An Unreliable Seal of Approval

There is nothing that requires .orgs to be nonprofit, and many, if not most, of the unreliable ones aren’t.

PUBLIC INTEREST REGISTRY (PIR), a U.S. nonprofit that owns and manages all .org domains and advocates for internet-related policy issues, markets its well-known suffix as “one of the most trusted domains” that “has enabled people and organizations the world over to establish their trusted online identity.” Indeed, many websites tout their .org address as evidence that they meet some standard of trustworthiness.