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Internet Oversight Group Chooses New Operator of '.org' Domain

A new nonprofit organization, the Public Internet Registry, will register .org domain names starting in January.

MARINA DEL REY, Calif. (AP) -- The group overseeing the Internet's address system said Monday it has selected the nonprofit Internet Society to manage domain names ending in ".org" starting next year.

Officials with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers said the Internet Society will create a new nonprofit organization, the Public Interest Registry, that will register ".org" domain names. The new registry will take over registration of the ".org" domain from VeriSign Global Registry Services Inc. when its contract expires with ICANN on Dec. 31.

The board of the Internet oversight group voted 11-1, with three abstentions, to select the Internet Society as new operator of the top-level domain. The new Public Interest Registry will subcontract with Afilias, which operates the dot-info domain name, to offer the new registry service. ICANN last year approved the addition of seven new domain names, including ".info" and ".biz," to accompany existing domain names such as ".com," ".edu," and ".gov."

"We are thrilled to have this opportunity to serve the worldwide '.org' community and are dedicated to making '.org' a truly global home that will serve the unique interests of noncommercial organizations on the Internet," Internet Society president Lynn St. Amour said in a statement.

The Reston, Va.-based Internet Society was founded in 1991 to help ensure the open development of the international computer network.

The federal government in 1998 selected ICANN to assume oversight of the domain name system, the core computers that help Internet users find Web sites and send e-mail.

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