from the re-assertion-of-public-culture dept.
The two top executives at Ethos Capital are due to confront non-profits that want to stymie its $1.13 billion acquisition of Public Interest Registry on a public call tomorrow.
The call has been put together by NTEN, a conference organizer that focuses on the use of tech by non-profits.
According to NTEN, the call will feature speakers from anti-deal Electronic Frontier Foundation, The National Council of Nonprofits, and Internet Society chapter leaders (some of whom are against the deal).
PIR boss Jon Nevett, as well as Ethos CEO Erik Brooks and chief purpose office Nora Abusitta have also agreed to attend. Andrew Sullivan, CEO of the Internet Society "has been invited but has not confirmed participation", NTEN said.
It's going to be the first time that those in favor of the deal will face off in public against those that want it scrapped.
Watch here:
https://www.nten.org/events/?event-id=a0l1U000002y52lQAA
I for one sure am curious how this chat is going to unfold.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 04 2019, @09:58PM
Which ISOC scums?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by FatPhil on Wednesday December 04 2019, @10:47PM (3 children)
They wanna play commerce? Let's make a deal!
I'm tempted to say that the sale should enable a class action lawsuit were it to occur - the fuckers we paid money should not have the freedom to sell our rights to an entity who by law must give primacy to shareholders and share value.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 05 2019, @12:08AM (2 children)
If I can't get a 10 year deal for our tiny consortium .org website, I'm inclined to switch to a different domain. Everyone that gets into our password-access site is manually vetted anyway, so it hardly matters what the domain is--we chose .org because this isn't a company, not because we were looking for any specific type of traffic.
I suspect that if the price of .org goes up significantly, there will be a mass exodus away from .org.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 05 2019, @01:14AM
I can practically PROMISE they they will crank up the rate effective immediately. Can you say $120 USD/yr? They wouldn't be putting up $1.13bn for the purchase if they didn't plan to make their money back QUICKLY, and in SPADES.
What percentage of .org holders are little guys like you and me? Think of all the non-profits and not-for-profits that would pony up without a second thought. In general, most organizations will pay up without a second thought, and THESE GUYS ARE BANKING ON THAT.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 05 2019, @01:33AM
Years ago when I decided that having a domain could come in handy some day, I got the .com, .org, and .net variants of the domain name, mostly just to keep anyone else from having it. I've only been using the .com while having the .org and .net directed to the .com content (which is just enough to prove the site is not abandoned or anything). I've been wondering if keeping the .org and .net variants is worth the bother, or the cost. I think with this change to org, it might be time to just let the .org and .net domains go, and just keep the .com one.
Is there some reason I'm unaware of that would make keeping such variants of a domain, in general, a good idea?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Wednesday December 04 2019, @10:49PM (6 children)
The only thing that would stop Ethos Capital from going through with this purchase is a credible threat of either a lawsuit or criminal investigation. The people opposing the deal most likely don't have that, or they wouldn't be aiming to have a polite phone call. Ethos will say all the right things, read out some PR drivel, and proceed to do what they would have done regardless because they have every .org domain holder by the balls and a very large paycheck to collect.
You have to understand that these kinds of characters' understanding of ethics is: "It's unethical to allow ordinary people to hang onto their money."
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Thursday December 05 2019, @02:29AM (2 children)
so, what's stopping people from registering (or pre-paying) for their .org (existing .org, of course) for the next 10 years and holding it?
is the deal this scumbag company trying to do, something that will kill already paid-for registrations?
after it expires, sure, it may not be worth renewing, but if you renew for 10 years now, can they TAKE it from you? doesn't seem like it, but then again, laws are not for the little guy anymore (where they, ever?)
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 05 2019, @05:02AM (1 child)
I can't see how reneging on already-paid-for registrations could possibly be legal, but considering how shady this deal already is I can't see it happening any other way, nor do I foresee any real consequences for the perpetrators. Do we really not have any names of the people responsible for this mess?
(Score: 2) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Thursday December 05 2019, @01:47PM
There are two faces which appear on ethos capital homepage, who no one has ever heard of before and only have linked in profiles and educational backgrounds in mba programs.
People with 0 credibilty putting themselvse in the hierarchy over everyone in the world with actual credibilty, including this site.
This essentially makes these people on the admin team who could shut off any .org like a valve by fiat.
You should wonder about the brain slug % of anyone who says anything otherwise.
https://archive.ph/T95pm [archive.ph]
https://archive.is/xXs6r [archive.is]
(Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday December 05 2019, @04:39AM (1 child)
Is it just me or does anyone else think "Ethos Capital" is about the sleaziest name a company could think of, like the Mafia calling themselves "Ethical Labour Management Inc"?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Thursday December 05 2019, @11:46AM
I think it'd be interesting to see who is behind this business and how they plan to profit off of an investment of this size. It could just be more fee. But I wonder if gaining control over .org allotment justifies the effort in its own right. For example, Wikileaks has a .org address.
(Score: 2) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Thursday December 05 2019, @01:51PM
Sadly, I could not say it better.
So alt dns it is, this may be the real death of web 1.0.
It was nice while it lasted.
SN should(read: must) welcome these placeholding stooge overlords to their dns admin team.
This, like many things recently, is exactly what one would do if one were maneuvering to centralize control of the entire internet for raw exertion of ideological power, including silencing of vast crimes and erasing vast swaths of history, but concealing your true identity and operating by proxy.
https://archive.is/kM3t9 [archive.is]
https://archive.is/dmjdm [archive.is] clearly left side people