YNOT – In an attempt to untangle what it calls inconsistencies in the documentation submitted as part of the approval process for the dot-xxx sponsored Top-Level Domain, adult industry trade association Free Speech Coalition has filed official requests for increased transparency from the proposed domain registrar and the internet’s governing body.On Thursday, FSC sent to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers a letter requesting increased transparency for the process as a whole. The group also filed a Documentary Information Disclosure Policy request asking for additional information from ICM Registry LLC, the Florida-based company seeking approval to administer dot-xxx. ICANN’s operating procedures obligate the organization to respond to the DIDP within 30 days, either providing the additional information or giving reasons why the request will not be honored.
In the letter, FSC Executive Director Diane Duke requested ICANN verify the legitimacy of all adult companies ICM listed as supporters of dot-xxx. In addition, FSC would like ICANN to verify that those companies still support the proposed sTLD. Duke also asked ICANN to determine how many pre-registrations claimed by ICM are so-called “defensive registrations,” or domains companies intend to register in order to protect their business interests in other domain spaces like dot-com and dot-net. Companies that have built well-known businesses in one domain-name space frequently register their thriving domains in other spaces in order to prevent confusion among consumers.
Duke also asked ICANN to disclose how many supporters of ICM’s application are sub-registrars hoping to re-sell dot-xxx domain names.
In the DIDP request, FSC asked for ICM’s Proof of Sponsorship Community Support as submitted to ICANN with ICM’s application, ICM’s business plan and financial projections for years 1-5, and a list of dot-xxx sTLD pre-registrants who have been identified to ICANN.
In addition, the DIDP seeks documentation regarding the International Foundation for Online Responsibility, the governing body proposed by ICM to set operating policy for all dot-xxx domains that become active websites. According to dot-xxx application documentation, IFFOR will be a not-for-profit agency governed by a board of directors composed of members of the adult entertainment community and mainstream technology and business experts. The organization will be funded by a percentage of each dot-xxx domain registration. FSC wants a list of IFFOR board members, a list of proposed members of IFFOR’s Policy Council and IFFOR’s business plan and financial statements.
FSC also asked that the public commentary period required before ICANN’s board votes on dot-xxx be extended for 30 days after resolution of the DIDP request.
As a sponsored TLD, dot-xxx requires the support of a sponsoring community. FSC maintains the sponsoring community should be the adult entertainment industry. ICM, on the other hand, maintains the sponsoring community is IFFOR, the members of which will be dot-xxx domain owners. Every dot-xxx domain registrant automatically becomes a member of IFFOR under the operating procedures outlined in ICM’s application.
According to FSC, the adult entertainment industry vehemently opposes the creation of dot-xxx. Adult industry stakeholders fear the domain may be used to stifle legitimate adult expression on the web, Duke said.
“FSC speaks for an important set of internet stake¬holders,” Duke wrote in the letter to ICANN. “More broadly, FSC also speaks from its long and deep experience as an advocate for freedom of speech, particularly the sort of sexually oriented expression which is relevant here. The debates surrounding sexually oriented speech are often ferocious, and they seldom avoid serious threats of government regulation. For this reason, we urge the [ICANN] board, as the [dot-xxx] debate comes to a close, to focus on the broader social concerns raised by ICM’s applica¬tion, which implicates much more than domain name policy.”
In a responding letter, ICM President Stuart Lawley outlined ICM’s position about the issues Duke raised.
“In its most recent letter, FSC writes ominously about the loss of freedom, while erroneously describing ICM Registry’s proposal as a ‘way of regulating adult entertainment,’” Lawley noted. “Of course, as a voluntary registry, ICM Registry would not be regulating anything. Adult webmasters would be free to register their sites in the [dot-xxx] domain — or not — and ICM Registry has devoted substantial resources already to ensure that the domain would remain voluntary. FSC, on the other hand, is doing everything that it can to drag ICANN into governmental policy debates about speech content, and it is demanding that ICANN reveal identities of supporters listed in ICM Registry’s application, along with other confidential information about the proposal. Such tactics give off more than a feint whiff of the late Senator Joe McCarthy and are unworthy of an organization that purports to cherish civil liberties.”
The procedure for consideration of the dot-xxx sTLD was announced by ICANN’s board of directors after its June meeting in Brussels. The current process includes a 30-day public commentary period that will end Sept. 23. ICM’s revised registry agreement and other pertinent documentation may be viewed on the ICANN website.
“[The creation of dot-xxx] isn’t a done deal,” Duke said. “There are still a lot of questions to be answered and barriers to overcome. FSC and the adult entertainment industry will make sure that our voice is heard in the process.”
Stakeholders and others who would like to voice their support for or opposition to the proposed dot-xxx sTLD may email position statements to ICANN. Comments may be viewed online here.
