ICANN picks ISOC’s proposal to run .org domain

A nonprofit organization set up by the Internet Society will take over the registry of the .org domain from VeriSign.

A nonprofit organization set up by the Internet Society will take over the registry of the .org domain from VeriSign Global Registry Services Inc. Public Interest Registry will take over on Jan. 1, 2003, when VeriSign’s contract expires.

The board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in Marina del Rey, Calif., voted 11-1, with three abstentions, to adopt ISOC’s proposal for control of the registry, it said in a statement Monday.

ISOC, in Reston, Va., set up PIR to act as the .org registry operator. It will subcontract back-end registry services to Afilias Ltd. of Dublin, the registry operator for the .info domain, ISOC said in its own statement.

PIR plans to set up a .org advisory council made up of leaders from noncommercial organizations, ISOC said.

Existing .org users will not notice the transition, ISOC said. They will renew their names through their registrars at the usual time and in the usual way, the Society said.

ISOC said it submitted its bid to ICANN on June 18, as did 10 other organizations. These bids were evaluated by three teams, two looking at technical issues and one at the particular needs of the .org domain, ICANN said.

Under a deal between ICANN, VeriSign and the U.S. Department of Commerce, VeriSign will keep its .com registrar business and will give $5 million to the new not-for-profit .org operator to help with operating costs, ICANN said.