Questions and comments on Appendix S and XXX TLD Agreement
I am presenting questions and comments in regards to ICM's Proposed .XXX sTLD application and the updated Appendix S. From the Minutes of the 12-February-2007 meeting (http://www.icann.org/minutes/prelim-report-12feb07.htm) it was clear that many ICANN board members were questioning the definition of the "sponsored community". Below are 2 sections from the ICM's Proposed XXX Agreement (http://www.icann.org/tlds/agreements/xxx/proposed-xxx-agmt-05jan07.pdf) on their definition: --------------------- APPENDIX S PART 1. DOTXXX CHARTER This sTLD Charter (the "Charter") identifies (a) the purposes for which the .xxx sTLD (the "sTLD") is delegated, and (b) the community to be served by its delegation. Subject to Registry Operator's compliance with this Registry Agreement, including all attachments and appendices thereto (the "Agreement") and any Temporary Specifications or Policies or Consensus Policy as defined in the Agreement: 1. The sTLD will serve the responsible global online adult-entertainment community ("Community"), generally defined as: a. Those individuals, businesses, and entities that provide online, sexually-oriented adult entertainment ("Online Adult Entertainment") intended for consenting adults or for other community members ("Providers"), b. Organizations that represent Providers ("Representatives"), andc. Their vendors, service providers, and contractors ("Service Providers"). The term "Adult-Entertainment" is intended to be understood broadly for a global medium, to include those websites that provide Adult Entertainment (as defined above), operated by webmasters who have voluntarily determined that a system of self-identification would be beneficial. ----------------------- APPENDIX S PART 3. DESCRIPTION OF THE STLD COMMUNITY Subject to Registry Operator's compliance with this Registry Agreement, including all attachments and appendices thereto (the "Agreement") and any Temporary Specifications or Policies or Consensus Policy as defined in the Agreement, and provided the scope of the Charter is not exceeded: The TLD Community will consist of the responsible global online adult-entertainment community ("Community"), generally defined as: a. Those individuals, businesses, and entities that provide Adult Entertainment intended for consenting adults or for other community members ("Providers"), b. Organizations that represent Providers ("Representatives"), andc. Their vendors, service providers, and contractors ("Service Providers"). The term "Adult-Entertainment" is intended to be understood broadly for a global medium, to include those websites that convey Adult Entertainment, operated by webmasters who have voluntarily determined that a system of self-identification would be beneficial. Interested stakeholders, including individuals and entities concerned about child safety, free expression, and data privacy ("Other Stakeholders") are not part of the sponsored community, but will play an important, formal role in the IFFOR policy development process. Registry Operator may modify and/or expand the description of the sTLD Community, consistent with the Agreement, to reflect change and development in the provision of online Adult Entertainment.
The definition that ICM has chosen to use concerning the "sponsored community" is essentially revealed in this quote (the red highlighted section from above): ". to include those websites that convey Adult Entertainment, operated by webmasters who have voluntarily determined that a system of self-identification would be beneficial. " My interpretation of this means that any Adult Entertainment webmaster that wants .XXX, is in the sponsored community. By looking at all the letters of opposition, especially Free Speech Coalition (the trade association for the Adult Entertainment industry that represents over 3,000 members), the webmasters in the Adult Entertainment industry who have posted up to ICANN in all of the comment periods, and including the names of companies that are attached to this document, its clear that that these companies do not want .XXX It was expressed in the ICANN minutes that 24 companies gave their written support for .XXX and unverified number of 1,000 adult webmasters from around the world were submitted, but the definition of the sponsored community is too narrowly focused for what is the intent of an sTLD. The better definition, much like you see in .TRAVEL, of" all Adult Entertainment companies" should be the definition of the sponsored community. Given that definition, then there is demonstrative proof that there is no constituency. I now focus on specific issues from the updated Appendix S, Part 8 document that is the basis of the current comment period. I was the moderator of the Xbiz Forum panel on .XXX which Mr. Lawley and Mr. Corn were on. I had asked some questions and some answers were given and are paraphrased below: The video clips for the .XXX panel can be found at: http://www.xbizhollywood.com/seminar_videos.php Appendix S | Part 8 | Item #3 Registry Operator shall require registrants to accurately and clearly label their sites, and any site to which a user entering the registrant's site into a browser is automatically redirected.
Q: If the owner of a .xxx domain redirects to a .com, does that site have to label? A: [Lawley responds[ Yes As a term of service for .XXX, the .COM domain must be in compliance with the terms to use ICRA labeling, otherwise it would appear the .XXX domain owner could lose their domain. How can ICM dictate what is done on a .COM domain? Q: if .xxx can be used as both a visual identifier and a programmatic trigger for prohibiting / blocking an adult site, why is there a need to label with ICRA? A: Mr. Balkam of ICRA responded (paraphrasing), ICRA has a new labeling identifier that signifies that the site is a .XXX domain. What's the point of having a label that says the site is .XXX when the extension is already supposed to convey that? Q: ASACP's Restricted to Adults (RTA) label was created by ASACP, for it members, by members of the industry. The label simply labels the site as being for adults only, not degrees of categorization like ICRA. Why isn't RTA is as the labeling standard for .XXX? A:[Mr. Lawley responds] it could be ICRA has already been chosen by ICM. If .XXX is supposed to be for the benefit of the Adult Entertainment industry, it would make sense to adopt the labeling system created by members of the Adult Entertainment industry. Q: For Mr. Corn-Revere, what is the average cost of a legal case that goes to the Supreme Court? A: [Mr. Corn responds] Can vary from $500,000 to a couple million Q: ICM has pledged $250,000 to fight against mandatory laws. Where will the balance for legal expenses come from? What assurances is there that the fight and funding will continue?
Q: Who will be hired to determine who is in adult that is allowed to register .xxx? A: [Mr. Lawley responds] staff members of ICM The following questions were not able to be asked due to time constraints but are posed here for ICANN board members to evaluate: Q: What qualifications or means of verification is there to identify who is in the adult entertainment industry? Q: According to ICM statements (http://domainsmagazine.com/Domains_10/Domain_6101.shtml) Stuary Lawley said: Only members of the adult entertainment community can register .xxx names that resolve to Web content. ICM says it has put in place several mechanisms to protect company and brand names from misuse including the availability of 10-year contracts for names that won't resolve in .xxx. "We have a special subset of names, non-resolving names that will never point to content on .xxx," Lawley says. "For argument's sake, if a company like Revlon wants to reserve Revlon.xxx, there's a mechanism to do that at a low cost. We're proposing a 10-year parking program. The cost has yet to be decided." Lawley says that the ICM Registry has registered a few thousand corporate and brand names that want to participate in the 10-year parking program. Why would a non-adult company like Revlon be able to register .xxx? Q: Of the 24 reported companies that support .XXX, why aren't their names revealed? Has the list been verified since the years past when the support was given? Some companies that had given support have publicly changed their minds, and has this been taken into account in what was perceived as proving constituency to the sponsored community? Q: Network Solutions came out with Site Finder, where if domain was not registered, a NS parked page would come up. ICANN called for the shutdown of the service. What is to prevent ICM from doing the same thing? Q: 30 days after signing of .XXX registry, board members are to be named. Board seats are usually elected by shareholders. IFFOR will be naming the 6 seats. How are the seats chosen?
"interested stakeholders, including individuals and entities concerned about child safety, free expression, and data privacy("Other Stakeholders" are not part of the sponsored community"
Q: For the child protection slot, why wouldn't that be filled by ASACP.org? Q: For free speech, why wouldn't that slot be filled by FSC?
Q: who will make the policy? Who are the members? How did they get there? What are the requirements that the TLD SO must make policy? From a letter by Mr .Balkam of ICRA to ICM: Given the prominence of its membership, and its expanded mission to be a body "where technology and policy stakeholders meet in the field of family online safety," I have initiated discussions with the executive director to explore ways in which IFFOR and the Institute might work together, including the possibility that the Institute might manage some of IFFOR's policy development activities." Q: Why/how would ICRA/FOSI be involved? Why would they be involved as a group that is not part of the sponsored community? Registry Operator will prohibit CP , including practices that appeal to pedophiles or suggest the presence of CP on the site. Q: Will words like "Lolita" be allowed to be registered in a domain name? $10/domain goes to IFFOR. Which will give money as grants to child protection organizations. Q: Will organization who are against porn, but for child protection, receive .XXX money? Q: Domains cost $60/year. Previous reports domains were $75/year. What prevents increase? Q: If .xxx is for the benefit of Adult Entertainment industry companies, why is Stuart Lawley making comments like this: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article715999.ece .. the domain would have forced the porn industry to clean up its act with websites having to abide by a set of rules that would have outlawed malicious behaviour such as sending spam e-mails. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/425827/684404 The domain's applicant, Stuart Lawley of ICM Registry based in Florida, says the .xxx domain could help clean up the online industry by signposting pornography for parents. Lawley says the other benefit is the fact that sites will be screened for spam, spyware and credit card fraudsters. Q: In the original proposal by ICM, a .KIDS TLD was presented along with .XXX .KIDS is the only effective way from a domain TLD standpoint that can truly keep children away by utilizing a white list approach that children can only view sites that have .KIDS extension. Why was this dropped in subsequent proposals? .XXX as a voluntary measure cannot protect children from seeing adult material. Even if the U.S. made it a law, website operators outside the US would still have their content assessable to minors. Online Petition against .XXX | http://www.FightTheDotXXX.com Website cover letter and list of Adult Entertainment companies taking a public stand against .XXX. The names of companies presented sent me an acknowledgement (or made public acknowledgement) to be added to the petition. This list is updated as of 8-Mar-2007 with the latest list at: http://www.FightTheDotXXX.com
Cover letter from website: The .XXX sTLD is the first content-based domain extension that ICANN has entertained that has such levels of oversight and compliance and bloat that is just wrong on so many levels. .XXX has been herald by ICM Registry as a mechanism to protect children, but the irony is that .XXX will make it easier for children to find adult entertainment material. ICM Registry (the sponsor of the .XXX sTLD) has said that .XXX will help to open the namespace. It certainly will. Now there will sites like yellow.xxx that might be urine fetish site. Any child could easily put in a keyword and add .XXX to see what pops up. It's like the joke about reading your fortune cookie and adding "in bed" to the end. How easy would it be for a child to type in any kind of simple keyword of phrase and add on ".xxx" and find porn. There is no .XXX blocking mechanism in place. Software and ISP filtering could be introduced, If .XXX is approved, but what would it block, a few number of .XXX domains. .XXX is voluntary, and those that have invested in their .COMS won't be giving them up. .XXX is not about protecting children, it is about greed. The .XXX TLD was perceived to be one that represents the adult industry for their interest for their own namespace. The .XXX proposal has the sponsored TLD more broadly defined as:
APPENDIX S PART 3. DESCRIPTION OF THE STLD COMMUNITY Subject to Registry Operator's compliance with this Registry Agreement, including all attachments and appendices thereto (the "Agreement") and any Temporary Specifications or Policies or Consensus Policy as defined in the Agreement, and provided the scope of the Charter is not exceeded: The TLD Community will consist of the responsible global online adult-entertainment community ("Community"), generally defined as: a. Those individuals, businesses, and entities that provide Adult Entertainment intended for consenting adults or for other community members ("Providers"), b. Organizations that represent Providers ("Representatives"), andc. Their vendors, service providers, and contractors ("Service Providers").The term "Adult-Entertainment" is intended to be understood broadly for a global medium, to include those websites that convey Adult Entertainment, operated by webmasters who have voluntarily determined that a system of self-identification would be beneficial. Interested stakeholders, including individuals and entities concerned about child safety, free expression, and data privacy ("Other Stakeholders") are not part of the sponsored community, but will play an important, formal role in the IFFOR policy development process. Registry Operator may modify and/or expand the description of the sTLD Community, consistent with the Agreement, to reflect change and development in the provision of online Adult Entertainment.
This paragraph from ICM's proposal, in reference to the red highlighting, means only those websites that want .XXX are defined as the community. Given the list of websites listed to the left and the hundreds more who have posted up on ICANN's public comment board, it is quite clear, that the definition that ICM has proposed to ICANN is a sham of a definition. If the adult entertainment industry wanted a .XXX TLD, then the individual companies who be flooding the ICANN message board in support of it. What you see is clearly the opposite. The Adult Entertainment community would support a .KIDS TLD that would truly be the best way to keep kids from any adult material. -brandon [word document attachment to include better formatted text of above] Attachment:
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