Changes

The first .org domain was registered by MITRE Corporation, a not-for-profit organization providing systems engineering and information technology support to the US government, on July 10, 1985.

The first .org domain was registered by MITRE Corporation, a not-for-profit organization providing systems engineering and information technology support to the US government, on July 10, 1985.

On May 25, 2001, [[Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)]] entered into an unsponsored registry agreement with Verisign Inc for operating the .org domain.<ref>http://www.icann.org/en/tlds/agreements/verisign/registry-agmt-org-25may01.htm</ref>  This agreement expired on December 31, 2002. A request for proposal was circulated by ICANN on May 20, 2002.<ref>http://www.icann.org/tlds/org/rfp-20may02.htm</ref> ISOC (The Internet Society) was [http://www.icann.org/en/tlds/org/applications/ one of the eleven applicants] who put in their proposals to become the successor operator. ISOC proposed to set up a separate entity christened "Public Interest Registry" (PIR) to operate the .org gTLD, with the sole power to appoint its board of directors. As part of the arrangement, PIR would appoint [http://www.afilias.info/ Afilias Limited] to handle the full range of back-end registry services on behalf of PIR. The [http://www.icann.org/minutes/prelim-report-14oct02.htm#SuccessorOperatorfororgRegistry ICANN board selected PIR] as the successor operator to Verisign for managing the .org gTLD on October 14, 2002. Finally, the reins of .org domain came into PIR's control in January 2003 for a period of 3 years, expiring December 2006.

On May 25, 2001, [[Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)]] entered into an unsponsored registry agreement with Verisign Inc for operating the .org domain.<ref>http://www.icann.org/en/tlds/agreements/verisign/registry-agmt-org-25may01.htm</ref>  This agreement expired on December 31, 2002. A request for proposal was circulated by ICANN on May 20, 2002.<ref>http://www.icann.org/tlds/org/rfp-20may02.htm</ref> ISOC (The Internet Society) was one of the eleven applicants who put in their proposals to become the successor operator.<ref>http://www.icann.org/en/tlds/org/applications/</ref> ISOC proposed to set up a separate entity christened "Public Interest Registry" (PIR) to operate the .org [[gTLD]], with the sole power to appoint its board of directors. As part of the arrangement, PIR would appoint [[Afilias Limited]] to handle the full range of back-end registry services on behalf of PIR. The ICANN board selected PIR as the successor operator to Verisign for managing the .org gTLD on October 14, 2002.<ref>http://www.icann.org/minutes/prelim-report-14oct02.htm#SuccessorOperatorfororgRegistry</ref> Finally, the reins of .org domain came into PIR's control in January 2003 for a period of 3 years, expiring December 2006.

On December 8, 2006, the agreement between ICANN and PIR was [http://www.icann.org/en/tlds/agreements/org/registry-agmt-16jul08.htm further renewed] for another 6.5 years, and is set to expire on June 30, 2013.

On December 8, 2006, the agreement between ICANN and PIR was further renewed for another 6.5 years, and is set to expire on June 30, 2013.<ref>http://www.icann.org/en/tlds/agreements/org/registry-agmt-16jul08.htm</ref>

The .org has emerged as the third-largest generic top-level domain in the world, as per the [http://www.pir.org/pdf/dashboard_1H_2010.pdf bi-annual domain name report] published by PIR for January to June 2010.

The .org has emerged as the third-largest generic top-level domain in the world, as per the bi-annual domain name report published by PIR for January to June 2010.<ref>http://www.pir.org/pdf/dashboard_1H_2010.pdf</ref>

== Governance ==

== Governance ==