Accept the IRP Declaration

[Richard Schreier <richards@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

RE: The IRP Declaration and ICANN call for comments on "possible process 
options."

By this point, six years into the story of ICM and the .XXX sTLD, there is 
likely no process that has not been used to delay a decision well-made the 
first time.  To suggest that there is little precedent for awarding an 
extension "six years following receipt of original application" is to ignore 
the fact that it was awarded in 2005.  Since then ICANN has been blown from 
shore-to-shore by political winds and its own unwillingness to tack on behalf 
of its constituencies.  The registry ought to be granted and up-and-running as 
soon as is technically possible.

To delay further is to undercut the recommendations from a robust panel of 
experts, appointed by ICANN itself.  Bereft of additional tactics, ICANN now 
falls back on the need to gather "public opinion" on how next to proceed.  If 
you ask for input but never hear it, have you really asked for it in the first 
place?   ICANN established the IRP process to create a mechanism through which 
resolution (one way or the other) was assured. But it seems the IRP Declaration 
is not what ICANN had hoped for, so now new processes must be invented.

There have been opinions on many sides of this issue from the beginning.  
Unable to find unanimous consent, ICANN either seems to want to stall ICM, 
hoping it will withdraw, or hope the weight of opposition will seem like 
consensus and allow the application be denied.  I suspect that if the majority 
of opinion expressed here favours ICM's application, there will be a call for 
even more review.  This is more obscene than any sTLD could be.

The simple facts are: ICMs original application met all of the required 
criteria at the time.  Despite that, ICANN chose to manage the ICM application 
differently than all others received.  Subsequently, an independent panel 
appointed by ICANN themselves upheld the notion that the original application 
was valid and should move forward.  So why the continued analysis?  Why is 
ICANN not following and accepting their own policies and procedures?

Delay does not strengthen ICANN's hand, it diminishes its standing.  Accept the 
IRP Declaration.

Richard Schreier
CEO, Pool.com