ICANN Delays .ORG Sale After California Attorney General Objects

ICANN has delayed the proposed sale of the .ORG domain to a private equity fund after California Attorney General Xavier Becerra urged ICANN to reject the transfer. "Little is known about Ethos Capital and its multiple proposed subsidiaries," Attorney General Becerra said. In a letter to the ICANN board chair and the President and CEO of ICANN, the California AG wrote, "The proposed transfer raises serious concerns that cannot be overlooked." EPIC President Marc Rotenberg, a founding board member and former chair of the group that manages the .ORG, said that the secrecy of the deal was "a failure of process." He told the Financial Times "You can't make decisions about the allocation of internet domain names in the dark." In a commentary for The Hill, Rotenberg said that ICANN should block the sale.