In a year that’s been challenging for the entire world, Public Interest Registry (PIR), the people behind .ORG, have announced their second annual .ORG Impact Awards. This week PIR put out a Call for Nominations to honour the remarkable organisations and individuals making the world a better place that use a .org domain name for their website.
Neustar (.us), Public Interest Registry (.org) and Verisign (.com/.net) are participating in a three month trial with the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Food and Drug Administration to curb illegal online sales of unapproved opioids.
Public Interest Registry published their 2018 annual report Thursday, highlighting what for them was a âsolid year for .org, from exceeding financial goals to continuing to grow a strong user base with high renewal rates. These results are a direct reflection of PIRâs commitment to promoting quality domains in the .org base.â For 2019, the .org registry is âputting an even greater focus on combating abuse and making significant investments in education and outreach initiatives.â
It was a year that saw domain names under management for .org drop to 10.3 million at the end of 2018 from 10.4 million at the end of 2017. Renewals though increased by 100,000 from 6.7m to 6.8m while the renewal percentage increased from 75.7% to 77.4%.
But .org wasnât the only top-level domain in the top 10 by registration numbers to drop with .de and .uk also dropping by around 100,000 according to Verisignâs Domain Name Industry Brief, but .net (500,000) and .ru (400,000) dropped even further while .info dropped from being the eighth largest TLD with 6.4 million registrations to sliding out of the top 10 meaning their registration count was somewhere below 4.8 million registrations which is what the tenth largest TLD (.tw) had at the end of 2018.
As the annual report notes, they are challenging times with there now being 1,250 gTLDs including PIRâs .ong and .ngo and 4 others, currently with just shy of 8,000 registrations, compared to the 6 when .org was created in 1984.
Financially 2018 was a year in which PIR note they exceeded their financial goals with net bookings growing $1.1m to 93.0m and operating income jumping $7.0m to $45.9m. For 2018 mid-year PIR made some âboldâ business decisions, that led to a strong financial performance, and results specifically reflecting an ongoing commitment to high ethical standards. Mid-year also saw a realignment of marketing incentives a renewed focus on the quality (not just the quantity) of .org registrations. The .org Community grew as the result of this change. There were more quality registrations and more users. This led to significant contributions toward Internet Societyâs work for an open, globally-connected, secure and trustworthy Internet for everyone.
Other achievements in 2018 highlighted in the report were reorganising the management structure to align with strategic priorities, sharpening efforts to further improve the quality of the .org base, maintaining the robust .org renewal rates, and producing strong financial results in support of the Internet Society and their work to keep the Internet free and open for all. The report also details PIRâs plans for 2019, which include initiatives aligned with PIRâs mission to help educate those who are making a difference in their communities through the power of .org.
In 2019, PIR is building upon these efforts through the launch of the Quality Performance Index (QPI) initiative, which helps reward those registrars who are growing and maintaining trust in the .org domain while identifying areas of improvement for registrars when it comes to online trust.
The Report also details PIRâs robust anti-abuse program, its policy and privacy initiatives, and expanding education and outreach efforts. For 2019, PIR is putting an even greater focus on combating abuse online and making significant investments in education and outreach initiatives. PIR also is establishing a .ORG Impact Awards program to recognise the incredible work of organisations across the globe, and creating a PIR Grants Program to connect PIR with highly motivated individuals and groups with mutual aspirations to help them further their missions.
âPIR achieved the ambitious goals we set for ourselves in 2018, thanks in no small part to the inspiring work of the .org community. Itâs the people and organisations using .org to make a positive impact on the world who motivate us to remain diligent in our stewardship of the .org domain,â said Jon Nevett, who was appointed President and CEO of Public Interest Registry in December 2018.
âThis year, we are in the midst of a number of exciting initiatives aimed at providing even more support for the broad .org community and our domain industry partners. These include maintaining .org as the most trusted domain extension, amplifying our education and outreach efforts, and continuing to expand our already robust anti-abuse program.â
To download the 2018 Annual Report in full, go to: https://pir.org/pir-2018-annual-report/
The .ORG Impact Awards is Now Accepting Nominations from Nonprofits, Corporations, Community Groups and More    Â
[news release] In celebration of organizations using the Internet to empower change around the world, The .ORG Impact Awards, sponsored by Public Interest Registry, launches today to honor .ORG domain name users for their accomplishments.
From individuals to large corporations, and small community groups to multinational NGOs, purpose-driven achievements from members of the .ORG community will be honored through this inaugural program. The award submission period is open through Friday, July 12, 2019.
Unlike other industry award programs, The .ORG Impact Awards does not seek to profit from submissions. In fact, winning individuals and organizations will receive up to $5,000 in a monetary contribution to the nonprofit of their choice, and finalists will receive two complimentary invitations to attend The .ORG Impact Awards Ceremony at The Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. on October 10, 2019 where winners will be announced. Finalists in the âIndividualâ category also will be offered travel assistance.
Achievement will be honored in the following award categories:
Individual Awards honor the contribution of an individual to their organization or the broader sector:
Sector Awards recognize organizational and team accomplishments:
Initiative Awards celebrate achievement in a specific online niche area:
âThe .ORG Impact Awards is an opportunity to convene organizations of all types and sizes from around the world to learn from each other, celebrate each otherâs accomplishments and strengthen the work being done through .ORG to make the world a better place,â said Jon Nevett, president and CEO of Public Interest Registry. âThe mission- and affinity-driven .ORG community is vast, diverse and incredibly innovative in how it harnesses the power of the Internet to improve the lives of people near and far, and weâre thrilled to shine a spotlight on these accomplishments to help strengthen these stellar .ORGs for the future.â
All award entries must be submitted through a form on The .ORG Impact Awardsâ secure online platform and should highlight activities occurring between June 1, 2018 and June 1, 2019. Nominators may submit to more than one category/subcategory, but each submission must be original. All submissions must be in English and there is no cost for submission.
For official eligibility criteria and rules of The .ORG Impact Awards program, as well as submission requirements, deadlines and judging information, please visit https://orgimpactawards.org/.
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About Public Interest Registry
Public Interest Registry is a nonprofit corporation that operates the .ORG top-level domain â one of the world’s largest “generic” top-level domain with more than 10 million domain names registered worldwide. As an advocate for collaboration, safety and security on the Internet, Public Interest Registry’s mission is to educate and enable the global noncommercial community to use the Internet more effectively, and to take a leadership position among Internet stakeholders on policy and other issues relating to the domain naming system. Public Interest Registry was founded by the Internet Society (internetsociety.org) in 2002 and is based in Reston, Virginia, USA. Visit Public Interest Registry at https://pir.org/.
The internet is increasingly playing a part in the lives of Belgians with growing numbers enjoying the freedom it gives them, go online for entertainment and feel the internet is an essential part of their daily lives. But only 1 in 20 Belgians have ever registered a domain name.
This is all part of research conducted by InSites Consulting on behalf of DNS Belgium, the .be ccTLD registry, at the end of 2018. The research found trust is important for Belgian internet users, and .be domain names score high on that front.
When asked what were the most important factors when it comes to trusting a domain name, Belgians responded:
When it came to trusting a website, an encrypted connection (https) was considered the most important, a .be domain name second and a company logo third.
When asked if theyâve ever registered at least one domain name, 5% of Belgians said they had while 95% said not. 60% understood the concept of domain names while one third (35%) said theyâd consider registering a domain name in the future, the remainder said they wouldnât.
For the top level domains Belgians register domain names in, 77% said their own country code top level domain .be, 30% said .com, 16% said .net and 13% said .eu. Following was their neighbour .nl (Netherlands – 8%), .org (7%), .fr (France – 4%), .brussels (2%), .london (1%) and others accounted for 9%.
When it comes to the reasons for registering a domain name, 43% of Belgians said for a website, 40% for website and email and 6% just email.
It also appears Belgians are registering domain names sooner in the process of developing a business or idea with 42% saying they registered a domain name âdirectly at the time of the ideaâ compared to 23% in 2017, 11% âwhen the business is launchedâ (11% in 2017) and 23% after the start (30% in 2017).
Awareness was highest with .be and .com, with both scoring awareness among over 90% of Belgians (94% and 92% respectively) while .vlaanderen and .brussels scored 27% and 19% respectively.
Belgians said they valued the freedom and entertainment the internet offered them with 70% saying they loved the freedom the internet gives them (up from 59% in 2017), 68% said they go online at home for entertainment (57% in 2017) and 67% said they âfeel the internet is an essential part of their daily livesâ (47% in 2017).
Belgians say they surf safely online with almost two thirds (64%) saying they ânever surf to untrustworthy sitesâ while half (50%) âare concerned with safe internet useâ and a quarter (25%) âare aware of the latest online security toolsâ.
In December of 2018, a new leader was welcomed to Public Interest Registry â Jonathon Nevett, a new President and Chief Executive Officer. Jon brings decades of domain expertise to the company and an impressive track record of industry leadership that will be instrumental to the ongoing growth and success of the .org domain.
PIR is thrilled to welcome Jon and decided to sit down with him so he can share more about his background, what motivated him to join .org and some of his priorities and goals for the .org domain.
Tell us about yourself! What led you to where you are today?
I started my career in government service and then as a lawyer by trade. After a few years of practising at a law firm, I moved to working at a large telecommunications company and started gravitating away from the law and towards the business side of a regulated industry. I then made the transition to Network Solutions and the domain industry and havenât looked back. Iâve worked in a variety of capacities within the industry â from starting out as an ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) policy wonk to serving as the Chairman of the Board of two industry joint ventures; from establishing a business ethics program to leading a government affairs effort. I have been fortunate enough to serve on various industry advisory groups and panels, as well as helped start our own industry trade association.
Most recently, I co-founded and served as an executive vice president at Donuts Inc., a domain registry that manages hundreds of new domain extensions. Over the eight years I was with Donuts, I had the opportunity to help raise over $150M in funding, build a registry from the ground up, and manage an amazing team of professionals. When this position opened at PIR, however, I knew it was the opportunity of a lifetime and that the stars had aligned.
What made you pursue this new role at .org?
Iâve admired .org and PIR from afar since I began in the industry. PIRâs mission is to ensure that all who are committed to the public interest have a voice online and I knew immediately thatâs a mission I wanted to support. Joining the great team at PIR is an opportunity for me to stay in the industry I love and continue to work within the community that has supported me throughout my career. Additionally, Iâve lived in the greater DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia) area for over 25 years and PIR is right in my backyard, so I didnât risk the ire of my family in trying to get them to relocate.
What most excites you about this new role?
I wholeheartedly believe that .org is the crown jewel of the domain name system and my job is to polish it and let it shine as much as possible. It is known that .org has a long-standing reputation as a best-in-class domain, particularly when it comes to domain security, trust, and reliability. I felt that joining .org would give me an opportunity to do something good, as it is a purpose-driven domain for people who want to do great things online. Leading .org gives me a chance to help empower those people and help change the world for the better.
Many people also forget that PIR is a nonprofit, so we have our own public interest mission. Importantly, every time someone chooses a .org domain, a portion of their domain purchase goes toward supporting the Internet Society and its great work like keeping the internet free and open and helping to bring internet access to every corner of the globe. Iâm honored to be at the helm of such an impactful organisation like PIR and want to do everything I can during my tenure to enhance the .org domain.
What are some of your priorities and goals for PIR and the .org domain?
Quality of the domain space will always be a big focus for me. I want to uphold .orgâs reputation for being safe, secure, trustworthy, and a place for mission-based organisations and individuals to bring their ideas to life. That emphasis on quality means the total domains under management (DUM) metric wonât rule supreme. There are more important qualitative metrics that I plan to implement that will ultimately be more critical to the long-term health and growth of .org.
Additionally, Iâm looking forward to fostering the education and outreach element of our charter and have some ideas for how to ramp up those efforts in the coming years. We have strong expertise as an organisation on issues such as web identity, web presence, and how .orgs can be most successful on the internet, so you can expect in the near future to see PIR sharing our expertise with the greater non-profit community in new and creative ways. We also have some other exciting developments coming soon for the organisation, but we are keeping them under wraps for now.
Finally, Iâm just really excited to be joining an organisation with such a strong internal culture and so many inspiring and talented people across the globe. I want to keep building on that foundation and ensure .org stays a great place to work â somewhere people can really grow and thrive professionally. And while weâre at it, letâs have a little fun!
What are you doing when you arenât running one of the original domain extensions?
Family and friends and my various communities are my focus when I am not thinking about domain names. My wife, Karen, and I have three amazing kids â two in college (Rachel and Michael) and one in high school (Danielle) â and our personal time mostly revolves around them (especially girls travel soccer!).
I have also served for many years on the board of the Green Acres School, a progressive school founded 85 years ago and the first integrated school in Montgomery County, Maryland.
One of my most important achievements this year is that I am the proud winner of the ICANN community fantasy football championship and of course, all the bragging rights that go with it.
This Q&A by Jim LeFevre â Senior Director of Marketing, Public Interest Registry was republished with permission by PIR. The original version was published on PIR’s website here.
Public Interest Registry has announced Jonathon Nevett will commence as their new CEO on 17 December, replacing Brian Cute who resigned in May. Nevett, a Donuts co-founder, himself recently stepped down from his role at Donuts as executive vice president of corporate affairs but remained for a short time as a close advisor to the company. Continue reading PIR Announces Jonathon Nevett As New CEO
The Public Interest Registry (PIR), who operates a number of gTLDs including .org, ngo and .ong and associated internationalised domain names, has begun accepting nominations for their Board of Directors.
In 2019 there are three positions opening on the PIR Board. The three directors will serve a 3-year term that begins mid-year 2019 and expires mid-year 2022. PIR says prior board experience is preferred. All directors must be able to read and understand a balance sheet, as well as read and communicate effectively in the English language.
There are approximately 15 full days per year for face-to-face meetings (not including travel time), regular conference calls (generally monthly), and daily email correspondence. Directors that participate in all meetings are eligible to accept compensation up to US$12,000 per year
The deadline for nominations is 15:00 UTC on February 4, 2019. Interested candidates should submit this form. More information is available here.
The Public Interest Registry has announced changes to the way they deal with registrars. The changes impact on the discounts, rebates and marketing products offered by the registry.
The changes were announced in a post on the PIR blog by Interim President and CEO Jay Daley. The first change is that PIR, the registry for .org and .ngo top level domains among others, wonât be offering any further volume discounts when the current agreements expire. While volume discounts are a long-established product offered by many registries, they clearly favour larger registrars as only the larger registrars can reach the volumes necessary to qualify for the discount. We donât think this is fair and we want all our products in future to be equally accessible to registrars of all sizes.
The second change is that theyâre going to measure the success of their products on more key performance indicators than just the number of creates they produce. For a start PIR is going to be looking at the overall revenue of a product â does it cost more to offer the product than the additional revenue we get from it? Then theyâre going to look at the quality of the new registrations generic generated â do they have a higher incidence of technical abuse such as malware or phishing? Theyâre also going to look at whether there is a positive impact on our brand attributes and how registrars and registrants perceive them.
Measuring brand in this way means two things the post notes. It signals a shift from a sales-led organisation to a marketing-led organisation so they can focus on strengthening the core characteristics of .org, such as trust. It also means that theyâll need to conduct more registrar and registrant surveys to help understand and measure the impact of their products and they will need registrar cooperation to achieve that.
The third change is that in future PIR will no longer offer products where they take all the risk and will instead ask for the risk to be shared along with the reward. Registrars and registries are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the use of data and together can design products where both have confidence in the outcome.
Daley writes PIR thinks these changes and their new approach are better suited to developing strong partnerships with registrars and generating quality, sustainable growth. He says they may see a dip in headline numbers as this strategy is put in place, but from the actions taken so far in cutting back the target market discount, the loss of income from the drop in creates is more than compensated for by the saving in expenditure.
To support all these changes PIR has invested heavily in their channel services team with three new hirings, Rick Terry, Scott McBreen and Gianni Ponzi, who join Senior Director Inma del Rosal Mendez. These new members of the team have extensive experience in our industry with long stints working for registrars and they are looking forward to building strong partnerships with .org registrars.
Following the departure of President and CEO Brian Cute in May, Public Interest Registry has begun the search for a new CEO.
Public Internet Registry (PIR) is the not-for profit organisation created by the Internet Society (ISOC) in 2002 to manage, enhance and expand the .org domain while acting in the public interest. .org currently has 10.3 million domains under management and is the seventh largest top level domain. PIR also manages .ngo and .ong TLDs among others.
For the CEO position, in their advertisement PIR say theyâre looking for a high- quality candidate to lead the company forward in this important stage of our development. The goal is to make PIR into a world leading registry in all aspects by adopting global best practice and leading-edge initiatives.
The CEO will execute their current strategy and to build on success and meet goals. The right leader will be someone with significant experience in the domain name industry at a senior level. While PIR is proudly not-for-profit, it exists both to serve the community and to fund ISOC. The right candidate will therefore have both strong commercial skills to drive revenue growth as well as a genuine passion for PIRâs public interest mission and broader Internet issues. The CEO will be responsible for delivering PIRâs mission within the domain name industry, the broader community of org/.ngo/.ong registrants, and the community of Internet users served by ISOC.
PIR is looking for a CEO with excellent organisational, strategic planning, financial management and diplomatic skills to lead a global and diverse community and reflect the organisationâs values. In addition to a wide variety of technical expertise, candidates should bring a track record of directing sustainable growth of an organisation or business unit. They must also have an inspirational leadership style, with experience working with an active Board.
For further information, including details of how to apply, go to the website of the recruitment firm Perrett Laver quoting reference 3669. The deadline for applications is Friday 27 July. Salary is not listed but is said to be âcompetitiveâ.