Historical Resolution Tracking Feature » 2007-03-30 - Proposed sTLD Agreement with ICM Registry

Important note: The explanatory text provided through this database (including the summary, implementation actions, identification of related resolutions, and additional information) is an interpretation or an explanation that has no official authority and does not represent the purpose behind the Board actions, nor does any explanations or interpretations modify or override the Resolutions themselves. Resolutions can only be modified through further act of the ICANN Board.

2007-03-30 - Proposed sTLD Agreement with ICM Registry

Resolution of the ICANN Board

Topic:

Proposed Sponsored TLD Registry Agreement with ICM

Summary:

Board rejects ICM's application for the delegation of a .XXX sTLD to ICM.

Category:

gTLDs

Meeting Date:

Fri, 30 Mar 2007

Resolution Number:

07.18

URL for Resolution:

http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-30mar07.htm

Status:

Complete

Implementation Actions:

None

Resolution Text:

Whereas, on 15 December 2003, ICANN solicited proposals from potential sponsors to create new sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) registries, seeking applications that would "address the needs and interests of a clearly defined community (the Sponsored TLD Community), which can benefit from the establishment of a TLD operating in a policy formulation environment in which the community would participate."

Whereas, on 19 March 2004, ICM Registry, LLC (ICM) submitted an application for the delegation of a .XXX sponsored TLD ("sTLD") (the "ICM Application") which was evaluated according to ICANN's designated sTLD processes.

Whereas, on 1 June 2005, the ICANN Board voted 6-3 with two abstentions to authorize the President and General Counsel to enter into negotiations with ICM relating to proposed commercial and technical terms for the .XXX sTLD.

Whereas, on 9 August 2005, ICANN posted a draft proposed .XXX sTLD registry agreement on the ICANN website.

Whereas, on 15 September 2005, the Board voted 11-0 with 3 abstentions expressing concerns regarding issues relating to compliance with the proposed .XXX sponsored TLD registry agreement (including possible proposals for codes of conduct and ongoing obligations regarding potential changes in ownership) and, noting that the Board had received extensive public comments, directed the ICANN President and General Counsel to discuss possible additional contractual provisions or modifications for inclusion in the .XXX registry agreement so as to ensure that there were effective provisions requiring development and implementation of policies consistent with the principles in the ICM application.

Whereas, on 18 April 2006, a revised draft proposed .XXX sTLD registry agreement was posted by ICANN on its site, and ICANN requested and received extensive public comment on this agreement.

Whereas, on 10 May 2006, at the specific request of the applicant the Board reviewed the revised draft proposed .XXX sTLD registry agreement and the motion to adopt the proposed agreement failed by a vote of 9 to 5.

Whereas, on 19 May 2006, the applicant submitted a request for reconsideration <http://www.icann.org/committees/reconsideration/icm-06-4/petition-20may06.pdf>. On 29 October 2006, ICM withdrew its reconsideration request and resumed negotiations in an attempt to agree to a new version of the proposed agreement for Board consideration.

Whereas, on 5 January 2007, ICM negotiated a further revised draft .XXX sTLD registry agreement ("Revised Agreement"), which was posted by ICANN and received extensive public comment on the Revised Agreement.

Whereas, the Board has received and analyzed unprecedented public comment, as well as advice from the GAC via communiqués issued in Wellington and in Lisbon, relating to ICM's Application and the Revised Agreement.

Therefore, the Board has determined that:

ICM's Application and the Revised Agreement fail to meet, among other things, the Sponsored Community criteria of the RFP specification.
Based on the extensive public comment and from the GAC's communiqués that this agreement raises public policy issues.
Approval of the ICM Application and Revised Agreement is not appropriate as they do not resolve the issues raised in the GAC Communiqués, and ICM's response does not address the GAC's concern for offensive content, and similarly avoids the GAC's concern for the protection of vulnerable members of the community. The Board does not believe these public policy concerns can be credibly resolved with the mechanisms proposed by the applicant.
The ICM Application raises significant law enforcement compliance issues because of countries' varying laws relating to content and practices that define the nature of the application, therefore obligating ICANN to acquire a responsibility related to content and conduct.
The Board agrees with the reference in the GAC communiqué from Lisbon, that under the Revised Agreement, there are credible scenarios that lead to circumstances in which ICANN would be forced to assume an ongoing management and oversight role regarding Internet content, which is inconsistent with its technical mandate.

Accordingly, it is resolved (07.18) that the Proposed Agreement with ICM concerning the .XXX sTLD is rejected and the application request for a delegation of the .XXX sTLD is hereby denied.

Other Related Resolutions:

Resolution 01.74 - Board directs President to form and chair New TLD Evaluation Process Planning Task Force (NTEPPTF): http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/prelim-report-04jun01.htm
Resolution 02.97, 02.97A - Board accepts NTEPPTF report and directs President to produce plan for action for approval by Board at October 2002 meeting in Shanghai, China: http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/prelim-report-23aug02.htm
Resolutions 02.150, 02.151, and 02.152: Board authorizes President to implement NTEPPTF recommendations in Action Plan, requests GNSO to provide recommendation on structure of generic tol level namespace, and directs President to develop draft Request for Proposals: http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/prelim-report-15dec02.htm#AnnualMeetingoftheTransitionBoard
Resolution 03.112 and 03.113 - Board invites public comment on draft request for proposals for sTLDs; requests President to provide to Board detailed plan and schedule for development of appropriate long-term policy for introduction of new gTLDs: http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/prelim-report-26jun03.htm
Resolutions 03.166, 03.167, and 03.168 - Board calls for the development of process and policy for streamlining introduction of new gTLDs as specified in ICANNs MoU with the U.S. Department of Commerce: http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/advisory-31oct03.htm
Resolutions 03.169, 03.170, and 03.171 - Board resolves to negotiate agreement reflecting commercial and technical terms upon completion of sTLD selection, resolves that selection process and implementation for sTLDs will be evaluated, and directs President to finalize and post open Request for Proposals for limited number of new sTLDs: http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/advisory-31oct03.htm
Resolutions 05.32 and 05.33 authorizing for President and General Counsel to negotiate terms of .XXX Sponsored TLD Registry Agreement, available at: http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/minutes-01jun05.htm.
Resolution 05.75 authorizing President and General Counsel to further negotiate terms of .XXX Sponsored TLD Registry Agreement, available at: http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/minutes-15sep05.htm.
Resolution 06.12 directing President and General Counsel to analyze all public comments for revision of the .XXX Sponsored TLD Registry Agreement, available at: http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/minutes-31mar06.htm.
Resolution 07.09 directing ICM to publish for public comment a revision to the proposed .XXX Sponsorship TLD Registry Agreement, available at: http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/minutes-12feb07.htm.
Resolution 07.18 rejecting the ICM revision of the .XXX Sponsored TLD Registry Agreement, available at: http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-30mar07.htm#_Toc36876524.
Resolution 07.09 directing ICM to publish for public comment a revision to the proposed .XXX Sponsorship TLD Registry Agreement, available at: http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/minutes-12feb07.htm.
Resolution 07.18 rejecting the ICM revision of the .XXX Sponsored TLD Registry Agreement, available at: http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-30mar07.htm#_Toc36876524.
Resolutions 2010.03.12.09-11 considering the Independent Review Panel Declaration on the ICM application and directing the posting of process options, at http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-12mar10-en.htm#15.
Resolutions 2010.06.25.19 - 23 further considering the Panel declaration, accepting certain of the panel findings, and authorizing due diligence and draft contract negotiations, taking into account GAC advice, at http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-25jun10-en.htm#5.
Resolutions 2010.08.05.21 - 23, authorizing staff to post the draft Registry Agreement and Due Diligence materials for public comment, and provide a recommendation regarding whether the proposed Registry Agreement is consistent with GAC advice, at http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-05aug10-en.htm#9.
Resolutions 2010.10.28.18 - 19 regarding Board consultation with the GAC about the ICM application, at http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-28oct10-en.htm.
Other resolutions TBD.

Additional Information:

A chronological history of ICM's Application to ICANN is available at http://www.icann.org/en/irp/icm-v-icann/icm-icann-history-21feb10-en.pdf and contains links to all iterations of the proposed Registry Agreement.
Documents relating to ICM's Request for Independent Review of 2007 denial of its application are available at http://www.icann.org/en/irp/icm-v-icann.htm.
The Process Options for consideration of ICM's application in 2010, and comments thereon, are available at http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/public-comment-201005-en.htm#icm-options-report.
ICM's 2010 proposed draft Registry Agreement and Due Diligence materials is available at http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/public-comment-201009-en.htm#xxx-revised-icm-agreement.&nbsp
For information on the introduction of sTLDs in 2003 - 2004, please refer to: http://www.icann.org/en/tlds/stld-apps-19mar04/
To review public comments submitted on the 2003 round, refer to: http://forum.icann.org/mtg-cmts/stld-rfp-comments/general/index.html
To review the Status Reports on the 2003 round, refer to: http://www.icann.org/en/tlds/stld-apps-19mar04/PostsTLDStatusRpt.pdf
15 December 2003 - New sTLD Application: http://www.icann.org/en/tlds/new-stld-rfp/new-stld-application-parta-15dec03.htm
24 June 2003 - Request for Proposals, Establishment of new sTLDs (Draft for Public Comment): http://www.icann.org/en/tlds/new-stld-rfp/new-stld-rfp-24jun03.htm
19 March 2004 - Status Report on sTLD Evaluation Process: http://www.icann.org/en/tlds/stld-apps-19mar04/stld-status-report.pdf
Some analysis of the sTLD program is available in Staff's 24 September 2004 report on a strategy for introducing New gTLDs, at http://www.icann.org/en/tlds/new-gtld-strategy.pdf, and additional information can be found in the documentation of the New gTLD program, at http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/related-en.htm.
ICM presented the Sponsored TLD Registry Agreement to the Board at the 18 April 2006 Regular Meeting. The Chairman of the Board indicated that additional discussions and a possible vote on the agreement would be held at the next meeting: http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/minutes-18apr06.htm.
ICM's proposed version of the .XXX Sponsored TLD Registry Agreement was presented to the Board at the 10 May 2006 Special Meeting. The Board voted against the proposed agreement at the 10 May 2006 Special Meeting: http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/minutes-10may06.htm.
The resolution does not address funding for the items identified herein.