Jump to content

.org

Page semi-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from.org (top-level domain))

This article is about the Internet domain. For the.org file extension and other uses, seeorg (disambiguation).
.org
IntroducedJanuary 1, 1985;39 years ago(1985-01-01)
TLDtypeGeneric top-level domain
StatusActive
RegistryPublic Interest Registry(technical service byAfilias)
SponsorNot technically sponsored, but PIR is connected with theInternet Society
Intended useMiscellaneous organizations not fitting in other categories (generally noncommercial)
Actual useNonprofits; personal sites; open-source projects; some government websites; mostly used by non-commercial entities
Registration restrictionsNone
StructureRegistrations at second level permitted
DocumentsRFC 920; RFC 1591;ICANN registry agreement
Dispute policiesUDRP
DNSSECYes
Registry websitePublic Interest Registry

The domain name.orgis ageneric top-level domain(gTLD) of theDomain Name System(DNS) used on theInternet.The name is truncated from 'organization'. It was one of the original domains established in 1985, and has been operated by thePublic Interest Registrysince 2003. The domain was originally "intended as the miscellaneous TLD for organizations that didn't fit anywhere else."[1]It is commonly used by non-profit organizations, open-source projects, and communities, but is an open domain that can be used by anyone. The number of registered domains in.org has increased from fewer than one million in the 1990s, to ten million in 2012, and held steady between ten and eleven million since then.

History

A 2020 protest led by theElectronic Frontier Foundationopposed to the proposed sale oforgto a private firm.

The domain ".org" was one of the original top-level domains[2]and was established in January 1985. The other early top-level domains were,.us,.edu,.gov,.miland.net.It was originally intended fornon-profit organizationsor organizations of a non-commercial character that did not meet the requirements for other gTLDs.The MITRE Corporationwas the first group to register an.org domain withmitre.orgin July 1985.[3]The TLD has been operated since January 1, 2003, byPublic Interest Registry,who assumed the task from VeriSign Global Registry Services, a division ofVerisign.[4]

In November 2019, the Public Interest Registry (PIR) was to be sold by theInternet Societytoshell companyEthos Capitalfor US$1.135 billion.[5]The PIR also announced it would abandon its non-profit status to become aB Corporation.[6]However, this move was criticized by non-profits and various digital rights groups on concerns that Ethos Capital, a private equity firm, would raise fees or censor the domain. The sale was blocked byInternet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)in April 2020 on the basis that the transfer of control of the domain to the private equity firm would create "unacceptable uncertainty" for non-profits that relied on the.org domain.[7]

Registrations

Registrations of subdomains are processed via accredited registrars worldwide. Anyone can register asecond-level domainwithin org, without restrictions.[8][9]In some instances subdomains are being used also by commercial sites, such as craigslist.org. According to theICANNDashboard (Domain Name) report, the composition of the TLD is diverse, including cultural institutions, associations, sports teams, religious, and civic organizations,open-source softwareprojects, schools, environmental initiatives, social, and fraternal organizations, health organizations, legal services, as well as clubs, and community-volunteer groups. In some cases subdomains have been created for crisis management.[which?]

The number of.org domains registered with the Public Interest Registry.

Although organizations anywhere in the world may register subdomains, many countries, such as Australia (au), Canada (ca), Japan (jp), Argentina (ar), Bolivia (bo), Uruguay (uy), Turkey (tr), Somalia (so), Sierra Leone (sl), Russia (ru), Bangladesh (bd), India (in) and the United Kingdom (uk), have established a second-level domain with a similar purpose under theirccTLD.Such second-level domains are usually namedorgoror.[citation needed]

In 2009, the.org domain consisted of more than 8 million registered domain names,[10]8.8 million in 2010,[11]and 9.6 million in 2011.[12]The Public Interest Registry registered the ten millionth.ORG domain in June, 2012.[13]When the 9.5 millionth second-level domain was registered in December 2011,orgbecame the third largest gTLD.[14]

As of November 2019, according to the Tranco ranking of the top 1M global domains,[15]domains under.org were about 6 % of the top 1000 and 7 % of the top 100 thousand and 1 million domains.

Internationalized domain names

The.org domain registry allows the registration of selectedinternationalized domain names(IDNs) as second-level domains.[16]For German, Danish, Hungarian, Icelandic, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, and Swedish IDNs this has been possible since 2005. Spanish IDN registrations have been possible since 2007.[9]

Domain name security

On June 2, 2009, The Public Interest Registry announced[17]that theorgdomain is the first open generic top-level domain and the largest registry overall that has signed itsDNS zonewithDomain Name System Security Extensions(DNSSEC). This allows the verification of the origin authenticity and integrity of DNS data by conforming DNS clients.

As of June 23, 2010, DNSSEC was enabled for individual second-level domains,[18]starting with 13 registrars.

Cost of registration

Since 2003, thePublic Interest Registry(PIR) charged its accredited registrars a capped price of US$9.05 per year[19]for each domain name. The registrars may set their charges to end users without restrictions.

In April 2019,ICANNproposed an end to the price cap of.org domains[20]and effectively removed it in July in spite of having received 3,252 opposing comments and only six in favor.[21]A few months later, the owner of the domain, the Public Interest Registry, proposed to sell the domain to investment firmEthos Capital.[22]After intense criticism from nonprofit groups and significant figures in Internet history, the proposal was scrapped.[23]

Regulatory positions

In March 2001, the Ethics Committee of theState Bar of Arizonaissued Ethics Opinion 01-05, which discussed the limitations to which alaw firmis subject when creating or using a website address for its law firm website. Among other conclusions, the Committee opined that a for-profit law firm may not use a domain name that contains the suffix “.org,” on the ground that such use “creates a false impression that the firm either is a non-profit or is in some way specifically affiliated with a non-profit.”

In light of the widespread use of the “.org” suffix by for-profit organizations in the years since Ariz. Ethics Op. 01-05 was issued, the Committee, reconsidering the matter in December 2011, concluded that the possibility that the public will be misled by a for-profit law firm’s use of “.org’ in its website address is remote, as a reasonable person, desiring to verify whether an entity is non-profit, would not rely solely on the entity’s website address.

Therefore, the mere use of “.org” by a for-profit law firm was declared not to be a violation of the Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct, and Opinion 01-05 was modified accordingly. Arizona lawyers were cautioned, however, that a lawyer or law firm may not use a domain name that falsely implies that the lawyer or law firm is affiliated with a particular non-profit organization or with a governmental entity or which otherwise is false or misleading.[24]

References

  1. ^Postel, J. (March 1994),RFC 1591: Domain Name System Structure and Delegation,doi:10.17487/RFC1591,retrievedJanuary 28,2021
  2. ^RFC 920,Domain Requirements,J. Postel, J. Reynolds, The Internet Society (October 1984)
  3. ^Mitre.org
  4. ^InterNIC - FAQs onorgtransition
  5. ^"Ethos paid $1.135 billion for.Org: Internet Society reveals the price it is selling out for".November 29, 2019.RetrievedJanuary 17,2020.
  6. ^"The Internet Society & Public Interest Registry: A New Era of Opportunity"..ORG(Press release). November 13, 2019.RetrievedNovember 23,2019.
  7. ^Robertson, Adi (April 30, 2020)."ICANN votes down controversial.org sale proposal".The Verge.RetrievedApril 30,2020.
  8. ^ICANN Top-Level Domains (gTLDs),Retrieved 2011-03-31.
  9. ^abBuy.ORG (Registrant) General Questions,Retrieved 2001-10-25.
  10. ^Ragan, Steve (March 12, 2012)."DNSSEC to become standard on.ORG domains by end of June".The Tech Herald. Archived fromthe originalon January 3, 2019.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  11. ^Berkens, Michael (February 14, 2011).".ORG Grows Over 10% To Over 8.8 Million Registrations".The Domains.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  12. ^Prestipino, Peter (February 16, 2012)."The.ORG Registry Grows 10 Percent".Website Magazine.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  13. ^Goldstein, David (July 12, 2012)."ORG Seventh TLD To Pass Ten Millionth Registration Milestone".DomainPulse. Archived fromthe originalon March 11, 2020.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  14. ^"The PIR Dashboard"(PDF).The Public Interest Registry. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on August 4, 2016.RetrievedApril 4,2012.
  15. ^Le Pochat, Victor; Van Goethem, Tom; Tajalizadehkhoob, Samaneh; Korczynski, Maciej; Joosen, Wouter."Tranco: A Research-Oriented Top Sites Ranking Hardened Against Manipulation"(PDF).Network and Distributed Systems Security (NDSS) Symposium 2019.doi:10.14722/ndss.2019.23386.ISBN1-891562-55-X.
  16. ^"Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) Questions".Public Interest Registry. Archived fromthe originalon June 5, 2012.RetrievedMarch 28,2010.
  17. ^Ajay D'Souza."DNSSEC announcement inThe.ORG Blog".Archived fromthe originalon June 11, 2009.RetrievedJuly 2,2009.
  18. ^"List of.ORG registrars".Archived fromthe originalon June 12, 2010.RetrievedJune 23,2010.
  19. ^"Exhibit A--REGISTRATION FEES"(PDF).Public Interest Registry. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on January 27, 2018.RetrievedJanuary 16,2018.
  20. ^McCarthy, Kieren (April 26, 2019)."Internet industry freaks out over proposed unlimited price hikes on.org domain names".The Register.RetrievedNovember 23,2019.
  21. ^Lee, Timothy B. (July 1, 2019)."ICANN eliminates.org domain price caps despite lopsided opposition".Ars Technica.RetrievedNovember 23,2019.
  22. ^McCarthy, Kieren (November 20, 2019)."Internet world despairs as non-profit.org sold for $$$$ to private equity firm, price caps axed".The Register.RetrievedNovember 23,2019.
  23. ^Lohr, Steve (May 1, 2020)."A Private Equity Firm Is Blocked From Buying.Org".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedDecember 29,2022.
  24. ^Ariz. Ethics Op. 11-04.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=.org&oldid=1223117406"