Prior to the board meeting, the FSC submitted a letter to ICANN regarding consideration of the Governmental Advisory Committee’s concerns in the approval process for the proposed .XXX sTLD.
The FSC said the ICANN decision halts the approval process and recognizes consideration of GAC’s prior opposition to the .XXX sTLD and concerns for lack of sponsorship from the adult online community.
TheDomains.com reports that ICANN resolved to send the matter back to the Government Advisory Committee for its opinion on the contract based on a few points that will be detailed in the resolution.
FSC Executive Director Diane Duke traveled to Lisbon in 2007, as well as Brussels this past June, in order to oppose .XXX.
“While attending the GAC meeting in Brussels, I observed an informal conversation among its members, there was general consensus that its concerns had still not been addressed, and its prior objections stand,” she said.
“Stuart Lawley can stand on the rooftops and shout that this is a done deal all he wants but this is an insurmountable obstacle for ICM to overcome,” Duke added.
“FSC pointed that fact out to the board in our letter requesting that they seek consultation with GAC and apparently, they agreed," she said.
“We understand that ICANN wants to cross all of its t’s and dot its i’s by reaching out to the GAC," Lawley said. "We welcome the board’s resolve to move forward expeditiously and continue to look forward to a first-quarter launch,”
The board chair will suggest to the GAC chair that any consultation process conclude prior to the next ICANN Board of Directors meeting in Cartagena, Colombia Dec. 5-10.