PIR asks ICANN to review.org sale until end of February

The Public Interest Registry (PIR) has responded to the request from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to agree to an extension until 20 April 2020 for the review of the planned .org sale to the private equity firm Ethos Capital. In its response, PIR agreed to an extension only until 29 February 2020, noting that ‘an extension is neither necessary nor warranted at this time’ and that ‘it is unreasonable to protract the review process that much further beyond what is prescribed in the registry agreement’. PIR also indicated that, in its view, the registry conversion from a non-profit to a for-profit entity is beyond ICANN’s scope of review under the .org registry agreement, and that ICANN’s sole scope of review is to ensure that the registry remains secure, reliable, and stable. In the same letter, PIR agreed with ICANN’s request to consent to the disclosure of information designated as confidential to the California Attorney General.