Take action to save .org and prosecute those who sold out the internet
While I don&#x27;t agree with the sale of the .org to a for-profit entity, I believe the premise of this objection is not tenable. From what I can glean, while PIR is a non-profit, it was not a non-stock company (non-profits are often, but not always non-stock companies, meaning they have no shareholders). Were it a non-stock company, it would be impossible for it to be acquired for any material compensation, because there are no shareholders from whom to buy the company. In this case, however, it appears that PIR was a wholly-owned subsidiary of ISOC (ie. a stock corporation with a single shareholder). As such, it is an asset of ISOC and can be sold by ISOC legally. A non-profit is allowed to sell its assets, so long as it does so at fair market value, and the value received remains on the balance sheet of the non-profit (i.e. proceeds cannot be distributed to any kind of shareholders). As long as ISOC retains the $1B it received and continues to use it to further the mission that it was given non-profit status to pursue, such a transaction is perfectly legal.<p>(I&#x27;m not a lawyer but have been involved in the creation and certification of multiple non-profits, including in Va. where PIR was formed, and have been party to asset sales from non-profits.)