Several members of the public also complained, saying the deal would undo two years of efforts to promote competition in registering domain names. Public comments are due March 31.
Domain names are key for finding Web sites and sending e-mail.
There are 4 million .net and 3 million .org names. However, .org could ultimately be off limits to companies and individuals, and the financial arrangements could affect how much people pay for domain names. Last month, VeriSign proposed an alternative. The board authorized its new president, Stuart Lynn, to complete contracts for running those names without another full board meeting.