Public Interest Registry Assumes Control of .ORG Domain Name Registry in Historic Transition; Largest Domain Redelegation in the History of the Internet Commences.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 2, 2003 The Public Interest Registry Public Interest Registry is a not-for-profit corporation created by the Internet Society in 2002 to manage the .org top-level domain. It took over the operation of the domain from VeriSign on 1 January 2003. Afilias manages the technical operations of the . (PIR "Parent in room." See digispeak. ) today announced that it has assumed the role of registry operator for the .ORG top-level domain (networking) top-level domain - The last and most significant component of an Internet fully qualified domain name, the part after the last ".". For example, host wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk is in top-level domain "uk" (for United Kingdom). in a smooth handoff from former operator VeriSign Global Registry Services. This historic transition, which commenced yesterday when PIR officially assumed control of registry operations, marks the beginning of the largest transfer of data from one registry to another in the history of the Internet. "We are pleased to begin the transition process," said David Maher, chairman of the PIR board. "We have put together a solid transition team and are working together toward a smooth, stable transition resulting in no interruption of service for .ORG registrants." In order to minimize disruption, a 25-day phase-in period has begun during which VeriSign will still provide back-end technical services. This will allow those that sell .ORG domain names more time to prepare for the transition. On January 25, 2003, the technical services for the registry will be cutover (communications, networking) cutover - /cut-ov*/ Switching from an old (hardware and/or software) system to a replacement system, covering the overlap from when the new system is live until the old system has been shut down. from VeriSign to Afilias Limited, PIR's chosen back-end service provider. The .ORG domain, which has come to be associated with noncommercial organizations, is the Internet's fifth largest top-level domain, housing over 2.4 million domain names worldwide. PIR was created to manage the .ORG registry by the Internet Society (Internet Society, Reston, VA, www.isoc.org) An international membership organization dedicated to extending and enhancing the Internet, founded in 1992. It supports Internet bodies such as the IETF and works with governments, organizations and the general public to promote Internet (ISOC See Internet Society. ISOC - Internet Society ), and is committed to setting a new standard for registry services in its management of .ORG that will meet the unique needs and interests of noncommercial organizations around the world. Earlier this year, the Board of Directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers See ICANN. (body, networking) Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - (ICANN) The non-profit corporation that was formed to assume responsibility for IP address allocation, protocol parameter assignment, domain name system management, and root server system (ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, www.icann.org) A non-profit, international association founded in 1998 and incorporated in the U.S. It is the successor to IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority), which manages Internet addresses, domain names and the huge number ) selected ISOC's proposal from among 11 organizations bidding to operate the .ORG top-level domain. VeriSign's contract as registry operator for .ORG expired on December 31, 2002. As such, it is relinquishing .ORG to comply with an agreement entered into with the ICANN and the U.S. Department of Commerce in May 2001. ABOUT PIR Public Interest Registry (www.PIR.org) is a not-for-profit corporation A not-for-profit corporation is a corporation created by statute, government or judicial authority that is not intended to provide a profit to the owners or members. A corporation that is organized to provide profits to its owners or members is a for-profit corporation. created to manage the .ORG domain. PIR's mission is to manage the .ORG domain in a way that supports the continuing evolution of the Internet as a research, education and communications infrastructure, and educates and empowers the noncommercial community to most effectively utilize the Internet. PIR is based in Reston, VA. PIR was created by the Internet Society (www.ISOC.org). ISOC is a not-for-profit, open membership organization founded in 1991 and is dedicated to ensuring the open evolution, development and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people. It provides leadership in addressing issues that confront the future of the Internet, and is the organizational home for the groups responsible for Internet infrastructure standards. For additional information on PIR and the .ORG registry, please visit www.PIR.org. |
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