YNOT – The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has opened a 30-day comment period in order to solicit public input about the proposed dot-xxx sponsored Top-Level Domain. Interested parties may submit comments online between noon PT Aug. 24 and 11:59 p.m. PT Sept. 23.The internet regulatory body also posted hundreds of pages of documentation supporting the registrar application of ICM Registry, which seeks to manage dot-xxx. Documentation, available in PDF format, includes ICM’s cover letter to ICANN, a revised proposed registry agreement and explanation of ICM’s registration policies and procedures. Also posted are articles of incorporation and bylaws governing the International Foundation for Online Responsibility, a not-for-profit entity that will be funded by $10 from each dot-xxx domain registration fee and will set policies for and oversee websites operating in the domain space.

According to the documentation, IFFOR — not the adult entertainment industry at large — is the sponsoring organization for dot-xxx. Membership in IFFOR automatically vests in any individual or company that purchases a dot-xxx domain name.

According to ICM Registry President Stuart Lawley, the domain is positioned to go live 120 days after ICANN approval, which could occur as soon as Sept. 24. More likely, ICANN’s board of directors will vote “yea” or “nay” on dot-xxx during a teleconference in late October or ICANN’s next public meeting, scheduled to occur in early December in Colombia.

The proposed sTLD has been a subject of controversy for about seven years, but the often vitriolic discussion reached fever pitch in early 2005 when the adult entertainment industry, led by trade group Free Speech Coalition, became vocally opposed to the idea based on widespread belief the creation of a porn-specific domain space would lead to wholesale censorship and “ghettoization” of adult content online. At about the same time, ICANN’s board granted provisional approval to ICM’s domain-registry bid, pending approval of a contract between the entities. In March 2007, the board rejected ICM’s proposal to administer dot-xxx and declared the matter dead. ICM took the matter to an international arbitration board. In February 2010 a tribunal ruled in ICM’s favor, saying ICANN violated its own bylaws when it rejected ICM’s application in 2007.

Acting on the advice of the arbitration tribunal, ICANN reopened consideration in June 2010. Since then, ICANN and ICM have revised most of the original documentation involved in the process, and both entities feel the current proposal is workable. All that remains is for the public to weigh in and for ICM and ICANN to sign on the dotted line.

Judging by past response, the public is as likely to condemn as condone the establishment of dot-xxx. The adult entertainment industry has not stepped back from its hard-line position that the domain is neither needed nor wanted, and governments and social conservatives still fear creating a “smut channel” on the web will lead to proliferation of online obscenity.

“This is just another step in a process,” FSC Executive Director Diane Duke said overnight Tuesday. “It is far from over and certainly not a done deal. FSC plans to sift through the hundreds of pages of the application and its associated documents. We will then provide feedback to the industry about ICM’s application as well as the suggested next steps for the industry and FSC in blocking [the proposal]. FSC members and the industry can expect additional information from FSC by the week’s end.”

Lawley, however, believes his company’s nearly decade-long odyssey — in which he said he has invested about $10 million so far — is nearly at an end. About 125,000 dot-xxx domains have been pre-registered to date, and Lawley said he expects between 300,000 to 500,000 domains to be registered within the first year after the domain is approved. The figure could go as high as one million registrations “within the first couple of years,” he said.

However, that doesn’t mean he expects smooth sailing through ICANN’s public comment period.

“The ‘usual suspects’ will turn up [to naysay], I imagine,” he told YNOT on Wednesday. However, “The documents outline a very thorough process; very detailed and extremely well thought-out. My hope would be that opponents will take the time to read them thoroughly.”

A thorough reading will reveal ICM is not trying to hide anything from the adult industry, Lawley averred, adding that much of what people have heard about the composition of the IFFOR policy council and IFFOR’s proposed role in dot-xxx is rumor and supposition. IFFOR will not be passing regulations willy-nilly in an attempt to clamp down on adult websites, he assured. In fact, IFFOR’s primary role will be to establish an industry approved outline of ethical business practices and to fund causes, legal battles and technological advances that are beneficial to owners of dot-xxx domains — and most likely to the adult industry as a whole.

Of even more importance to adult industry players, he said, is that IFFOR is required by its charter to be extremely transparent in all actions. Among other things, that means all IFFOR policy council and board meetings will be held in public and videos of the meetings will be archived online. In addition, all proposed policies or policy changes will be posted for public comment for at least 21 days before they are voted upon.

Lawley also said ICM already is “reaching out” to large, multinational advertising and public relations firms in a bid to create an “image” campaign for dot-xxx. The impression ICM hopes to create in the minds of consumers is that dot-xxx is the place to go for adult content, because consumers can feel secure they are dealing with reputable porn merchants. The goal, Lawley said, is to create traffic within the dot-xxx space.

“In three years, maybe five, maybe 10, I can see dot-xxx overtaking dot-com traffic [among adult consumers],” he told YNOT.

In the meantime, ICANN eagerly awaits public input about the matter. Interested parties may submit their comments via email and view the status of the debate online.