward to seeing ICANN further clarify dot-org’s unique status as a nonprofit serving the public interest.”

The CCOR Board and advisors continue to be concerned about the risk of dot-org falling into unaccountable private hands. CCOR calls on all dot-org stakeholders to come together and work to develop a secure, stable, and stakeholder-governed future for this critical domain. We look forward to collaborating with the public at large, with ICANN itself, and with chapters of the Internet Society, the Internet Engineering Task Force, Root Server Operators, and others who play a key role in the Internet’s security and stability.

CCOR will continue to advocate for our legally-binding commitments to dot-org registrants, including the preservation of privacy, diversity and human rights, and freedom from censorship. We invite all interested stakeholders and fellow nonprofit organizations from around the world to join us in this endeavor. Together we can build a brighter Internet future for us all.