The adult industry remains concerned about the introduction of the
.XXX Top Level Domain and in particular, the ICM Registry application.
In a letter to ICANN, the Free Speech Coalition say they remain "deeply
concerned about the application by ICM Registry (ICM) for a .XXX sTLD.
The FSC, an adult industry lobby group in the US urges "the Board to
make sure it has the full and accurate information necessary to make a
sound decision on ICM's application." The FSC says the decision while
having some effect on the domain name space will also "have more far
reaching effects on the regulation of internet content and on ICANN's
potential role as a direct or indirect content regulator."
The FSC raises its concerns in the context of an often "ferocious"
debate surrounding sexually oriented speech, often with "serious threats
of government regulation. For this reason [the FSC urges] the Board, as
the .XXX debate comes to a close, to focus on the broader social
concerns raised by ICM's application, which implicates much more than
domain name policy."
The FSC has raised concerns about aspects of the ICM application. One
being the general terms of its outline of the "'responsible' global
adult online community" and is sceptical of the ICM's proposals to deal
with this such as with the IFFOR (the International Foundation for
Online Responsibility).
The FSC says the ICANN Board should not approve the .XXX application
"unless it is convinced that ICM can actually accomplish what it
promises - not merely technically, but also in the realm of policies
where pleasing everyone always turns out to be impossible." The FSC asks
that is ICM and IFFOR are unable to do as they say whose interests will
suffer and whose freedom will be lost and how long ICANN can stay out
of the debate over sexually oriented content in such a case.
The FSC, according to the letter, have received numerous letters from
companies that have pre-registered .XXX domain names saying they have
only done so defensively and that these organisations have voiced
"outright opposition" to .XXX.
There are also questions raised again by the adult industry as to
whether the ICM Registry has any support from the industry. ICM Registry
says it has support from within the industry, yet there is no support
voiced publicly and the FSC suggests there is none.
To read the letter from Diana Duke, Executive Director of the Free Speech Coalition in full, see:
icann.org/correspondence/duke-to-jeffrey-08sep10-en.pdf
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