Letter Submitted to ICANN, FSC Travels to Cartagena

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) Executive Director Diane Duke and FSC Board Chair Jeffrey Douglas will travel to Cartagena, Columbia, next week to oppose the proposed .XXX sTLD at the ICANN Board of Directors meeting.

Prior to the meeting, FSC has submitted a letter to ICANN (FSC Letter to ICANN Board 12-01-10) outlining statements of opposition to the ICANN Board against the proposed .XXX domain. Domain registrar ICM has proposed the sTLD and been pushing efforts for its approval for several years.

Issues pointed out in the letter include:

• ICANN exceeding their jurisdiction if the .XXX sTLD is approved, by allowing ICM and proposed IFFOR Board of Directors to regulate and control content.

• Concerns voiced by the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) over the proposed domain.

• If approved, .XXX would set precedent charging fees to adult businesses to be used to fund a third party association to “protect” children from online adult material; an action that would violate free speech and free association rights.

• The threat of division and fragmentation of the Internet that comes with delivering to censorious governments a TLD which is not only tailor-made for censorship but which virtually dares some countries to respond to the .XXX sTLD by banning or restricting it.

The letter also urges ICANN to implement actions that will reject ICM’s application “once and for all.”

In October, FSC also submitted a letter to GAC voicing online industry concerns about .XXX.

“ICM continues to act as if it already has a contract with ICANN for .XXX,” Duke said. “The issues are far from resolved and this battle is far from over. Rest assured that FSC will be there every step of the way to represent the best interests of the adult online community.”