rebuttal to ICM's summary for the ICANN Board of Directors dated March 13, 2007

["Lee Denton" <leesmerchantservices@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear ICANN Board of Directors,

My name is Lee and I am a merchant account provider for the adult industry.
Although I've been aware of ICM's request for the .XXX registry from its
inception, I have kept myself on the sidelines until now.  I've watched as
the entities behind ICM have repeatedly hammered to get their application
approved but always knew the ICANN board members had the intelligence and
foresight to disallow their request.  However, when I read their latest
submission I felt I could no longer stand quietly by and not highlight their
obvious contrivance.

As a rebuttal to the following statements in ICM's summary for the ICANN
Board of Directors dated March 13, 2007

A. ïïThe Existence of a Precisely Defined Sponsored TLD Community

C.ïïStrong Support of the Sponsored Community
   1. ïïï76,723 adult website names have been pre-reserved in .XXX since 1
June 2006."
Response: Its necessary for business owners of every genre to be pro-active
for as many possible scenarios that might have a direct impact on their
industry.  It does not surprise me whatsoever to find the adult industry
doing the same.  IF ICANN were to approve this application, those who had
pre-reserved would be one step ahead of their competitors.  Obviously this
does not show support, rather it shows intelligent business practice from
those at risk of an industry change.
However, I do wonder:
   How many of those pre-reservations would lead to successful domain
registrations without the need for lawsuits.  I suspect the numbers would be
minimal.
   How many of these pre-reservations were made by the same business entity
(i.e. - what is the average number of pre-registrations per business
owner).  As we all know, when it comes to domain names, each business owner
would pre-register as many as their assets permit - allowing them an even
larger future advantage over their competitors.

   2. ïïï1,217 adult webmasters from over 70 countries have registered on
the ICM Registry website since 1 June 2005, saying that they support .XXX
and wish to register an .XXX name."
RESPONSE:  Considering that 'support .xxx and wish to register' is the
default selection on the ICM registry website I again do not find this
surprising, I find it to be a deliberate manipulation.  Its been proven that
a prominent number of internet users leave the default selections in place
when registering on a website.  It would be much more convincing [and fair]
if ICM had left the area defaulted on a blank.  Another point to consider
(that is brought up later in their summary) is - if the visitor DID voice
their opposition, would their possible interest in a pro-active business
move such as requesting pre-registration get unfavorable consideration if
and when ICANN did approve the application?  Of course the normal assumption
is that it would not so this again barely disguises their manipulative
tactics.

   3.ïïïNearly 300 additional adult webmasters have emailed ICM Registry
since 1 June 2005 requesting information about registering in .XXX."
RESPONSE:  Again, this seems completely reasonable, as ANY smart
businessperson likes to keep up with possible industry changes.  This is not
an indication of support.  I myself have been to their website yet do not
support their efforts at all.  ICM however is presenting it to you in a way
that it implies the opposite.

   4.ïïïICM Registry submitted letters of support with its application from
members of the sponsored community, with combined points of presence in 35
countries, and representing a large portion of the online adult industry and
tens of thousands of webmasters."
RESPONSE: As we all know, most of those who initially supported the
application have since changed their minds and publicly withdrawn their
support.  I believe it would be in ICANN's best interest to interview those
FORMER supporters and find out why they are so against this abomination now.
As for as the 'tens of thousands of webmasters' - assuming you are speaking
of only ADULT webmasters, those numbers are a far stretch from the reality
of the size of the adult community.  As I stated earlier I work directly and
exclusively with those in the industry and I can testify with wholehearted
confidence that there is nowhere near that many business owners in the
industry.  Although it is a global industry, the true number of business
owners is drastically lower than implied above.
Because of ICM's creative wording it's obvious they intended to IMPLY those
webmaster numbers were representing the adult community, thus, I wanted to
point out the misleading fact and ask that the wording be seen for what it
really is. (and tens of thousands of webmasters - this is obviously
inclusive of ANY webmasters, not limited to the industry in question)

   5. ïïïIn contrast, in the past three years, a few hundred webmasters
opposed to .XXX have attempted to manipulate the public forums to overstate
the size and significance of industry opposition."
RESPONSE:  Although I do not condone such practices on anyone's part, this
is definitely a case of the pot calling the kettle black.  ICM has tried to
blatantly manipulate and overstate their case consistently from the onset.

   6. ïïïïïICM gave ICANN a confidential copy of all of the information
provided by these visitors. Public posting of this information would,
however, be inconsistent with fair information practices."
RESPONSE: This must surely be an attempt at subterfuge since anyone can
easily search not only ICANN's website but the adult community forums as
well as attend the conventions or gatherings and see opposition at every
turn.  All are public for all to hear and see why wouldn't any supporters do
the same?  During the entire application process I have not had one client
or even adult website acquaintance tell me anything other than they oppose
it and those numbers are very high.  More importantly, did ICM give visitors
to their website the option to allow their information be offered for public
viewing?  Did ICM notify their visitors that their information would be used
to coerce ICANN to approve an application for said company? If not, the
obvious question is 'why not' as it would give them a much stronger argument
to offer?

In summation, the ICANN board need only look at their own website to see
that the adult community is strongly against the ICM application.  It's very
difficult to find even one single supported from the industry in question
voicing their support, in fact I have yet to find one!
That being said it is a simple solution to attend one (or more) of the
industry gatherings - OR - let an ICANN board member request input on one of
the popular industry forums to gain true insight rather than being swayed by
ICM's rhetorical 'spin'.
On another note, it's been shown and proven by highly respected entities
that the argument by ICM that their application is committed to: (pasted
from their actual website)
"Prohibit child pornography ." ...
simply does not hold water.  The illegal vermin behind cp would never use
the .xxx to begin with, as their entire premise is to keep themselves hidden
beneath the radar.  The adult community works pro-actively and consistently
to wipe out the cancer of child pornography already but I can say with
reasonable certainty the use of a 'kid safe zone' TLD would be so much more
successful venture for all concerned.
Finally, both of the stated premises for ICM's have been proven false, this
leaves only their attempt at monetary gain and industry manipulation as the
true reasons for their vehement efforts.  Even though I work on the outer
edges of the adult industry and do not have anything personally or
professionally to gain or loose by the TLD, I beg you on the ICANN board to
see this application for what it is and deny it once and for all.

Feel free to contact me if you want any further information or have
questions.

Respectfully yours,
Lee Denton
VP of merchant services