YNOT – The board of directors for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers on Friday gave the green light to dot-xxx, ending often-contentious deliberations that left the adult-content-specific sponsored Top Level Domain mired in controversy for a decade. Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.-based ICM Registry now will move ahead with three “sunrise” registration periods intended to prevent intellectual property infringements in the space, followed by a general rollout of the new sTLD sometime around mid-year.

Although not unexpected after the board in December passed a resolution stating intent to approve dot-xxx and numerous public statements from ICANN board members and staff in the intervening months, the board’s Friday decision marks the first time in its history the web’s governing body ignored strident disapproval from its own Governmental Advisory Committee. Under ICANN’s bylaws, the board is required to seek advice from the GAC — which is composed of nearly 100 representatives of nations that hold stake in the World Wide Web — and “consult” with the committee when political, social and cultural concerns conflict with ICANN objectives.
The board has been at odds with the GAC over dot-xxx since 2006, when the GAC submitted an official communiqué outlining several areas of concern about ICM’s proposal to establish and run the domain registry. Although ICM has revised its proposal and ICANN has adjusted the registrar agreement several times since then, none of the modifications sufficiently addressed the GAC’s objections, according to a written statement presented to the board during a Thursday consultation.

“There is no active support of the GAC for the introduction of a dot-xxx TLD,” the statement noted. “[I]ntroduction of a [dot-xxx] TLD into the root might lead to steps taken by some governments to prohibit access to this TLD. The GAC therefore calls the board’s attention to concerns expressed by experts that such steps bear a potential risk/threat to the universal resolvability and stability of the [Domain Name System].

“Moreover, 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,” the statement continued. “The GAC further shares concerns expressed by others that with the revised proposed ICANN-ICM Registry agreement, [ICANN] could be moving towards assuming an ongoing management and oversight role regarding internet content, which could be inconsistent with its technical mandate.”

The GAC was not alone in its opposition to dot-xxx. During the ICANN general meeting in San Francisco this week, a number of respected international technology and political leaders spoke to the board, stressing the importance of addressing the GAC’s concerns before approving dot-xxx. The board summarily ignored the naysayers, which included ICANN co-founder Ira Magaziner, former ICANN Chairman and internet founding father Vint Cerf, U.S. Department of Commerce Under Secretary Larry Strickling and former U.S. President Bill Clinton. As expected, the board also approved the new sTLD over severe objections from the American adult entertainment industry. The industry’s trade association, Free Speech Coalition, hosted a protest rally and press conference in front of the meeting’s headquarters hotel on Thursday, during which a number of attorneys and prominent industry insiders provided impassioned rationale for disallowing the domain.

“Of course we are disappointed, but we are not surprised by the ICANN board’s decision [to approve dot-xxx],” FSC Executive Director Diane Duke said Friday. “As voiced in concerns by speakers at this very conference, the ICANN board has dangerously undervalued the input from governments worldwide. Worse, [the board has] disregarded overwhelming outpouring of opposition from the adult entertainment industry — the supposed sponsorship community — dismissing the interests of free speech on the internet.”

The saga of dot-xxx dates back to 2001, when ICM responded to an ICANN request for proposals aimed at generating new sTLDs to serve the needs of designated communities. In theory, the communities already had been approached by the registrar hopefuls who submitted applications, and the communities were amenable to supporting the sTLDs should they be granted. Based on the substance of ICM’s application to administer an sTLD specifically for pornographic content, ICANN granted preliminary approval in June 2005.

By then it had become apparent that although part of the adult entertainment community initially supported dot-xxx, at least in theory, in the interim the so-called “sponsoring community” had changed its mind after considering a number of factors, including the potential for censorship and “ghettoization” of adult content and the projected registration cost of $60 per domain name. In addition, the industry balked at the news domains residing within the dot-xxx space would be regulated as to content and business ethics by an independent non-profit organization with a board composed primarily of mainstream experts in areas like child abuse, technology and the law, giving the adult industry very little voice in how it should run its own business.

Not insignificantly, the adult industry began to view dot-xxx as a money machine for industry outsiders ICM Registry and its founder, Stuart Lawley, who has reported sinking as much as $10 million into the approval process. Much of that money, Lawley has said, came from the personal fortune he amassed by founding and then selling successful technology companies during the dot-com boom of the late-1990s.

Along with the adult industry, governments and anti-porn crusaders began condemning dot-xxx because of a perception “obscenity” would explode on the internet if the sTLD were approved.

By March 2007, the outcry from the adult industry, world governments, anti-porn crusaders and the GAC had become so severe that ICANN’s board, then led by Cerf, withdrew approval for dot-xxx and declared the domain dead. That decision was overturned by an international arbitration panel in February 2010, and ICANN was advised not only to reconsider dot-xxx, but also required to reimburse the $250,000 ICM spent to have the matter arbitrated by the International Centre for Dispute Resolution.

ICM and ICANN staff reworked the dot-xxx proposal and drafted a new registrar agreement, and a new board of directors which took office in 2010 began deliberations anew. Despite tabling negotiations during meetings in October and December, there was little doubt the board at last would approve the domain on Friday.

However, according to FSC, the battle to defeat dot-xxx is not over. ICANN’s bylaws provide review procedures under which the GAC and the adult industry may yet be heard, according to FSC Chairman and noted free-speech attorney Jeffrey Douglas.

“Until now, we have been forced to work within the constraints of the ICANN process,” Douglas said on Friday. “FSC is now free to explore all options, and we intend to do just that with input from, and in the interest of, our members. We will help the industry fully understand the risks and ramifications of participating in dot-xxx.

“As regrettable as the vote was, the involvement of FSC and industry leaders in this process has and will continue to provide a positive face of the adult entertainment community to leaders of the online community worldwide.”