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November was a big month for the domain name industry.

Shortly after returning from ICANN in Montreal, we found out that Internet Society is selling Public Interest Registry's assets to Ethos Capital. The prized asset here is the contract to run .org.

It came as a shock to many. ICANN had just lifted price controls on .org, but PIR assured non-profits that it would keep prices in check. After all, PIR is a non-profit.

But now...now, .org is in the hands of a private equity company. No matter what the new owner says, the unchecked potential to raise prices will loom over the .org extension forever. What will it do to get the highest return possible on its $1.135 billion investment?

The involvement of ICANN's former CEO, who was at the helm as ICANN started to push its new TLD agreement on other TLDs, is also questionable.

Many groups are pushing back on the deal, including one of Internet Society's chapters. But ICANN probably won't do anything.

This story certainly isn't over. Stay tuned to DNW for the latest.

It was a busy month on Domain Name Wire, with about 150,000 page views. Many of these were people interesting in learning more about the .org deal. But that wasn't the only news. Scroll down for the top 5 stories on DNW last month.

-Andrew

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Here are the top stories on DNW last month, as ranked by pageviews:

1. Private equity company to acquire .Org - There are a lot of connections to ICANN including its former CEO. Ethos is buying a money printing press and many groups aren't happy about it.

2. Why this weird domain sold for so much money - You have to understand Chinese to understand this domain name.

3. Kit.com is losing its domain name, switching to Kit.co - The woes of a domain name lease.

4. All domain investors should read this analysis - I can't take credit for it.

5. Tucows exits its domain name portfolio - Citing changes in domain name monetization and the domain aftermarket, Tucows sells off its portfolio.

Podcasts

Miss any of the podcasts? Here's a lowdown on last month's episodes.

Richard Lau and James Morfopoulos - This episode got rave reviews! Listen

What to expect at NamesCon 2020 – It's coming up next month! Listen

James Booth - James returned to the show to talk about what's selling, what's not, and what the future holds. Listen

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Thanks for reading,
Andrew