ICM Blasted for Using Pre-reservation Numbers to Lobby .XXX

CANOGA PARK, Calif. — The Free Speech Coalition's executive director blasted ICM Registry President Stuart Lawley on Thursday, claiming he has broken his word over using pre-reservation numbers in his cause for lobbying .XXX.

Diane Duke told XBIZ that Lawley said he would not use pre-reservations as a sign of support when he spoke at the XBIZ Hollywood Conference in 2007.

"It seems as if he has gone back on his word," she said. "It costs nothing to preregister. The businesses I have spoken with state that they preregistered defensively and they oppose .XXX."

Lawley this week boasted he has more than 10,000 members of the sponsored online adult community who have applied to pre-register more than 187,000 domains ahead of its proposed launch sometime in the first three months of the new year.

He and ICM have been marketing the .XXX sTLD proposal at recent adult industry trade shows in Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin and Vienna.

Earlier this year, ICANN's Independent Review Panel issued a declaration in its review of ICM Registry's appeal, finding that the application for the .XXX sTLD met the required sponsorship criteria. In June, the ICANN board approved the proposal.

The FSC, which for years has been trying to shoot down the .XXX sTLD proposal, recently said that not only is the plan a liability for the adult entertainment industry, but it also is threat to the "stability and security of the Internet as a whole."

.XXX could get the final green light as early as next week at the ICANN board meeting in Cartagena, Colombia.

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