The Public Interest Registry (PIR), managers of the .ORG registry announced today that 5,000,000 .ORG domains have now been registered worldwide. The growth of .ORG was boosted in July of 2005 by PIR”S decision to offer .ORG registrars discounts targeting developing regions of the world, including South America, Asia, and Africa. The promotions have resulted in a 50 percent increase in .ORG domain registrations in the targeted regions. In India, growth has reached a 93 percent annual increase.

The Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) oversees the Internet’s domain name system. But an ICANN committee seems to have had trouble looking after its own domain. ICANN’s ISPs and Connectivity Providers working group has lost its domain, which apparently expired and was bought by a pay-per-click parking business. The domain ispcp.org was used to conduct ICANN business as far back as 2001, but now displays a Go Daddy parking page and is registered to an email address at virtualclicks.com. (Link via ICANN Watch)