[Chapter-delegates] We should speak up about the disabling of autistici.org

[Tom Fredrik Blenning]

Dear Chapter Leaders,

I believe ISOC should publicly address the removal of autistici.org from 
the global DNS.

The domain's registry record carries serverHold, serverUpdateProhibited, 
and serverTransferProhibited—registry-level statuses. serverHold removes 
the domain's DNS delegation. This is not merely a suspended customer 
account or terminated commercial service: it makes the domain 
unreachable across the Internet, cutting off its web and email presence 
at the naming-system layer.

Autistici/Inventati was designated by the U.S. Treasury on 26 August. 
Yet OFAC simultaneously issued General License 36, authorizing 
transactions ordinarily necessary to wind down dealings involving the 
organization until 25 September. The apparent decision to impose an 
immediate global DNS blackout is therefore especially serious and 
deserves a public explanation.

I am not aware of public evidence that Autistici/Inventati is itself 
responsible for violence or criminal conduct beyond providing 
communication and hosting services. The U.S. designation describes it 
primarily in terms of providing technological tools and services. If 
communications infrastructure can be globally disabled on that basis, 
the precedent threatens anyone providing privacy-preserving or 
politically controversial communications services.

PIR operates the .ORG registry under ISOC ownership. We cannot credibly 
describe ISOC as an advocate for an open, global, strong, and resilient 
Internet while remaining silent about the use of registry control to 
impose a worldwide communications shutdown. Since these are 
registry-level status codes, the registrant's French registrar cannot 
simply restore the delegation, move the name, or update it to preserve 
continuity.

I believe we should urge ISOC to:

- Publicly state whether PIR imposed these statuses, and under what 
authority.
- Identify the legal basis for the action and explain why complete DNS 
withdrawal was considered necessary despite the wind-down authorization.
- Commit to transparent, rights-respecting policies governing registry 
actions that can remove domains from the global DNS.
- Clarify the safeguards for notice, due process, appeal, and 
proportionality before .ORG is used as a mechanism for global disconnection.

This should not be dismissed as routine compliance. It concerns whether 
registry control can be used to remove an organization's communications 
infrastructure from the global Internet merely because it provides 
services to people or groups deemed unacceptable by a government.

If ISOC does not speak up in a case like this, our commitments to an 
open, globally interoperable, strong, and resilient Internet risk 
becoming empty words.

Best,
Tom Fredrik Blenning
Board member - ISOC Norway Chapter