YNOT – The board of directors for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will consult with the organization’s Governmental Advisory Committee March 17 during ICANN’s general meeting in San Francisco. At that time, the two bodies will discuss the pending dot-xxx sponsored Top Level Domain, among other topics, Free Speech Coalition Executive Director Diane Duke learned Monday.

Duke is Brussels to attend a meeting between the ICANN board and members of the GAC. The dot-xxx consultation mandated by ICANN bylaws was expected to occur in Brussels; however, the meeting instead became a forum for clarifying several unrelated points of disagreement between the board and the GAC, as well as a discussion about the appropriate process for resolving future disagreements. According to Duke, the meeting addressed the proposed introduction of generic TLDs, procedures for reviewing so-called “sensitive strings,” potential market and economic impacts of the gTLD program, and protection of intellectual property rights.

During a break, Duke spoke with ICANN Chief Executive Officer Rod Beckstrom and Legal Counsel John Jeffrey.

“Beckstrom and Jeffrey told me that the board-GAC consultation [about dot-xxx] will take place on March 17, in San Francisco, at the ICANN conference, and that the board would address the results from that meeting the next day at their board meeting,” Duke said.

ICANN’s board and the GAC have been working toward addressing the committee’s lingering doubts about dot-xxx since the organization’s last general meeting, which took place in Cartagena, Colombia, in early December. Despite outstanding questions and concerns from some GAC members, on Dec. 10 the board passed a resolution stating ICANN “intends to enter into a registry agreement with ICM Registry for the dot-xxx sponsored TLD.” During a videotaped interview posted to ICANN’s website three days later, ICANN Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush indicated the board will proceed with a registry contract over the GAC’s objections, if necessary. Consultation with the GAC at this point, he and Beckstrom indicated, is little more than a formality.

On behalf of her adult industry trade association’s members, Duke vehemently disagrees. For one thing, she noted, the GAC’s U.S. representative, Suzanne Sene, during Monday’s meeting stressed the committee’s concern about fragmentation of the internet that could result if governments block top level domains they find offensive. Dot-xxx almost assuredly will be deemed offensive in many parts of the world.

“Government blocking of TLDs is a real concern,” Duke said. “My counterpart Fiona Patten, executive director of EROS in Australia, told me that Australia would almost certainly block dot-xxx.”

Other countries considered likely to block “offensive” TLDs include Germany, China and Saudi Arabia. While it is unlikely the U.S. government will resort to wholesale blocking of domain groups, government representatives have indicated a willingness to impose mandatory restrictions like age-verification.

“It is clear that a dot-xxx sTLD is not only bad for adult businesses, but also it is bad for the internet as a whole,” Duke said.

More information about the FSC’s stance and reasoning regarding dot-xxx is available on the organization’s website, FreeSpeechCoalition.com.