John Berard shared a link.
5 December 2019 ·
Here’s a critical view not of .org pricing but its mission.
Opinion | The .Org Mirage
NYTIMES.COM
You don’t have to be a nonprofit — or meet any special criteria at all — to secure a website in this respected domain.
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11 comments
Mike Godwin It's refreshing, at least, to encounter writers who are actually aware that not everyone who holds a .org domain is a non-profit. (Yes, I'm understating on purpose.) 1

Richard Sexton On the other hand a lot of non profits prefer .org to .com
Because of you know, all the PR aout .org being for non profits, just like .com is for US companies.
I know bloth aren't true but when somebody tells you this and you tell them it's not true, they don't care. It's a long standing perceived truth I've run into many many times.
"Bit Canadian companies are .CA, they can't have anyhting else".

Stephen Coates Or that non-profits are somehow altruistic, truth-seeking or positive for the world. I think this article rings true in the sense that people’s feelings about the deal stem from what .org should be in their eyes, and perhaps they think that way because of good marketing. 3
Brian Beckham Stephen Coates many are; I used to work with them! But you’re right about perceptions. 1
Eberhard Lisse Proper research, verification from independent sources and editorial review (in common parlance: Journalism) provide good domain insight... 1
Christian Huitema The article could go further and explain why a test on "non profitness" would not be practical. Non profit is a fiscal status. I am willing to bet that most of the offending US organizations quoted in the article have their paperwork in order and meet the IRS definition of non profit. The putative check would not prevent them for registering. If you go further and think international it is even worse. Many countries do not have legal categories for non profit and there would be no way to implement a test there. 1
Barry Shein The best as the enemy of the good. I'll venture if it were a requirement, there are indeed several TLDs which have minimal requirements such as geographic residency or being in a certain industry etc., it'd be possible.… See more
Christian Huitema Yes, tying something to the dispute policy would be nice. It would also be a blow for the domain name speculation industry, which makes me wonder whether such a policy could hold. If domainers' profits are hit, ICANN will probably come to their rescue.… See more 1
Barry Shein Yes, correct, there's a lot more money to be made in taking anyone's money and having no policy whatever the TLD or its initial intent might imply. Just think what cracking down on escort services would do to the income of organized crime!… See more
John McCormack In Journalism, it is what is known as "knocking copy". It is an opinion piece from people who are not experts on the domain name industry. The academic qualifications, though they are Liberal Arts rather than Technological, give it a veneer of credibi… See more 1
Rubens Kuhl "Kids aren’t the only ones misinformed. A 2012 international study found that nearly half of Americans, and larger percentages in France, Brazil and India, believed that an organization must meet “some criteria” before it could register under .org." W… See more