.XXX Voted DOWN!

[Jace]

http://blog.domaintools.com/2007/03/...xx-fires-back/

Advanced word at the ICANN meeting tonight in Lisbon just came in. I understand that the board has voted down the Dot XXX proposal tonight, the board decided behind closed doors tonight that the new TLD should not be added to the Internet root. It is a long standing tradition at ICANN to have the secret board meeting the night before the offical board meeting the next day. ICANN skeptics and critics have been calling for more transparency for a long time but ICANN continues closed meetings. The ICM Registry first applied for the Dot XXX domain back in 2000 and then reapplied in 2004 under the sponsored Top Level Domains (TLD) RFP. In June of 2005 the ICANN board determined that the Dot XXX application met all eligibility criteria for sponsorship and authorized ICANN staff to initiate contractual negotiations with ICM Registry. ICANN Board approved a final version of the agreement on August 1st 2005 and put the agreement on the agenda for a final vote for August 16. Several news stories hit the press and the US government came out against the new Dot XXX. The vote was put on-hold and a huge politcal game played out for several months. According to Stuart Lawley the CEO of ICM Registry, Vint Cerf the Chairman of the ICANN board approached him in March of 2006 and said ICANN would still be able to “pull the rabbit out of the hat”. Dr. Cerf indicated he would vote for the agreement and that he thought the board had enough votes to approve the agreement.