CANOGA PARK, Calif.—The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) sent a letter to ICANN General Counsel John Jeffrey Wednesday that reiterates its opposition to ICM Registry’s dot-XXX application, and also requests an increased level of transparency in the top-level domain application process, and specifically with respect to the ICM application, which remains under consideration. The letter has been published in the Correspondence section of the domain regulator’s website.
On Aug. 24, ICANN published a revised Agreement with ICM Registry to run the dot-XXX sTLD. A public comment period also commenced that day, and is scheduled to run through Sept. 23. A number of supporting documents also were posted to the ICANN site, some of which were made Confidential.
In its letter to ICANN, FSC specifically asked ICANN to reconsider the decision to make certain information unavailable to the public. To back up its appeal, FSC has employed ICANN’s internal version of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
“In the interest not only of transparency in the abstract but also of bringing to light the full information necessary for a sound final decision on ICM’s application,” FSC Executive Director Diane Duke wrote, “FSC has filed a Documentary Information Disclosure Policy (DIDP) request for the following information:
• The list of the IFFOR Board members;
• The list of proposed members of the Policy Council;
• IFFOR’s Business Plan/Financials;
• Business Plan/Financials Years 1-5 utilizing 125,000 Initial Registrations;
• The list of .XXX sTLD pre-registrants who have been identified to ICANN;
• ICM’s Proof of Sponsorship Community Support as submitted to ICANN.
The DIDP “is intended to ensure that information contained in documents concerning ICANN's operational activities, and within ICANN's possession, custody, or control, is made available to the public unless there is a compelling reason for confidentiality.”
The DIDP page contains a lengthy list of conditions for nondisclosure of information, but also notes, “Information that falls within any of the conditions set forth above may still be made public if ICANN determines, under the particular circumstances, that the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the harm that may be caused by such disclosure.” ICANN is obligated to respond to DIDP requests for information within 30 days of filing.
In the letter, FSC also speaks to broader policy issues brought on by the dot-XXX application, especially those “focused on concerns about freedom or regulation of sexually oriented expression. ICM speaks, for instance, of a ‘responsible’ global online adult entertainment community. But it does so only in the most general terms: promising each side in the underlying debate that its concerns will be fully satisfied once IFFOR finally gets around to adopting its policies.
“But we have been around these underlying debates for long enough to know that the proper approach to general promises of such a vague panacea is a deep and abiding skepticism,” the letter continues. “The Board should not be prepared to approve ICM’s 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 letter requests that ICANN:
• Verify that companies which ICM has listed in support are viable adult businesses;
• Verify that companies listed in support in fact do support ICM’s current application for a .XXX sTLD;
• Determine how many pre-registrations claimed by ICM are in fact defensive registrations;
• Determine how many pre-registrations are registrars or companies hoping to re-sell domain names;
• Extend the public comment period to 30 days after FSC’s DIDP request has been resolved.
“This isn’t a done deal,” Duke said Thursday. “There are still a lot of questions to be answered and barriers to overcome. FSC and the adult entertainment industry will make sure that our voice is heard in the process.”
A copy of FSC's letter to ICANN can be read here.
