ICANN Board Selects New .org Registry Operator

Source: ICANN

Marina del Rey, California USA (14 October 2002) – The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Board of Directors voted 11 to 1 (with three abstentions) today to select the proposal submitted by the Internet Society (ISOC) for a new registry operator of the .org top-level domain, to replace VeriSign.

ISOC has established a new organization, Public Interest Registry (PIR), which will be the registry operator, subject to agreements to be negotiated between ICANN and PIR. PIR will subcontract with Afilias, the operator of .info – the new gTLD approved by ICANN last year – to provide operational support. ISOC is responsible for appointing the Board of Directors of PIR, which will otherwise operate as a not-for-profit entity separate from ISOC.