.XXX decision pushed until next ICANN meeting.
Should we really be so surprised?
ICANN’s board has decided not to act on the independent review of its decision to deny ICM Registry the .xxx top level domain name. Until further comment.
Insert joke about delayed sexual gratification here.
ICANN has punted. “Let’s think about this some more” is the message, a message that ICANN has sent for years on a variety of topics.
The ICANN board originally authorized entering into a contract with ICM registry to launch .xxx in the last sTLD round. After getting pressure from a number of groups including governments, ICANN’s board later voted to nix .xxx. ICM registry used ICANN’s so-called independent review process to question ICANN’s reversal. That independent review group said ICANN violated its bylaws when it reneged on .xxx.
But here’s the catch. The independent review board merely makes a decision that the ICANN board can decide what to do with.
To be clear, it didn’t kill .xxx. It merely resolved “create a transparent set of process options which can be published for public comment”. It is directing ICANN’s CEO and general counsel to “finalize a report of possible process options for further consideration.”
ICANN’s board will take into consideration the options and public comments at the June meeting in Brussels.
My guess is ICANN eventually approves ICM registry to run .xxx. Frankly, it should strip all of the “policy” elements of the original .xxx contract and just make it a traditional TLD agreement. But ICANN is scared to make a decision prior to the launch of new TLDs, since it will surely set off a firestorm of people opposed to .xxx and other similar TLDs coming to the net when new gTLDs are launched. Perhaps it will “buy off” ICM registry to wait until the new TLD launch.
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