ICANN Postpones Decision on .xxx Domains

by LARRY MAGID (taken from CNET News)

Just before wrapping up its meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) board voted to postpone any decision about aproposal to create a ".xxx" top level domain for adult Web sites.

The matter is scheduled to be taken up again at its June meeting in Brussels.

The board voted unanimously to direct the organization's CEO and general counsel to write a "report of possible process options" within the next two weeks that will be posted online for a 45-day public comment period.

In 2005, the ICANN board voted to negotiate a contract with ICM Registry for the .xxx domain, finding that ICM's proposal met required criteria. But in 2007, the board rejected the proposal. ICM appealed that decision to the organization's Independent Review Panel which, last month, ruled that ICM had been treated unfairly.

The review panel's ruling (PDF) noted a 2005 letter to ICANN from an official with the Bush administration Commerce Department saying that the department had received "nearly 6,000 letters and e-mail from individuals expressing concern about the impact of pornography on families and children and opposing the creation of a new top level domain devoted to adult content." The panel found that, in 2007, the board was pressured to reject the proposal "by the government of the United States and by quite a number of other influential governments."

By e-mail from Nairobi, ICM Registry CEO Stuart Lawley said: "We note the ICANN board's resolutions and are looking forward to seeing the proposals in the next 14 days for the process to implement the Independent Review Panels decision."