In a decision made Friday March 30th at the ICANN board meeting, the board voted 9 to 5 to reject ICM’s proposal for a .XXX top level domain. This appears to be the final decision by ICANN as Board Chair Vinton Cerf said that they would not consider another proposal for a .XXX top level domain.

While there were several different bases for the various directors’ votes, the presence of the Free Speech Coalition was definitely influential. The participation of so many webmasters, from the largest to the smallest positively affected the outcome. Due to ICANN’s commitment to bottom-up decision making, the voices of thousands of webmasters voicing opposition was important.

As FSC board member Reed Lee observed, “The ICANN Board members who voted against .xxx did so almost uniformly for one or both of two reasons. They didn’t want ICANN ensconced in content control and censorship controversies. And they recognized that sharp opposition from the community distinguished this application from all others in this sponsored round. These were the issues Free Speech coalition advocated.”

“This process demonstrates the power of the collective voice of the industry. We of the Free Speech Coalition are proud to embody that voice,” said Free Speech Coalition Chair Jeffrey J. Douglas. “Together we can accomplish extraordinary things!”

It was noteworthy that in the only public forum on the topic, ICM Registry’s attorney, flown in specially for that debate, felt it necessary to attack the Free Speech Coalition, and by implication, its membership. For instance, he claimed falsely that FSC’s first rejection of ICM Registry’s proposal was based solely on a failed attempt to have complete control of the dot xxx process. His unwarranted and dishonest comments ultimately reflected badly on ICM Registry.

“When we come together to tell the truth about our industry as a healthy, vital, positive component of today’s business community we have a powerful voice,” said Diane Duke, Free Speech Coalition Executive Director, “Our presence at this conference was a direct result of membership support and what we can do when we come together as an industry, thank you to all who supported us in this endeavor.”

The Free Speech Coalition is the national trade organization to the adult entertainment industry. Its mission is to safeguard the industry from oppressive governmental regulation and to promote good business practices within the industry.

Source: Free Speech Coalition