Vehemently Opposed to XXX TLD

[Robert <zapusto@xxxxxxxxx>]

To whom it may concern,

Consider this our collective, and formal objection, to the proposed XXX TLD.

On the surface, it may appear as a good thing. However, it is very much not
the case.

Effectively what is happening is that the adult community is being coerced
into reserving xxx domains to "protect" their existing brands under other
extensions, specifically .com. This amounts to little more than support by
coercion, at the very least. Contrary to what some would have you believe,
there is very little support from the adult industry as a whole for the
proposed TLD.

In its current proposal, the XXX TLD is designed to unfairly target a
specific segment of site owners with well-above average rates for new and
recurring TLD registrations, and those rates are being justified by a snake
oil proposal of "protecting children" by way of a "safe auditing" system.
The problem here is that ICM has absolutely no experience within the adult
industry, is not a governing body of any kind, and is simply a business that
is looking to profit on the back of others and using "save the children" as
its platform.

Rest assured, no one is going to give up the .com and .net's that they have
worked for as much as 15 years to brand. Yet, the creation of this TLD may
very well encourage some politicians to try and force the adult industry
into an Internet RedLight District as a result, just for votes from the
uninformed.

Incidentally, as someone who pre-reserved a domain with ICM because I felt
coerced, almost blackmailed, to do so to "protect my brand". I no longer
will allow myself, or our company, to be coerced in such a fashion. We will
simply engage in litigation against whomever registers our brand using .XXX,
should it pass, and protect our brand this way.

It should be noted that ICM has emailed numerous people, including myself,
with a "click here" quick action to auto post "support" to ICANN, and
without confirmation. Thus, it is hardly surprising to see the numerous
"support" posts with the same subject line and message body.

-Robert