Public Interest Registry Hits 10 Million .org Domain Registrations

RESTON, Va., July 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Public Interest Registry (PIR) – the not-for-profit operator of the .ORG domain – has reached a major milestone with the registration of its 10 millionth .ORG domain name: JADFORUM.ORG, which was registered on June 24, 2012 with Go Daddy. The domain name was registered by the Jordan River and Dead Sea Basin Forum (JAD), an organization dedicated to advancing the sustainable and regional development of the Jordan River and Dead Sea Basin watershed shared by Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100628/ORGLOGO )

"From our perspective, .ORG is the most suitable and relevant domain name for our organization, and it is internationally recognized," said Dr. Clive Lipchin, Director of the Center for Transboundary Water Management at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and one of the founding members of the JAD Forum. 

Fueled by surging Internet use worldwide and a growing number of individuals and organizations alike looking to .ORG as a trustworthy, reliable and secure home for their cause, .ORG has maintained consistent growth between 9 and 10 percent annually for the past three years. In fact, .ORG has seen a surge in domains under management (DUM) since 2005, growing by more than 156 percent and maintaining the domain's position as the world's third largest "generic" or non-country specific top-level domain (TLD).

"For more than 25 years, .ORG has enabled registrants to engage and empower their communities both online and off," said Brian Cute, CEO of Public Interest Registry. "Reaching 10 million domain registrations is a significant achievement and highlights PIR's commitment to providing a trusted place online for organizations, companies, and individuals to tell their stories and mobilize their communities. As we celebrate this milestone, we look forward to continued growth and to giving more causes around the world a trusted, online venue with .ORG."

Established in 1985 as one of the Internet's original TLDs, .ORG has become the definitive home for the not-for-profit community but has always been and remains open to individuals, companies and organizations – from non-profits conducting fundraising campaigns and rallying supporters to corporations promoting social responsibility programs.

To date, .ORGs are registered in 175 countries worldwide, representing truly global reach for a top-level domain name.  In fact, last year marked another milestone when for the first time growth in .ORG domain registrations outside North America exceeded growth in its traditional market.  With more than 400 registrars operating around the world and a strong focus on helping organizations in emerging markets establish and grow their online presence, .ORG is poised for strong and sustainable future growth. 

For more information on the domain or the Public Interest Registry, please visit www.pir.org.

About Public Interest Registry

Public Interest Registry (PIR) is a nonprofit corporation that operates the .ORG top-level domain -- the world's third largest "generic" top-level domain with more than 10 million domain names registered worldwide. As an advocate for collaboration, safety and security on the Internet, PIR's mission is to empower the global noncommercial community to use the Internet more effectively, and to take a leadership position among Internet stakeholders on policy and other issues relating to the domain naming system. Public Interest Registry was founded by the Internet Society in 2002 and is based in Reston, Virginia, USA.

SOURCE Public Interest Registry