CANOGA PARK, Calif.—Free Speech Coalition (FSC) has issued a letter to the ICANN Board of Directors, which will meet today in a closed meeting. The meeting agenda includes a discussion of the proposed .XXX sTLD.
In the letter, FSC voiced concerns as to whether or not the ICANN Board has addressed issues raised by ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC). FSC also called for the board to consult GAC “in the interest of transparency and equitability.”
The letter raised four points to the ICANN Board, giving a timeline for statements issued by GAC. The statements repeatedly point out GAC’s concerns over approval of the proposed .XXX sTLD and even state several GAC members’ opposition to approval. Points emphasized by FSC include:
* The last formal statement from GAC on the topic was in its March 28, 2007 Lisbon Communiqué, which states, “The GAC reaffirms the letter sent to the ICANN Board on 2nd February 2007. The Wellington Communiqué remains a valid and important expression of the GAC’s views on .xxx. The GAC does not consider the information provided by the Board to have answered the GAC concerns as to whether the ICM Application meets the sponsorship criteria.”
• In the Wellington Communiqué of March 26, 2006, the GAC identified a number of concerns about the application and the concept as a whole, ending its comment on the subject with the statement, “Nevertheless without prejudice to the above, several members of the GAC are emphatically opposed from a public policy perspective to the introduction of a .xxx sTLD.”
• During the GAC meeting in Brussels, in informal conversation among its members, there was general consensus that its concerns had still not been addressed, and its prior Communiqué objections stand.
• Just as the Board has given deference to the decision of the IRP [Independent Review Panel], so must it give deference to the GAC advice.
• FSC opposes .XXX sTLDs, which would cost adult web businesses millions in unnecessary fees and put adult websites in a category to be easily targeted by anti-adult interests.
