.xxx Domain Appears Headed For Internet

A .xxx domain may finally go to the internet root after years of debate. The Board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in their official meeting yesterday decided to restart negotations with .xxx applicant ICM registry after an “expedited due diligence process” for the adult entertainment content top-level domain (TLD). The decision is ICANN’s answer to the findings of an Independent Review Panel which ruled earlier this year that the Board after rejecting the .xxx application had, in an ICANN internal reconsideration process, not acted “consistent with the application of neutral, objective and fair documented policy.” Before a final decision on the new contract, the Board will determine whether the contract was “consistent with the advice” of the ICANN Government Advisory Committee (GAC), and if not, will enter into GAC consultations in accordance with the bylaws. It was governments, especially the United States government, which was seen as the main force behind ICM’s earlier rejection by the Board. Conservative US groups like the Family Research Council had flooded the US Department of Commerce (which retains control over internet root changes) with thousands of letters to stop the .xxx approval.

By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch