ICANN’s actions on .xxx go well beyond this one top level domain.
ICANN’s Board of Directors will once again consider what to do with the .xxx top level domain name during its board meeting at the culmination of the Brussels meeting this week.
More than just a decision on a mistake ICANN made long ago, this will act as a bellwether on the new top level domain process. Why? It will show us how much of a stomach ICANN has for controversy when it comes to introducing new TLDs in the next round. The “inside” controversy new TLDs have created is minute compared to the coming storm.
Yes, the deal with ICM registry is different. But if ICM wasn’t around, .xxx would still be on the table as a new TLD. And a lot of people would be upset about that. Just like they’ll be upset about .sex, .gay, and various .religion domain names.
Even non-controversial domains will spark fury when the general public finally realizes what is going on. Take .jobs. Yes, people are upset about a change in the “charter” and are publicly saying they are mostly upset with the “process” under which it was made. But “process” is often used as a euphemism when people really don’t want something for other reasons. Such as competition.
ICANN is about to enter a dark age of controversy. We’ll find out more about how it will handle it on Friday.
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