Public Interest Registry

“Public interest registry is a membership corporation, and its sole member is the internet society, which is classified as a tax-exempt publicly supported charitable organization described in code section 501(c)(3).”

“The internet society appoints the members of the governing body.”

“The following decisions of the governing body are subject to the member's approval: (1) amendment, revocation or repeal of the bylaws; (2) entering into, amending, terminating, assigning, or bringing any legal action with respect to, or waiving any material right under, and agreement or contract with (i) the internet corporation for assigned names and numbers (icann) or (ii) pir's registry service provider; and (iii) payment, contribution or subvention of any amount in excess of $50,000 to any person, entity or organization, charitable or otherwise, other than in connection with the purchase of goods or services received by the corporation.”

“The irs form 990 is prepared and reviewed by an independent accounting firm, bdo usa, llp, with subsequent review by the chief executive officer, vp finance and legal counsel. Once reviewed and finalized, the form 990 is provided to each board member for review. Prior to filing, the form 990 is reviewed at a board meeting and filed subsequent to the resolution of any comments or questions from the board.”

“Public interest registry's conflict of interest policy requires disclosure of any actual or potential conflict of interest on the part of an officer, director, manager, or member of a committee with board-delegated authority. An interested person must disclose the existence of a financial interest and must disclose all material facts to the board of directors and/or the members of the committee with board-delegated authority relating to the proposed transaction or arrangement. The disinterested members of the board or committee determine whether a conflict of interest exists, after considering all material facts, and after a discussion with the interested person. The interested person is required to leave the board or committee meeting while the board or committee discusses the matter and votes on whether a conflict of interest exists. If a board member or a committee member is determined to have a conflict of interest, he or she is required to leave the board or committee meeting while the board or committee discusses, deliberates on, and votes on, the transaction in question.”

“It is the goal of public interest registry to compensate each of its officers and key employees at a level that represents the fair market value of that individual's services, and does not exceed such fair market value, taking into consideration all fringe benefits, as well as total cash compensation. Public interest registry has established a compensation committee comprised of various members of its board of directors. At least every other year, public interest registry engages an outside compensation consultant to analyze comparable data relating to the compensation of its ceo and other disqualified persons performing work or services for the company. The compensation consultant uses a comparative survey in the washington, dc metro area, looking at a mix of industries and sizes of organizations, both non-profit and for-profit. The consultant analyzes the compensation received by similarly qualified individuals holding comparable positions at similar organizations. Regarding the ceo, the compensation committee reviews and analyzes the consultant's report and other independent research and makes its recommendation to the board of directors based on those findings. After detailed discussion and deliberation among board members, the recommendation is voted upon, accepted by the full board and contemporaneously documented in the minutes of the board meeting. For 2022, compensation for the ceo was assessed against a third-party compensation study conducted in 2021. Compensation for staff disqualified persons other than the ceo follows a similar process. Annually, the ceo makes a recommendation to the compensation committee regarding the compensation for other staff disqualified persons. The committee reviews and analyzes the consultant's report and other independent research. After detailed discussion and deliberation among committee members, the recommendation is voted upon, accepted by the committee and contemporaneously documented in the minutes of the meeting. For 2022, compensation for other staff disqualified persons was assessed against a third-party compensation study conducted in 2021. The ceo is responsible for setting the compensation for other officers and key employees. These decisions are informed by annual benchmarking performed by pir human resources staff using data from a third-party vendor platform. Benchmark data provides base and total cash compensation ranges for each position based on title, years of experience, education, skills and qualifications, industry, and geographic location.”

“The 990 is made available to guidestar and freely available on its website. In addition, public interest registry makes its 990 return available to the general public upon request.”

“A total of nine persons served on the board of directors during the calendar year, which are identified in part vii of form 990. As of december 31st, 2022, there were a total of seven voting board members serving the organization as disclosed in part vi, line 1a and part i, line 3.”

“Identity digital limited provides registry technical services to public interest registry including electronic connection to customers (registrars), to add, modify or delete domain names within the .org and other top level domain databases. These services include 24/7, 365 days a year, technical support to registrars, development of registry computer software systems including customer billing, and revenue recognition in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, (gaap). In addition, identity digital limited provides technical support in implementing public interest registry's domain name abuse policies designed to stop or reduce malware, virus or other activities. Identity digital limited also collaborates with public interest registry on the analysis and discussion of customer and business trends both domestically and internationally.”

“Public interest registry's mission is to support and to assist its sole member, the internet society, achieve its important and significant charitable mission, in among other ways, by operating the .org and other top level domains as an internet industry model and to serve in other ways to encourage and promote the open development, evolution, and use of the internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world.”

“Public interest registry has volunteers who act as advisory council members for the organization. Composed of leaders from a broad spectrum of the noncommercial organizations around the world, the pir advisory council was created to advise on issues including public policy, the introduction of new services, and non-governmental community issues. Their perspectives, representing the voice of the global noncommercial community, play a vital role in the long-term success of public interest registry.”

“As of december 31, 2022 and 2021, pir had a net deficiency of $42,189,584 and $35,460,520, respectively. Pir's board and management are satisfied that the organization is able to meet its working capital requirements through the normal cyclical nature of receipts and payments. As of december 31, 2022 and 2021, pir maintained reserves for short-term business interruptions of $13,132,249 and $11,649,981, respectively, and business development of $4,000,000. Pir expects to regularly contribute its cash surplus to the internet society, yielding an ongoing negative net asset position. Pir's board and management regularly monitor financial performance and will consider appropriate contribution adjustments to ensure the fiscal health of the organizations.”

“Public interest registry's mission is to support and to assist its sole member, the internet society, achieve its important and significant charitable mission, in among other ways, by operating the .org and other top level domains as an internet industry model and to serve in other ways to encourage and promote the open development, evolution, and use of the internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world.”

“In collaboration with and in support of its sole member, the Internet Society ("ISOC"), Public Interest Registry's ("PIR") primary activity is to maintain the .ORG domain registry as the exemplary top-level domain registry service; to operate it primarily in the public interest; and to be responsive to the issues and needs of the ever expanding and unique worldwide .ORG community, which includes non-commercial/non-profit users and organizations, consistent with the fundamental objectives of its sole member, ISOC. As an integral part of its charitable mission, PIR maintains and operates the .ORG top-level domain registry in a fashion that is designed to set the quality, efficiency, and privacy standards for top-level domains. PIR works to create, develop, modernize, and keep current ethical, practical, and technical policies, procedures and protocols required to keep its operational model fresh, relevant, and appropriate as an example for the Internet industry as a whole. Managing and operating the .ORG registry consistent with and supportive of PIR's and ISOC's respective non-profit missions and in compliance with the rules and consensus policies developed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") also requires collaborating with the worldwide non-commercial/non-profit oriented community. PIR maintains an advisory council composed of knowledgeable industry experts and leaders from global nonprofit and non-governmental arenas to help PIR support its community. PIR relies on the insight and knowledge obtained from the members of its advisory council and a constant stream of information solicited and received from registrars, as well as from the members of its own diverse and knowledgeable board of directors, to effectively address the interests of the worldwide mission-based Internet community. PIR also conducts education and outreach (E&O) in the global non-profit and non-governmental organization (NGO) space. These efforts have two purposes: first, to support and assist PIR achieve its important and charitable mission; and second, to share its expertise as an exemplary domain name registry as well as to help other organizations share their expertise by conducting conferences, regional gatherings, and training sessions focused on improving use of the Internet, especially by mission-based users around the world. In 2019 PIR began reframing its E&O efforts in furtherance of its Mission Statement, i.e., to serve as "[a]n exemplary domain name registry and industry thought leader providing a trusted digital identity and serving as a valued resource to those working to improve our world." While supporting ISOC remains a core PIR mission and activity, PIR has expanded the scope of its E&O activities into what can be better described as "Exemplary Domain Name Registry" initiatives, including: -- PIR created the "DNS Abuse Institute" in order to help the entire domain name industry improve practices to combat abuses of the domain name system ("DNS Abuse"). The DNS Abuse Institute ("DNSAI") is a department within PIR and has three pillars: Education, Innovation and Collaboration. The DNSAI creates and publishes best practices to help educate registries and registrars on effective DNS Abuse mitigation and prevention practices. DNSAI has already launched two flagship initiatives aimed to reduce DNS Abuse across the Internet. First, DNSAI created the very first centralized DNS Abuse reporting tool called NetBeacon. NetBeacon(TM) allows for law enforcement, security professionals, and the public at large to report instances of DNS Abuse and NetBeacon will then route the notification to the proper registrar that sponsors the domain. NetBeacon was developed in conjunction with CleanDNS and is completely free to use for both reporters and domain name registrars DNSAI also launched DNSAI: Compass (TM), which helps measure where DNS Abuse is located and centralized across the DNS. DNSAI published its methodology for me”

“Public interest registry's financial results are included in a consolidated audited financial statement report issued by the internet society, public interest registry's sole member. In addition, pir has separate audited financial statements.”