I am an adult webmaster opposed to the .XXX TLD

["John Foulds" <jayeff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Sirs

In her email yesterday, Kathy Kleiman asks ICANN board members "What are we 
scared of?"

This is not even a relevant question. If ICANN's guidelines are to mean 
anything (and if not, why not simply dream up every imaginable TLD and dole 
them out to existing registrars?), there have to be positive reasons to create 
new TLD's, not merely a lack of reasons to not do so. Within the context of 
.XXX that positive reason is supposed to be the wish of the community concerned 
to have its own TLD. The overwhelming public voice of the online pornography 
community says that it does NOT want this TLD.

ICM claim otherwise. But where is the evidence to support that claim? Where is 
there anything to suggest that beyond a few speculators who may have talked 
privately with ICM, more than a tiny minority of adult webmasters want this TLD?

ICANN must be doing itself tremendous damage by repeatedly entertaining this 
application. Stripped to the basics, someone from outside the adult industry 
saw a way to make money from the labor of those who work in it. That person 
came along to ICANN and asked what must be done to comply with the regulations. 
To strengthen his application and draw attention away from the key point that 
he does not have industry support, he plays the child protection card and 
offers to spread around some of the money this TLD will surely earn if it is 
created. His application fails, so he tweaks it some more and tries again. Why 
is it apparently so difficult to see this as anything another than a 
transparently cynical attempt to manipulate ICANN's procedures and protections, 
totally contrary to their intent?

There may not be other geese quite as ripe for plucking as the online adult 
industry, but if this application is approved it invites others who have no 
connection with the community concerned, to submit similar applications. This 
is surely not what ICANN intended.

Please reject this application and finally bury it.

Yours faithfully
John Foulds (adult webmaster)