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ICANN was ready to approve the .org transfer on April 16 but the California Attorney General ruined their party.
ICANN, ISOC, PIR and NoEthos Capital were very close to getting their corrupted plan completed but at the last minute California Attorney General slammed them so hard that they had to get an extension.
The ICANN Board had planned a special meeting were the main agenda was the “PIR Change of Control”. They were of course going to approve the .org transfer by ignoring any sense of logic including the 3000 comments that opposed the transfer at the public comment period and countless organizations around the globe opposing the transfer.
Their were hoping that the California Attorney General had forgotten about them or that he was too busy with the coronavirus pandemic but they were wrong. The coronavirus was the best thing that happened to ICANN as they approved the price increases in .com for Verisign and almost no one noticed and now they were ready to sell out the .org extension.
ICANN, ISOC, PIR and NoEthos Capital immediately agreed to an extension for ICANN to approve/disapprove the transfer until May 4 (from April 20) even though PIR had initially denied ICANN’s previous request for an extension but then reluctantly accepted the extension to April 20. This time they agreed in a few hours.
ICANN was so annoyed by California Attorney General’s letter that they issued an announcement expressing their annoyance at him intervening with their scheme to once again sell all registrants:
“On 14 November 2019, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was notified that the Internet Society planned to sell the Public Interest Registry (PIR) to Ethos Capital. Since that time, the ICANN organization and Board have worked together to thoughtfully and thoroughly evaluate the proposed acquisition to ensure that the .ORG registry, which represents more than 10.5 million domains, remains secure, reliable, and stable.
Since January, we have been providing information and fully cooperating with the California Attorney General’s review. We appreciate receiving the Attorney General’s letter and are carefully reviewing and considering it as part of our evaluation of the change of control and PIR’s entity conversion. Throughout this process, we have listened carefully to the community, and have demanded more safeguards and greater transparency from PIR.
The Attorney General’s letter does not take into account the recent work that PIR has done to make the entity more responsible to the community. ICANN requested that PIR strengthen the Public Interest Commitments to ensure meaningful enforceability; a draft of the revised PICs has been provided to the ICANN Board.
We have agreed to extend the review period to 4 May 2020, to permit additional time to complete our review.”
In short, ICANN said that they were very good at trying to produce as much bullshit with their friends at ISOC/PIR/NoEthos so as to cloud the waters and they think that the California Attorney General is ignorant because he didn’t take into account the BS PICs that NoEthos Capital created working with ICANN.
The truth is that ICANN had made its decision to accept the transfer before all this even went to the public comment period. All public comment periods are ignored. I don’t remember in the past few years even a single public comment overturning an ICANN proposal. They pretty much do what they propose and their don’t even change a word.
They had already agreed with their friends at ISOC/PIR/Ethos and former ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade who is orchestrating this whole charade. They didn’t really cooperate with the California Attorney General as he says that many of his questions, including many crucial ones, remain unanswered. ICANN only provided some material that were already available publicly and blamed PIR/ISOC/Ethos for not providing the important information.
ICANN didn’t listened to the community at all ignoring 3,000 public comments and many letters from various organizations and people around the world.
NoEthos will never be responsible to the community. They can only be responsible to their creditors and their owners.
ICANN has brought all this to themselves. I expect a lawsuit that will include ICANN, all its board members and their manipulating staff to be unleashed if this conniving and corrupted change or ownership occurs.
ICANN has pretty much ignored everybody in the past few years and sold all registrant rights for nothing. (Well not exactly nothing…) This is their last chance to make one thing right before they cause their destruction. Let’s see what they choose and what their fate is going to be. Current ICANN board and previous CEO is already going to be remembered as the most corrupt people on the history of the internet. People that were selected to protect the registrants and did exactly the opposite.
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If PIR is in debt ($300mm?), perhaps ICANN should use it’s cash horde to bail them out! What else are they going to do with the $ after all? Aren’t they meant to help the public? Well…
I’d like to know, how ICANN is going to spend their money, and what they are waiting for?
Bail them out, live and learn. Put .org up for sale to the public – stipulation – must remain nonprofit; sell it to someone with a track record! Use the $ raised to cover the bailout.
Am I missing something?
No, they don’t consider spending that money – out of the question. They’re waiting/figuring a way to put it in their own pockets IMO.
PIR does not have any debt. NoEthos capital wants to bury PIR in debt.
I have a feeling PIR took on a lot of debt, using ‘non-profit’ assets as ‘collateral’. This is a debt we aren’t fully aware of, and now, their back against the wall…they ARE getting a bailout (not from icann, as it SHOULD BE), in the form of this take-over.
The ‘Investors’ are PIR creditors.
No. They have no debt. How could they? They have an excess every year pushing it to ISOC.
lifesavings is making quite an interesting assertion here.
Is there any factual basis for this statement that we all should be aware of or is it just conspiracy thinking?
Sorry but he pulled that out of his ass. Bad conspiracy theory.
How is it a bad theory when the new debt being taken on seems totally unreasonable? Am I wrong, PIR, under terms of this takeover deal is getting straddled with debt for no apparent reason? I’m left to wonder if this is just ‘hidden debt’ being rolled over now, in a ‘legitimate’ way.
Whos to say Chinese lenders aren’t behind this new deal? Chinese investors? I really believe so. Okay, so they’re allowed to invest as much as anyone. But why is everyone’s foot planted in the fact that it *has* to be these guys?
The deal doesn’t add up as it stands, doesn’t it? PIR is like giving up everything for nothing. Why do they have any rights to throw .org around on financial grounds, as if they own it anyway?
Something really rotten in Denmark 🙂
You are way off on this one. The problem is clear and described by me and many others.
First I didn’t ‘assert’ it, as you assert. There are plenty of empirical facts supporting my theory.
Why doesn’t ICANN have its hand in THIS cookie jar? It’s like they are washing their hands of their dictatorship over .org for nothing – cutting ties. Why would they? My suggestion is there’s a 300m bill to reclaim it! Not that they *have* to pay it. But what a PR nightmare in all regards if true. Rather toss the whole thing for the hyenas to pick clean.
We know the ramifications of this is that org gets destroyed. This is not like an nTLD where ‘investors’ take on risk, full well-knowing registries have full control over pricing. This is not the same. Many have pointed out – .org registrants are helpless to increases now. This is the exact reason ICANN was created, to protect the interest of owners – not to create capitalist monarchies over an already developed market!
ICANN is using their manufactured nTLD model to apply to legacy TLD, which is completely OPPOSITE of what they were created to do! .org registrants are lame ducks, tied down to their domain, ripe for extortion. The destruction of org via insane price increases is more profitable than nurturing it at this point. ICANN is not nurturing! This is supposed to last ‘in theory’ forever. Instead, it’s being set up for pillage over the investor’s lifetime. They are going to KILL the host – in their lifetime.
Now I’m not trying to point out KNOWN fact to distract from my ‘conspiracy’ theory. These facts should be obvious to ICANN. The facts ARE neglected for a reason. I’m simply exploring ‘WHY’.
I should have said ‘Keep their hand in the cookie jar’…
An example: USA Govt once owned all the land. They choose to sell it, rather than lease it. It made sense for them financially, in a forward-looking, to perpetually lease it!
ICANN could perpetually lease .org, but instead, they opt for the instant gratification!
The result?
Taxes…higher and higher taxes. The basis of their claims to collect aren’t so solid anymore! It creates weak points to their very exitance, on legal grounds! Their rights, after giving them away CAN be more easily challenged…when people become more aware – when they perceive something is being ‘clawed back’!
ICANN is limiting itself. They are NOT LAYING LOW. They are taking max profit today, with little regard for the future. ICANN is failing itself! Shooting their own foot, why? They are corrupt in every sense. Ironically, we hate them for screwing themselves. That makes sense if you think about it though because they’re supposed to protect registrants! They aren’t in the least. They are simply collecting money *as fast as they can*. This should ring alarm bells!
Whatever it says on paper, they are still ultimate owner, every one is dammed, when push comes to shove. Don’t think they won’t point their finger at the ‘evil investors’ and claw the remaining corpse back in an attempt to seem righteous. It will be in vain though. It’s like a city destroyed. You can’t simply flip a switch and put the buildings back up and return to profitability.
pennies per registration isn’t going to amount to anything in the long run, after private interests gut .org, squeezing registrants out by increase after increase. That’s how you to it – to extract maximum profit. Private interests, though higher and higher prices are going to limit ICANN profit while maximizing their own! (few, yet higher priced registrations).
New .ORG doesn’t care about their image! NEW regs aren’t going to get anything. It’s those that are tied down which brings the money.
HALF the domains won’t drop upon DOUBLING of prices! The less people know about it, the more they’ll get too!
It’s more profit *now* it’s all about ASAP.
.org isn’t their baby, it’s just something to pillage and move on.
I agree with one thing lifesavings says.
ICANN should put .org and .com out to PUBLIC BID.
ICANN can and should reap the rewards of the profits. This is an opportune time for ICANN to pivot, to do the right thing to protect registrants, to be a leader, not a coward and mere registry puppet. And in return, should they do it, ICANN will win handsomely by governing and forcing competition and making the TLDs work for their tax dollars!
Public bid yes. We have said this numerous times.
But ICANN already has more cash that it needs. They don’t know what to do with it and keep increasing their salaries, bonuses, expenses and travels.
Yes, Verisign just gave ICANN $135 million not long ago to lock down dot web from getting into a competitor’s hands. That’s a pretty hefty payment. Then a few years later, ICANN greenlights Verisign’s dot com price hike against widespread opposition from registrants. Nice.
“ICANN has brought all this to themselves. I expect a lawsuit that will include ICANN, all its board members and their manipulating staff to be unleashed if this conniving and corrupted change or ownership occurs.”
HOW ABOUT…
A class action anti-trust lawsuit that everyone can sign onto?
Looks like the intervention of the Californian AG was quite decisive.
https://www.icann.org/news/blog/icann-board-withholds-consent-for-a-change-of-control-of-the-public-interest-registry-pir