Domain Industry & Internet News

Domain Name Industry News

Fadi Chehadé

Secretive Investment Company Ethos Capital Now Owns Donuts

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Keeping track of the merger and acquisitions over the last while is proving to be headache inducing. A lot of the players have switched around and the number of transactions does not show any sign of slowing down. The latest announcement is that Ethos Capital, the rather secretive investment company, is now the majority shareholder of Donuts. Ethos had previously tried to … [Read more...] about Secretive Investment Company Ethos Capital Now Owns Donuts

Ethos Capital is Buying Donuts

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Ethos Capital is buying a controlling stake in domain registry company Donuts. Donuts recently announced that it was buying Afilias and now it too is being bought. Ethos Capital is the entity that attempted to acquire PIR, the .org domain name registry. Ethos Capital described itself at the time of its attempted acquisition as being "firmly rooted in the belief that … [Read more...] about Ethos Capital is Buying Donuts

PIR and Ethos Capital Answer Key Questions About ORG Sale

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PIR and Ethos Capital, as well as ISOC, have obviously been coming under a lot of pressure since the announcement of the sale of PIR and the .org domain registry. Since the announcement of the acquisition there has been coverage not only in the domain and internet industry news sites, but also in more mainstream publications. As I mentioned yesterday a group of nonprofits also … [Read more...] about PIR and Ethos Capital Answer Key Questions About ORG Sale

Cruz’ Speech To Senate 8 September 2016

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The US Senate provides full transcripts of all speeches, though there's a delay of a day or so between a speech being read and the transcript being published. So here's the full transcript of Senator Ted Cruz' speech on the IANA transition from last week (source): "Mr. President, today our country faces a threat to the Internet as we know it. In 22 short days, if Congress … [Read more...] about Cruz’ Speech To Senate 8 September 2016

Cruz Sees Himself As Protector Of Internet Freedom

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It looks like Senator Cruz' letter writing campaign isn't going to end any time soon. While previously the Senator and former US presidential hopeful was happy exchanging salvoes with ICANN he's now switched gears and is instead focussing on NTIA and the US Department of Commerce. The latest letter is focussed on a very strange interpretation of the IANA transition … [Read more...] about Cruz Sees Himself As Protector Of Internet Freedom

How Much Has ICANN Spent On The IANA Transition?

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ICANN critics often focus on ICANN's expenditure. The organisation's overall budget had been growing for years prior to the new TLD program launch. However with the new TLD launch it mushroomed very quickly, with the organisation collecting $185k per application. With 1930 applications that gave them $357,050,000 - though admittedly there were quite a few applications withdrawn … [Read more...] about How Much Has ICANN Spent On The IANA Transition?

Ted Cruz vs ICANN CEO Saga Continues

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Earlier this month US Presidential hopeful, Senator Ted Cruz, wrote to ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé to express his displeasure over Chehadé's activity in China. Chehadé's reply was sent last week and obviously did little to placate the Republican politician. In a release from Cruz's office last night it's pretty clear that we haven't heard the end of this episode (emphasis … [Read more...] about Ted Cruz vs ICANN CEO Saga Continues

Chehadé Sends ICANN Board Farewell Letter

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ICANN's current CEO Fadi Chehadé is leaving the organisation in a few weeks time. His replacement has been announced and the upcoming public meeting in Marrakech, Morrocco, will be Chehadé's final public engagement as ICANN CEO. A couple of days ago Chehadé sent the ICANN board a letter entitled "summary of my tenure". While the letter may have been addressed to the board it … [Read more...] about Chehadé Sends ICANN Board Farewell Letter