The Number Resource Organization (NRO), acting as the Address Supporting Organization (ASO), today announced it has submitted correspondence to ICANN regarding the Internet Society's proposed transfer of ownership of PIR, the .org registry, to Ethos Capital. This is a historic step as the NRO (Number Resource Organization) representing the 5 Regional Internet address Registries normally does not engage in policy matters related to the Domain Name System. NRO has made an exception, in this case, stating, "ICANN's handling of this proposal to be an important Internet governance decision, with bearing on the community's trust in ICANN, and the legitimacy of the ICANN model."

NRO's formal request: "As a Decisional Participant in the Empowered Community and pursuant to ICANN Bylaws section 22.7, the ASO hereby submits this Inspection Request to inspect the records of ICANN, including minutes of the Board or any Board Committee, for the purpose of determining whether the ASO's may have need to use its empowered community powers in the near future relating to the potential assignment of the .org Registry Agreement. For this purpose, the ASO seeks to inspect any ICANN records which pertain to or provide relevant insight to the process by which ICANN will consider (and potentially approve) the assignment of the .org Registry Agreement, including the process by which input from the affected community will be obtained prior to ICANN's consideration and potential approval of the assignment." (NRO / Dec 31, 2019)