Ethos Floats New Accountability Agreements for .Org
Legally binding commitments on .org price caps, censorship safeguards and personal data protections in the Public Interest Registry agreement with ICANN shows PIR buyer Ethos Capital "has been listening closely to stakeholder feedback," Ethos CEO Erik Brooks said. The new…
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provisions, unveiled Friday, will be enforceable by ICANN's compliance department and community members through ICANN's public interest commitments dispute resolution procedure, the equity firm said. Under the commitments, fees charged to .org domain name registrars for initial or renewal registrations won't increase by more than 10% per year on average for eight years from the start of the current registry agreement. After that period, "we will be constrained by the highly-competitive marketplace, competing with .NET, .CHARITY, .FOUNDATION and other TLDs," an Ethos spokesperson emailed. A second commitment requires PIR to maintain a body to provide strategic advice and oversight on policies and functions of the registry that affect .org and its community. In addition, the registry agreed to establish a "community enablement fund" to support initiatives benefiting .org registrants. PIR will also have to file an annual report assessing compliance with the accountability provisions. PIR gave ICANN an extension to March 20 to review its proposals (see 2002120033). ICANN is analyzing the information and welcomes Ethos' efforts to engage with the Internet Society community and .org customers, emailed President Goran Marby. ISOC owns PIR. Asked about early reaction to its proposal, the Ethos spokesperson said the firm consulted with leaders and members of the community before offering to make the commitments legally binding: Its actions "answer the very request the community has been making."