Public Interest Registry (PIR) President and CEO, Edward G. Viltz, traveling with an international delegation of Internet leaders, has begun a three-day outreach initiative in Sofia, Bulgaria. Mr. Viltz’s plans include meetings with President Georgi Parvanov, Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev, Chair of the State Agency for Information Technologies and Communications Plamen Vatchkov, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) country representative Neil Buhne, and leading nongovernmental organizations.

“It is an honor to be here in Sofia to commence our Eastern European outreach initiative on behalf of the .ORG registry,” said Viltz. “I am also proud to announce that PIR is launching an Eastern European .ORG Domain Outreach pilot test program in Bulgaria commencing October 2006. This program will provide significant discounts to registrars on .ORG domain registrations originating from Bulgaria. It is our hope that this initiative will assist in Internet expansion in Bulgaria and will be a catalyst for growth throughout Eastern Europe.”

Veni Markovski, a native of Bulgaria who heads the Bulgarian’s President IT Advisory Council, as well as an Internet Society (ISOC) and Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) board member, welcomed PIR’s efforts. “PIR’s announcement demonstrates its continued commitment to .ORG community outreach and the growth of the Internet.”

PIR has been a leader in ensuring that the .ORG domain is available for noncommercial organizations, associations and individuals who want an online presence at an affordable rate in many regions of the world, including developing nations in Africa, Latin America and several countries in Asia and Southeast Asia.