I'm not sure I'd call it an 'ulterior motive' as its so obvious but there's obviously a massive benefit to Facebook from this - the potential unconnected billions will all get Facebook accounts and probably be grateful to Facebook for providing free internet. It gives Facebook a way to go from 1bn users to 5bn. I don't know if it's that much of a problem if I couldn't get net access otherwise then having a device with Facebook on it but not say Diaspora would not worry me hugely. They can always get regular open internet access when they have some money together.

dot org isn't like dot edu where you have to verify anything. I actually bought a dot org it was as easy as a dot com. It's not really meant to look/be "trustworthy"...

That the .org TLD is open to anyone is a shame, and that it's used like this is even worse.

I know it will probably be an unpopular view here, but I actually quite like the approaches taken by Australia (where I grew up) and Thailand (where I live and run my business now)

In Australia you have to be a registered non-profit to get a .org.au domain, and you have to have an ABN or ACN to get a .com.au or .net.au. In the case of commercial domains, while it isn't checked at registration, if your domain name isn't somehow related to your company/brand name, (or even if it is and you aren't using it actively) you can lose it.

In Thailand, your .co.th domain name must match your company name - e.g. if you have HappyHamburger Co., Ltd, you can only register happyhamburger.co.th - this means new companies don't need to rush out and make sure they get the domain matching their company name (or even that it might be taken) to prevent squatters.

It being open to anyone isn't bad. It allows groups not formally incorporated as charities to have them, and many of those groups are befitting of a .org domain.

I don't know about the U.S., but in Australia a non-profit org is not necessarily a charity.

It's not universally unpopular, I tend to think the people who would care can't be arsed to. I know I gave up when ICANN started selling TLDs.

so what do regular people use as domain names ?

Well for Australia, you would use the .id.au suffix.

For Thailand, you would use the .in.th suffix.

Note however, that in Australia - any individual can apply for an ABN and if you're a freelancer or otherwise self-employed in Australia, you would need an ABN to issue tax invoices anyway.

true, you don't have to verify anything but utilizing a dot org does make several implications. maybe not here in the webdev or hacker community (we see past that) but this was a calculated maneuver by them to look a certain way.

It was originally created for use by non-profits and then opened up to anyone, so plenty of people still have that connotation with it