The .ORG registry, PIR, announced that it has recently passed the 9 Million Registration Mark, citing a 10.3% growth over 2010.

“Hitting the 9 million registration mark is a testament to both .ORG’s reputation and its impact within the Internet community,” said Brian Cute, CEO of .ORG, The Public Interest Registry. “.ORG remains a community-driven platform and has become the domain of choice for organizations, individuals, and companies to channel their passion toward a shared purpose with their community.”

[via PIR Press Release]

.ORG, The Public Interest Registry (PIR) — manager of the world’s third largest generic top-level domain — today appointed Mr. Brian Cute as chief executive officer. With more than 12 years of experience in the Internet and communications industry, Mr. Cute will assume his leadership position on February 1, 2011.

Prior to joining PIR, Mr. Cute served as vice president of discovery services for Afilias, the registry operator for the .ORG domain. Cute had management positions in both a leading domain name registrar, Network Solutions, as director of policy, and a leading registry, Verisign, as vice president of government relations until 2003. He has led initiatives on wait-list service, private domain registrations, the elimination of Bulk WHOIS, and numerous other ICANN policy matters.

“As Chairman of the Accountability and Transparency Review Team at ICANN, Brian has constructively advanced the ongoing debate of getting the Internet industry to function more explicitly and effectively. We at PIR are pleased to have him on board, and we look confidently towards a future in which PIR will continue to step up in the public interest.“said Maarten Botterman, chairman of the board and interim chief executive officer.

Cute is replacing Alexa Raad, who had resigned from this position last year effective September 24th, 2010.

[via Press Release]