It’s been quite a busy few months here at PIR. Our team has continued its travels across the globe—most recently to India, Brazil, Senegal, Argentina, Korea, and Bangladesh—to meet with global non-governmental organizations to educate them on our .NGO initiative and better understand how we can help them with their online needs.
A few weeks ago, we announced that PIR has joined GoDaddy in sponsoring NASCAR’s Nationwide Series and Joplin, Missouri-born driver Jamie McMurray in a few upcoming races this fall. We’re thrilled to be able to take part in such a traditionally American pastime. Established in 1947, this family-owned business is the largest sanctioning body of stock car racing, and behind professional football, NASCAR is the second most-viewed professional sport in the U.S.
Today kicks-off the first day of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, which is a national public awareness campaign to encourage everyone – from consumers and schools to businesses and government agencies -- to better protect themselves and stay safe online. Too often we hear of instances where customers’ financial information is stolen via an online banking feature, or online donations to non-profits are swiped. These situations can be controlled, and this campaign is just one of many reminders of how important it is to strengthen Internet security and to protect against threats such as pharming, cache poisoning, and DNS redirection – all of which have been used to commit fraud, distribute malware, or steal personal or confidential information.
The Webby Awards “celebrates sites that pave important paths to the Internet's next phase,” according to the Wall Street Journal. If so, .ORG sites are doing their part by winning 14 of 69 categories, beating last year’s number by 3. This means that 20% of Webby Award winners are .ORG sites.
Congratulations to our very own Lauren Price for being .ORG’s very first cover girl! Gracing the cover of this month’s SC Magazine, Lauren – who not only is our senior product manager but also chairs the DNSSEC Industry Coalition – discusses the importance of DNSSEC and why adoption is gaining momentum.
TV night brought an unexpected surprise my way via a commercial by Nestle’s Hot Pockets. While I admittedly tune-out some commercials, this one perked my ears. The commercial got my attention because it promoted an “Eat Free or Die” movement on www.eatfreely.org. I didn’t expect to hear a .ORG at the end of a Hot Pockets commercial, but that definitely got my attention. The .ORG Web site features more videos plus t-shirts, hats and “dastardly food laws” that cite state laws limiting the ability to eat, grow and/or sell food. The overall message is to “celebrate the right to eat wherever, whenever.”
According to our second bi-annual “Dashboard” report, .ORG experienced resilient growth despite the economic impact of 2009 with the number of new .ORG domain registrations rising by a healthy 14 percent. What’s more is that the domain grew by 8.4 percent over 2008, reinforcing the strength and value of the world’s third largest gTLD.
The headlines for Toyota in recent weeks have not been good. The recall of 11 models to repair sudden acceleration, including a ban on the sale of eight models, has put Toyota at an estimated $500 million in lost revenue per week. The timing of this couldn’t be worse, as Toyota is faced with what could be their second straight annual loss when the final numbers are in for 2009.
The financial hit aside, Toyota is clearly in the midst of a public information challenge.
The numbers say it all: In 2009, there were 148,000 zombie computers (spammers, botnets, etc.) created per day, over 2.6 million known malicious code threats at the start of 2009, and by the end of the year, nearly 1 million new ones were created. In other words, to quote the illustrious Stewart Baker: “[The security threat] is worse than we even thought.”
.ORG, The Public Interest Registry extends our deepest condolences to the millions of families, friends and neighbors affected by the horrific tragedy in Haiti. As we learn the extent of the earthquake’s devastation and continue with emergency assistance, the need for our continued support and humanitarian efforts is critical.
It’s been quite a busy few months here at PIR. Our team has continued its travels across the globe—most recently to India, Brazil, Senegal, Argentina, Korea, and Bangladesh—to meet with global non-governmental organizations to educate them on our 
A few weeks ago, 
Today kicks-off the first day of 
