The importance of non-restricted .org access

[Amr Elsadr]

Hi,

All good points, Sam, particularly regarding how an open registration policy is important for civil society actors working in countries governed by repressive regimes.

Thanks.

Amr

> On Dec 3, 2019, at 5:08 PM, Sam Lanfranco <lanfran at YORKU.CA> wrote:
>
> All,
>
> I would like to underscore the part of Milton’s history about the decision to make .org open to all, and for it not to be restricted to officially registered ngos and non-profits. That openness is important for several reasons.
>
> The first is that many small non-profits and community organizations simply do not have the finances and administrative capacity to register their organization, especially in countries where registration is not easy. As well, once registered they have routine reporting obligations that can be both burdensome and easy to overlook. One year earlier in this decade the South African government revoked the registration of (as I recall) about one-third of the registered ngo’s in South Africa, for failure to submit their annual report. Some no longer existed and some were poor or absent minded, but If .org were not open, a number of those ngos would have lost their websites as well.
>
> The second is that some governments require that an ngo must be registered if it is to receive any “foreign funding” (e.g. ISOC or ICANN COPE). This requirement is used as a tool to punish ngo’s whose work displeases the government. The ngo is not closed, but its finances are crippled. It would be sad if they also had to lose their .org website.
>
> The third of course is the need for some ngo’s and community groups to maintain a high degree of privacy under difficult circumstances. Even attempting to register as an ngo can result in serious harm to participants.
>
> Lastly, social media platforms have become attractive as the first-choice digital presence for many because they are open and accessible to all. While that openness comes with its problems as well, it has fewer obstacles than working through a registered ngo and using a .org domain name website. Nothing should be done to make the .org less attractive.
>
> That brings us back to the wisdom and integrity of the pending .org registry sale.
>
> Sam Lanfranco
>
>>
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