The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the nonprofit body that oversees Internet domain names, decided at Tuesday’s board meeting to delay final approval of the dot-xxx sponsored Top-Level Domain.
The delay came after ICANN received letters of concern from U.S. Department of Commerce assistant secretary Michael Gallagher and the chairman of ICANN’s Government Advisory Committee, Mohd Sharil Tarmizi. ICANN was slated to give final approval to the TLD Tuesday but tabled the issue until September 15.
ICM Registry, which has applied to oversee the new sTLD, also sent a letter to ICANN asking the organization to delay approval for one month in order to address the concerns. The parties involved in the dot-xxx maneuvering are tight-lipped about the decision.
“Dot-xxx was deferred in response to requests from the applicant, ICM, as well as the ICANN Government Advisory Committee chairman’s and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s request to allow for additional time for comments by interested parties,” says Tanzanica King, an ICANN communications and operations specialist. She declined to elaborate.
Similarly, a DOC spokesman said the department would have no public comment on the matter.
ICM, on the other hand, remains outwardly confident that dot-xxx will gain final approval from ICANN next month, but founder Jason Hendeles offers no guarantees.
“ICANN has approved the TLD, and the negotiations on the contract are complete,” he says. “We are aware of the viewpoint that the DOC is asking for us to consider, and we look forward to meeting with them to ensure full understanding of the TLD, IFFOR, and how the dot-xxx domain will empower Internet users to match their online experience with their values. We are confident that dot-xxx will be added to the authoritative root in due course.”
IFFOR is the International Federation for Online Responsibility, a nonprofit body that will be established by ICM to set the rules that will govern the dot-xxx space.
Gallagher, in his letter to ICANN, says the department has received nearly 6,000 letters and emails from individuals concerned about dot-xxx. The outpouring of concern is largely the result of the conservative religious group Family Research Council, whose president, Tony Perkins, urged supporters to express their feelings to the DOC.
The FRC would not address the issue with AVNOnline.com.
“You know, I don’t consider your magazine anything more than a porn magazine, and I’d hate to have my name mentioned in there,” says Patrick Trueman, senior legal counsel for the FRC.
However, in a press release issued Wednesday –for nonporn media, evidently – Trueman espoused his vast understanding of obscenity law:
“Selling hardcore pornography on the Internet is a violation of federal obscenity law, so the Bush administration is right to oppose the dot-xxx domain,” he stated in the release. “The Bush Administration should not, in any way, be seen to facilitate the porn industry, which has been a plague on our society since the establishment of the Internet. The dot-xxx domain proposal is an effort to pander to the porn industry and offers nothing but false hope to an American public which wants illegal pornographers prosecuted, not rewarded.”
Internet audience measurement service ComScore Media Metrix reported that more pages were viewed on adult sites in July than on search engines or news sites.
Ironically, the FRC and other religious groups were at least partially responsible for giving dot-xxx opponents in the adult industry – none of whom seemed to be aware that ICANN was set to grant the sTLD final approval on Tuesday – a reprieve. While certain individuals in the industry are said to be working behind the scenes to stop dot-xxx, the fruits of that labor aren’t yet evident.
“Obviously the approval was not given, and I would suggest that the stated reasons for it should not be taken at face value,” says Tom Hymes, communications director for the Free Speech Coalition and lately an outspoken critic of dot-xxx. “It should be clear to everyone who’s been reading and watching over the past few weeks that opposing voices have been brought to bear on [the Department of] Commerce, ICANN, and the ICM Registry from a variety of different constituencies.”
Los Angeles-based intellectual property lawyer and ICANN advisory committee member Bret Fausett found the timing of the ground swell against dot-xxx predictable.
“People who follow ICANN every day knew this was coming for years, but the general public doesn’t pay attention until they see the news coverage,” he says.
A long-time complaint of opponents has been that ICANN did not adequetely publicize the public comment period for dot-xxx. Many of those same opponents see DOC and GAC intervention as a new window of opportunity.
“If countries and organizations like the FSC have issues, it is the time for ICANN to address it. This clearly signals that dot-xxx is not a done deal and will surely lead to more review and discussions, and what I ultimately believe is a rejection of the dot-xxx TLD,” says Brandon Shalton, chief executive of Fight the Patent.
“There is another ground swell of complaints from the adult biz that is going to hit the ICANN walls shortly,” he continues. “Having the industry that dot-xxx oversees come out more vocally against it should help to further demonstrate to ICANN that the premise of dot-xxx is not supported.”
