.org Agreement Signed

[Whois-Search]

.org Agreement Signed; Transition Plans Announced

ICANN President and CEO Stuart Lynn has signed the finalized agreement
for the Public Interest Registry (PIR) to operate the .org top-level
domain. PIR takes over from VeriSign, the current .org registry
operator, as of 1 January 2003.

To ensure a smooth handoff, PIR - a subsidiary of the Internet
Society (ISOC) - and VeriSign have planned a 25-day transition
period until 25 January 2003, to give ICANN-accredited registrars
time to adapt to the new system. ".Org users and registrants should
thus not see any interruption of service," said Lynn. PIR has
subcontracted with Afilias, the operator of the .info top-level
domain launched last year, to provide back end services.

.Org is the Internet's fifth largest top-level domain, housing over
2.6 million domain names worldwide. PIR is committed to operating
the registry in an open manner that will offer new benefits and
enhanced services for non-commercial organizations. "For example,
new registrations will become operational in a matter of minutes
rather than hours or days," Lynn noted.

Earlier this year, the ICANN Board of Directors selected PIR/ISOC,
from among 11 organizations bidding to operate the .org top-level
domain. VeriSign is relinquishing .org to comply with an agreement
it entered into with ICANN and the U.S. Department of Commerce in
May 2001.

ISOC, founded in 1991, has members in more than 100 countries. It is
also home to the Internet standard setting bodies, the Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB).

For more information on the .org Transition, see
http://www.internic.net/faqs/org-transition.html

[devolution]

Perhaps someone should do an 'Idiots guide to the .ORG changeover' for those who don't have the time to browse through volumes of discussion.

[JoelTXo]

it goes without saying