According to its contract with Public Interest Registry (PIR) to run .org, ICANN had 30 days from when PIR notified it of the transaction to request more information. It has now done so. After it receives the responses, it has 30 days to either approve or withhold its consent of the registry transfer.
The Register recently published two articles criticizing ICANN's "opaque decision-making," while the General Counsel for ICANN has sent a letter to the CEOs of both PIR and ISOC saying they're also "uncomfortable" with the lack of transparency.
ICANN is requesting information "related to the continuity of the operations of the .ORG registry, the nature of the proposed transaction, how the proposed new ownership structure would continue to adhere to the terms of our current agreement with Public Internet Registry, and how they intend to act consistently with their promises to serve the .ORG community with more than 10 million domain name registrations...
"We acknowledge the questions and concerns that are being raised and directed to ISOC, PIR, and ICANN relating to this change. To ease those concerns and maintain trust in the .ORG community, we urge PIR, ISOC, and Ethos Capital to act in an open and transparent manner throughout this process...
"ICANN takes its responsibility in evaluating this proposed transaction very seriously. We will thoughtfully and thoroughly evaluate the proposed acquisition to ensure that the .ORG registry remains secure, reliable, and stable."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.