WASHINGTON, DC—The International Foundation for Online Responsibility (IFFOR), the non-profit organization tasked with policy making for the new .XXX Top Level Domain (TLD), has announced the founding members of its board of directors and policy council. The high-profile and highly respected members include leading global figures in internet security, online child protection and freedom of expression, including Professor Nadine Strossen and Sharon Girling OBE.
IFFOR is an independent non-profit body, which has been created by ICM Registry, the organization responsible for the new .XXX TLD, which opens to trademark owners under a sunrise launch period in September 2011. IFFOR will receive significant funding from ICM at a rate of $10 per domain registration per year.
The policy council will be responsible for initiating a series of policies for responsible business practices and conduct within the .XXX online adult-entertainment community. This includes making adult content less accessible to children online and protecting the privacy and security of consenting adult consumers of online adult-entertainment goods and services.
Stuart Lawley, CEO of ICM Registry and Chairman of IFFOR commented, “IFFOR has the potential to become one of the internet industry’s greatest forces for good. The caliber of our founding members, international leaders in their fields from child protection, to privacy, to freedom of expression is testament to the organizations vision and ambition. We are extremely honored by their commitment to IFFOR’s mission and we all look forward to collaborating with our industry and other partners as IFFOR begins its important work.”
Professor Nadine Strossen, the Free Expression Policy Council member for IFFOR, added: ‘Wearing both of my hats, as a scholar and activist, I have long championed the freedom of consenting adults to make their own choices about what sexual expression to access online as well as the rights of parents and guardians to make such choices regarding their own children. It is an honor – and an important responsibility – to serve as the inaugural member of IFFOR’s Policy Council who is designated as the advocate of these fundamental freedoms.”
IFFOR Board Members
The Chair of the IFFOR Board will be Stuart Lawley, the current chairman and CEO of ICM Registry. Joining Lawley as board directors will be Clyde Beattie, CEO of Yorkland Investment Corp and Sebastien Bachollet, CEO of BBS Consulting and a member of the Board of Directors of ICANN.
Beattie’s experience includes serving as Chairman of the Canadian Internet registry Authority (CIRA), where he was responsible for the .CA top level domain, as well as serving as a director of the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP).
Bachollet’s expertise also stems from a technological background, having launched the www.sncf.fr website and built CIGREF (Club Informatique des Grandes Entreprises Françaises).
The board is assisted by Joan Irvine as Executive Director, the recent CEO of the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP).
IFFOR Policy Council Members
The IFFOR Board is also supported by its Policy Council. Initial non-adult industry members are:
Child protection authority Sharon Girling OBE, has over 30 years’ experience in policing, specializing in the last ten years in addressing international Internet enabled pedophilia, advising both the British Prime Minister and the President of the United States.
Fred Cate is a distinguished Professor of Law at the Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington and director of the Indiana University Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research. He specializes in privacy, security, and other information law issues, and appears regularly before Congress, government agencies, and professional and industry groups on these matters.
Bob Corn-Revere, Partner at Davis Wright Tremaine, has extensive experience in First Amendment law and communications, media and information technology law. Bob speaks and writes extensively on First Amendment and communications policy issues.
The fourth member of the IFFOR Policy Council is Nadine Strossen. Strossen has written, lectured, and practiced extensively in the areas of constitutional law, civil liberties, and international human rights. From 1991 through 2008 she served as president of the American Civil Liberties Union, the first woman to head the nation’s largest and oldest civil liberties organization.
The remaining five policy council members selected to represent the online adult entertainment industry on an international basis will be announced in July/August.
