The organization sent a letter to FSC’s Executive Director Diane Duke saying the materials it requested about ICM Registry and its sponsorship body IFFOR, are confidential.
“This is not a case of ICANN rejecting our request, it is a case of ICM refusing to give up information,” Duke told XBIZ.
“FSC has argued from the start that ICM has misled ICANN about sponsorship community support. ICM’s refusal to come forward with the requested information only strengthens FSC’s argument.”
According to ICANN, ICM didn’t respond when asked if it would like to lift the confidentiality restrictions.
"We were asked by ICANN whether we wished to authorize them to release any confidential documents as per the FSC's request, and of course, we declined," ICM's Stuart Lawley told XBIZ.
"We wrote to ICANN on the 12th October by which time they had already issued their DIDP response. Financial statements and customer lists are naturally private and confidential. There was never any question of new documents being asked for from us, ICANN already has full documentation in their possession."
FSC in September formally requested transparency in the ICM’s application process and asked that ICANN:
- Verify that companies which ICM has listed in support are viable adult businesses;
- Verify that companies listed in support in fact do support ICM’s current application for a .XXX sTLD;
- Determine how many pre-registrations claimed by ICM are in fact defensive registrations; and,
- Determine how many pre-registrations are registrars or companies hoping to re-sell domain names.
Specifically, the FSC asked for:
- A list of the IFFOR Board members;
- A list of proposed members of the Policy Council;
- IFFOR’s business plan, including projections over a five-year period with 125,000 initial registrations;
- A list of .XXX sTLD pre-registrants who have been identified to ICANN; and,
- ICM’s proof of sponsorship community support as submitted to ICANN.
FSC believes the pre-registrations are from adult industry members who would prefer the .XXX not be approved.