November 22, 2006; 05:16 AM The Public Interest Registry (PIR) has announced
a new international public awareness campaign aimed at protecting .ORG
domain name holders from the potentially damaging consequences of allowing
their .ORG domain names to expire. The campaign, called "protectyour.ORG:
Preserving the Value of Your .ORG Domain," seeks to educate registrants
about the value of .ORG domains -- even those that are not currently being
used as Web sites. It offers steps for locating, managing, consolidating,
and securing domain names in order to reduce the potential for problems
that may occur when domain names lapse either intentionally or because the
registrant was unaware that a name had expired.
In a March 2006 letter to the Security and Stability Advisory Committee
Liaison at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers -- the
organization responsible for global coordination of the Internet's domain
name system -- PIR president and CEO Edward G. Viltz voiced concern over
the growing practice of selecting, testing, and keeping or rejecting
expired domain names based on the names' monetary value and the subsequent
use of those names in a manner that is contradictory to the original
registrant's or organization's mission. Viltz cited the case of a rape
counseling center's Web site, which, following expiration and deletion of
the site's domain name, was registered by another registrant and relaunched
with a similar design that featured links to subscription-based
pornographic pages.
"There are any number of unintended consequences that can result from
allowing domain names to expire -- in terms of both an organization's
public image and the relationships the organization has established with
its audience," Viltz said. "We believe the impact of this phenomenon on the
.ORG community can be even more dire because of the level of trust that
exists between nonprofit, noncommercial, and charitable
organizations -- which tend to use .ORG domain names to convey their
noncommercial status -- and their members and constituents."
PIR is working in partnership with organizations that serve the needs of
nonprofit and noncommercial enterprises in order to spread the campaign's
message to .ORG domain name holders around the world. A Web site dedicated
to the campaign and titled www.protectyour.ORG provides information for
.ORG domain name holders and registrars. In addition, a pamphlet titled
"Protectyour.ORG: 5 Simple Steps for Protecting Your .ORG Domain Names" has
recently been published. The pamphlet is available in English in both print
and PDF formats. PDF versions in multiple languages are also available. For
details, see www.protectyour.ORG.
For more information on the campaign, or to become a campaign partner, or
to arrange for an interview with a PIR representative, contact Wendy
Rickard at The Rickard Group, Inc., either by phone at 609-466-4343 or by
e-mail at [email protected].
Wendy Rickard, The Rickard Group, Inc., 609-466-4343 |
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