PALM BEACH, Fla. — Still seeking to push through .XXX as a global top-level domain, ICM Registry’s proposal is set for arbitration in September.
According to The Domains, ICM Registry, which has already reportedly spent more than $3 million in legal fees alone chasing the domain, has asked for a ruling from a three-judge panel.
ICM claims it has met all criteria asked for by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, dating back to its original December 2003 application to oversee .XXX registry. The company has said it has hundreds of documents numbering more than 1,000 pages to justify the application and also claims the actions of ICANN have been improper.
The application for the .XXX was rejected by ICANN for a third time in March 2007. In January of this year, ICM filed briefs alleging ICANN’s rejection was arbitrary.
Despite ICM's claims of mass adult industry support and waiting list of those wanting to register websites under .XXX, other parties in adult entertainment and the mainstream have voiced concern over the establishment of a .XXX domain name, along with guidelines in an adult website code of conduct found in the proposal related to the Toronto, Canada-based International Foundation for Online Responsibility, with which ICM Chair and President Stuart Lawley and the company are affiliated. ICM has said IFFOR would be funded through website registering with the triple-X domain.
"There is some serious doubt about the alleged 1,000 adult webmasters that Lawley claims that have written in for support for .XXX," said Brandon Shalton of Internet activist site FightThePatent.com in an e-mail.
"What the judges may not see about the supposed 1,000 webmasters in adult and the letters of 'support' dating back years is that companies like Hustler and AVN reversed their support," he continued. "These are serious issues towards constituency that I believe is the key issue for this application."
While ICM has fully followed procedure, Shalton says the application proposal's inclusion of IFFOR ruling on adult website operations is of serious concern.
It's been suggested a longstanding organization such as the Free Speech Coalition should be the body to oversee a mutually agreed-upon adult site code of conduct, rather than a suddenly created third party.
Meanwhile, Lawley and ICM Registry are not about to back down on their end after all the years of effort.
The arbitration will be heard in Washington, D.C., by two American judges and another from Europe.
For more on ICM, ICANN and the .XXX domain, view the AVN.com news archives.
