Buyer of .ORG domain offers concessions to ease nonprofits' concerns

• Published date: 01 April 2020
• Date: 01 April 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30740

APRIL 2020 NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR

3

© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

to arrive at a fair value measure, including the

principal market (or most advantageous market)

if signicant, in accordance with the require-

ments in Topic 820.

In short, there’s more disclosure behind method-

ologies, restrictions and valuation, which will enable

regulators and watchdogs to make “apple-to-apple

comparisons” when looking at different nonprots,

Klumpp said.

Klumpp noted that there’s not likely to be much

pushback from nonprots when the revised standard

is nalized.

“There’s been plenty of time for input and every-

one’s had their say, so I don’t think anyone will com-

plain at this stage,” he said.

But it will mean a short-term pinch the rst year

it takes effect, he said.

“For that rst year, nonprots will have to devel-

op a process to get the information they’ll need for

reporting and disclosure,” he said. “That’s going to

take some time and expense. But after that, it should

be pretty straightforward.”

The FASB will accept public comments on the

proposed ASU through April 10.

For more information, the proposal can be read in

full at https://bit.ly/2I7AcyF.

For more information

Lee Klumpp is the national assurance partner for the

nonprot and education industry division at BDO USA LLP’s

Washington, D.C., ofce. BDO provides comprehensive

assurance, tax, nancial advisory and advisory services to

a wide range of publicly traded and privately held com-

panies, serving clients through 60 ofces and more than

650 independent alliance rm locations nationwide. For

more information, visit www.bdo.com or contact Klumpp

at lklumpp@bdo.com. ■

Buyer of .ORG domain offers concessions to ease nonprots’ concerns

The venture capital rmunder contract to pur-

chase the Public Interest Registry, which owns the

rights to the .ORG top-level domain, has proposed

a handful of measures that would ostensibly protect

the nonprot community from price gouging, censor-

ship and other concerns that have been raised since

the acquisition was announced in December 2019.

According to a fact sheet published online by

Ethos Capital, the measures would be legally

binding and are meant to enforce price limits, safe-

guard against censorship and protect personal data

through an amendment to PIR’s Registry Agree-

ment with the Internet Corporation for Assigned

Names and Numbers, which allows PIR to operate

the .ORG domain. Importantly, the measures will

apply to .ORG regardless of who operates the do-

main, Ethos Capital said—the acquisition had yet

to be nalized as of press time.

Per Ethos Capital, the amendment includes the

following legally binding contractual provisions:

1. Affordability of .ORG Domain Names: Fees

charged to registrars for initial or renewal registra-

tion of a .ORG domain name will not increase by

more than 10% per year on average for eight years

from the start of the current Registry Agreement,

under a precise formula that does not permit front-

loading of those price increases.

2. .ORG Stewardship Council: The .ORG Stew-

ardship Council (the “Council”) will have authority

to provide independent advice on and a binding

right to veto modications proposed by PIR to PIR’s

policies regarding (1) censorship and freedom of

expression and (2) use of .ORG registrant and user

data. The Council will have specic authority to veto

any proposals or modications that would limit the

Council’s oversight in these areas.

For more information on the proposed amend-

ments, visit https://pir.org. ■

(5.1% in 2020 and 5.5% in 2021), health (7.9% in

2020 and 7.3% in 2021) and public-society benet

organizations (5.1% in 2020 and 5.0% in 2021).

The report also presents a “stress test” for 2020

and 2021, using characteristics and metrics similar

to those experienced during the Great Recession

of 2007–09, to see how charitable giving would

change. According to the report, the stress test

analysis gives nonprots and fundraisers an oppor-

tunity to consider how their organizations might

fare under severely adverse conditions, and to iden-

tify areas to strengthen and improve for long-term

stability, enabling them to plan ahead for possible

future downturns while economic times are good.

For more information, the report can be accessed

in full at http://philanthropyoutlook.com. ■

GIVING (continued from page 1)