Register ORGanization, Inc. (hereinafter “RegisterOrg” or the “Registry”) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Register.com, formed for the purpose of operating the .org registry in the event it is so delegated by ICANN. The mission of RegisterOrg is to transition the existing .org domain to a technologically and financially strong and stable, globally identifiable, top-level domain that is recognized as a preeminent resource for community-oriented Internet uses—people, causes, and ideas.

RegisterOrg’s Vision
The RegisterOrg team strongly believes that the .org registry should be run as a technical business, striving for stability, innovation and reliability. We submit that the registry should be operated by a proficient technical, business, legal, and marketing team in a manner that is supported by the .org community. The interests of the commercial registry operator and that of the .org community are closely aligned. To achieve commercial success, RegisterOrg must provide the highest levels of service, functionality, innovation and education to stabilize and then expand the number of .org registrants. At the same time, our day-to-day focus will be narrow in looking after the interests of both the business of the registry and our customers equally.

We do not believe that establishing a policy board or consensus body of a group of stakeholders to operate the day-to-day affairs of the registry is the only, or even the most effective, way to ensure that the interests of the .org user community – and, in particular, its noncommercial users - are addressed. The goals of a commercial operator and non-commercial community are complimentary. As a commercial operator, RegisterOrg will be incentivized to define and attract the target market, and to grow the customer base within that market. Only by transitioning .org into a strong and recognizable brand, that is not diluted as it is today, will .org be revitalized and truly recognized as the pre-eminent place within the Internet community for people, causes, and ideas. In addition to our targeted marketing plans, we will be establishing a community fund that will grant money directly to two foundations with a wide reach and historic success in tackling the issues of the global noncommercial community. Through this community fund, we will be able to promote access to technology applications, provide information about how users may obtain the necessary resources to build an online presence, offer policy-making assistance by supporting programs that work to overcome obstacles for users in getting online, and, most importantly, give a voice to such users in domain-name governance. Moreover, the development of a community portal that will, among other things, solicit relevant user input and provide news and up-to-date registry information, will provide an important link to the .org community regarding the growth and direction of .org.

The primary business of RegisterOrg’s parent company, Register.com, is providing a secure, stable, and trusted Internet domain-name registration service. Register.com supplements its core expertise with other online services to support its customers’ needs, such as Web hosting, trademark protection services, e-mail and domain-name forwarding, and Web site-creation tools.

Register.com was founded by Richard D. Forman, Peter A. Forman, and Dan B. Levine as Forman Interactive Corp., a New York corporation, on November 23, 1994. Forman Interactive merged with and into Register.com, Inc., a Delaware corporation, on June 23, 1999.

In April 1999, Register.com was selected as one of the five initial testbed registrars to register generic TLD names by ICANN. In June 1999, Register.com commenced online registration as an ICANN-accredited registrar of .com, .net, and .org domains. In March 2000, Register.com completed an initial public offering of its stock (NASDAQ:RCOM).

Register.com has gained experience processing domain name registrations not only with gTLDs, but also in over 250 different country code TLDs (ccTLDs). Currently, ccTLD registries employ a wide range of registration systems and policies ranging from manual applications to processes that mirror the current gTLD SRS system. Register.com is in a unique position to leverage its knowledge of all of these systems, and combine the best aspects of each to create a strong, neutral, third-party registry. This expertise has already been recognized by ICANN, who last year selected Register.com’s RegistryPro subsidiary to administer the new .pro gTLD registry.

Through its registrar division, Register.com understands the needs of the registrar community and would bring that experience to bear in helping to manage the policies and business practices of the registry. For example, Register.com realizes the need for real-time responsiveness of the Whois service to new registrations, transfers, modifications, and deletions. Register.com also appreciates the imperative for a responsive customer service, which can help address registration problems. Finally, Register.com has identified transparency, fair pricing, and immediate release of expired domain names as fundamental practices to promoting competition and consumer protection.

Register.com has been a leader in collaborating with ICANN and the various Internet constituencies. In coordination with the Intellectual Property constituency, Register.com helped to craft and establish the Uniform Dispute Resolution Process to effectively protect trademarks. Moreover, Register.com strictly enforces a corporate policy that protects the interests of its customers’ intellectual property interests. Register.com also participates in ICANN processes to craft fundamental DNS-related policies, including the Registrar Code of Conduct, a Best Practices Statement for the Aftersale Market, and an Escrow Policy. Not only has Register.com played a leadership role in these committees, the company has taken initiative in ensuring the best service to its customers and setting a standard for the registrar community.

Register.com also brings technical facilities and expertise to the process. The company provides DNS service for more than two million domain names, making it the largest provider of authoritative DNS services in the world.

To support this service and its registrations, Register.com has implemented a highly scalable and redundant database infrastructure capable of supporting tens of thousands of new registrations daily (see C17).