The Open Society Institute (OSI)
discussed the Register.com proposal to become the operator of the .org registry.
We wish to make it clear that we may not intervene or participate in the bidding
process by endorsing any particular bid to ICANN to operate the .org registry.
This is particularly true where, as here, OSI may receive a grant from REGISTER.COM,
should its bid prevail, to support our mutual goals of promoting NGO use of Information
and Communications Technology.The OSI Information Program does agree with certain
principles Register.com discussed with us related to managing the .ORG domain.
Specifically:
1) That the ultimate registrar of this domain should seek to nurture
and extend the .org community by providing a forum and opportunity for participatory
involvement in its future;
2) That revenue from registering .org domains should
be set aside to provide International support for developing civil society initiatives
and promoting policies beneficial to the advancement of civil society on the Internet;
3) That
the underlying infrastructure and service organization supporting the .ORG registry
must be viable, reliable and efficient inmeeting the needs of civil society’s use
of the Internet.
OSI’s Information Program sees these as the basic prerequisites
for seriously considering any bid to manage the .org registry. The politics
around the .org registry issue are significant. It is too easy to get caught
in the trap of choosing between bidders based either on the right ideology or the
right technology. This is a false choice. The .org community needs both
prerequisites. It cannot afford to have a registering body without a sense
of understanding or support for the special community it serves. Nor can it
afford an ideologically “correct” registering body without the underlying technology
and capacity to support the maintenance and addition of .org domains. The OSI
Information Program believes that the .org community will best be served if both
needs are met by the registering body that is ultimately selected.
Jonathan Peizer
Chief
Technology Officer
Open Society Institute