CANOGA PARK, Calif.—Thursday morning, the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) submitted its public comment regarding ICM Registy's dot XXX application process to internet domain overseer ICANN. The three-page document supported option No. 3 of the March 26 process options submitted by ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom and General Counsel John Jeffrey.
In its comments, FSC agreed with the dissenting opinion of ICANN’s Independent Review Panel (IRP), which found that ICM “never satisfied the sponsorship requirements and criteria for a sponsored TLD.” FSC also concurred with the dissenting opinions finding that “the (ICANN) Board denied ICM’s application for the .XXX sTLD on the merits in an open and transparent forum.”
FSC further pointed out that when information about .XXX sTLD’s lack of support within the sponsorship community was established at the 2007 ICANN Board meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, the Board was not only well within its rights to deny ICM’s request, but also obligated to do so by Section 2 of its Bylaws.
“We have studied the issue thoroughly,” said FSC Executive Director Diane Duke, “and it is clear to us that the best option is Option No. 3; to accept the dissenting opinion from the February 19, 2010, Declaration of the Internal Review Panel and deny ICM’s application.”
FSC stressed that, regardless of the option chosen, ICANN should continue to consider the widespread opposition of the sponsored community in any further decisions concerning a dot XXX sTLD.
ICANN has indeed indicated that no matter which route it decides to take following the current comment period, a reassessment of the sponsorship requirement will be undertaken, and that, unless the Board decides to reject the ICM application sooner rather than later, another public comment period is included on the process chart unveiled last month.
FSC also issued a Call-to-Action for the adult industry that encouraged industry members to submit a comment to ICANN.
“It is critical that everyone in the industry not only submit a comment,” Duke stressed, “but also answer the question that ICANN is asking—which option should ICANN select in moving forward in the consideration process.”
Duke went on to emphasize that FSC has made the process of submitting a comment exceedingly easy and that the whole process should take less than a minute.
Industry professionals can access FSC’s Call-to-Action process and read FSC’s public comment at www.freespeechcoalition.com.
A link directly to FSC's comment is here.
