Although initially on the agenda for its five-day meeting here, representatives of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers have confirmed discussion about the dot-xxx sponsored Top-Level Domain has been tabled once again.
ICANN chairman Vinton Cerf cited sponsoring organization ICM Registry’s failure to supply a requested report about the sTLD proposal to ICANN’s Government Advisory Committee (GAC) in a timely manner. Cerf says the report was requested several months ago, but ICM failed to produce it until Nov. 28. In the time between request and submission of the 350-page report, ICM went to ICANN’s ombudsman, arguing it shouldn’t have to present the report at all.
ICM vice president Jason Hendeles says the report was delayed because of “internal procedure policy.” ICM President Stuart Lawley sees it differently.
“It is unfortunate that Dr. Cerf has characterized our request that ICANN follow its published rules as a delay,” Lawley says. “ICM simply got caught in the middle of an argument between the GAC and ICANN.”
Says Cerf, “Ultimately, ICM did respond, but very late. As a consequence, the report arrived at GAC on Nov. 28 – just as the ICANN meetings were starting. To allow the GAC to digest this material, I tabled the board agenda item dealing with this top-level domain. Once input is received from the GAC, the matter can then be brought back for board consideration.”
When that will be remains up in the air. ICANN President Paul Twomey was questioned on the matter during a Thursday morning teleconference, but he was non-committal about a timetable and dodged questions about the political nature of the sTLD.
“The GAC has important input and needs time to evaluate that; the opportunity to review the documents and ensure proper communication,” Twomey says.
Dot-xxx has become a political nightmare for ICANN since the organization announced it entered into commercial and technical negotiations with ICM in early June. Although entering the commercial and technical negotiation phase has meant nearly guaranteed approval for previous TLDs, that certainly hasn’t been the case for dot-xxx.
Initially slated for final approval by ICANN in August, dot-xxx has met with several delays. The first of those occurred when the U.S. Department of Commerce requested that ICANN take more time to address public concerns. The DOC’s reaction was prompted by thousands of letters it received from religious and conservative groups, among them the influential Family Research Council.
ICANN also has faced pressure from the United Nations, which has expressed desire to take over the U.S.-based ICANN’s role as the overseer of the Internet. An agreement was struck at the U.N.’s World Summit in mid-November leaving the Web’s nomenclature under ICANN control, but creating a U.N.-sponsored global forum to explore the problems of spam and cybercrime.
The political haze surrounding ICANN hasn’t cleared in Vancouver. Los Angeles-based intellectual property lawyer and ICANN advisory committee member Bret Fausett, who is attending the meeting, says neither dot-xxx proponents nor opponents are being shy.
“People are still trying to position themselves favorably. There is a lot of lobbying and work on the sidelines,” he says.
Like Twomey, Hendeles was similarly vague on the current machinations of the dot-xxx approval process, but Lawley is attending the ICANN meeting.
“We are still in Vancouver engaged in discussions with GAC members and ICANN staff and attempting to respond to any concerns,” Hendeles says.
