The sale of PIR to a newly formed entity that’s not covered by the non-profit umbrella might have been widely accepted, if the timing were different.
Weeks after ICANN decided to ignore more than 3,200 comments against provisions giving the green light to renewing the PIR contract with no price increase restrictions, the sale of PIR to new owners is highly suspicious and should be investigated.
The obvious class affected by this scandalous pair of events, is anyone using, registering, and investing in .ORG domains – myself included.
Over the course of almost two decades, I registered, managed, sold and acquired again as investment hundreds of .ORG domain names. The .ORG TLD is widely used by start-ups and non-profits, organizations and individuals, for fun or profit. It’s one of the three original “commercial” extensions, dating back to 1985.
My record-breaking numeric domain sale of 100.ORG to an environmental start-up, demonstrates how powerful such domains can be. I’ve sold hundreds of .ORG domains over the years, and still retain a portfolio of roughly 200 .ORG domains that despite the PIR ORGy I won’t be rushing to unload.
As a matter of fact, yesterday I sold a single word .ORG domain via the Uniregistry Market. The four figure sale was quickly negotiated, and once I set the BIN price, the representative of a financial company that owns the .com paid promptly. It’s been a tremendous November, thanks to Uniregistry and Sedo as well, and I foresee a superb year ahead.
Domain investors that are concerned about the selloff of PIR should protest openly and relentlessly. The timing of the exchange is highly suspicious, and I would not be surprised if a formal investigation is launched. There’s a ton of money to be made with domain names, and .ORG domains are highly sought after – even by cryptocurrency and blockchain companies.
If you own .ORG domains, you need to evaluate them for long term holding. My recent sale involved a 15 year hold for a domain I spent $25 dollars to acquire. Going forward, corporate decisions by the new managers of PIR might drive the annual cost of .ORG domains into a territory that could be prohibitive for many domain investors.
While you protest this decision, be ready to spend more money to retain your vluable investment, and do not get into a panic mode to dispose of it.
Good advice. Agree with everything except the assertion that the sale might have been widely accepted if the timing were different. Completely disagree on that.
There is a change.org petition at digitallandgrab.org.
Do you know of any other specific courses of action domain investors can take to protest the proposed sale?
Todd – The timing is creating a whole new dynamic, that’s my point. Sales transactions occur all the time, but the fact that the removing of price caps was achieved weeks prior indicates the deal closed all while the new owners awaited this exact outcome.