Public Interest Registry To Operate Internet .Org Top-Level Domain

Online Newsletter, Nov, 2002

ICANN [Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers] has selected the proposal of the Internet Society (ISOC) for the operation of the .org top-level domain, beginning January 1, 2003. The Public Interest Registry (PIR), established by ISOC, will be the registry operator. ICANN launched a bid solicitation and evaluation process last April. Eleven bids were received in response to a request for proposals. Additional input came from comments by the public and the applicants themselves. ICANN is reassigning the .org registry under a revised agreement among ICANN, VeriSign, and the U.S. Department of Commerce that was signed in May 2001. Under that agreement, VeriSign was permitted to keep its registrar business, NSI, provided that it agreed to relinquish .org at the end of December 2002. As part of those revised agreements, VeriSign agreed to endow the new operator with $5 million to help fund operating costs, providing that the new operator was a not-for-profit organization. See the ICANN announcement for further details at:

http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-14oct02.htm ISOC has also posted comments on its Website at:

http://www.isoc.org/isoc/media/releases/021014pr.shtml