I find it very troubling that ICANN is attempting to
enforce a
new
mandate on the .ORG domain space that never existed.
Considering
how ICANN has taken so long to introduce new
TLDs, perhaps it makes sense to
them, but it would seem to me
that ICANN should introduce a new TLD for non-profits
if they
want such a TLD. I believe .NPO has been mentioned for such a
TLD.I
know of companies that have spent in excess of $100,000 to
buy a .ORG domain
in order to protect their trademarked name
and their even larger investment in
their .COM domain. That may
be an extreme, but even those people like myself
who spent $70
per domain at the beginning (and more to renew) did so with the
clear intention of holding on to the domain. There was certainly
never any
indication on any of the registrars I have used that
indicated any restrictions
on the .ORG TLD.
Even RFC 1591 states:
"ORG - This domain is intended as the
miscellaneous TLD for
organizations that didn't fit anywhere else. Some
non-
government organizations may fit here."
This definition for the .ORG TLD
is clearly not an exclusive
definition. It does not even mention non-profit status.
In
addition to these points, I think .ORG has clearly become
popular amount the
open-source and Linux crowds and in in my
mind these days has as much representation
of the .ORG space
as anything other type of site in the .ORG space.
I find
this whole issue very troubling, and I hope ICANN
reconsiders their approach
to this matter.
Philip Trauring