In large measure, the article focused on the brief history of the controversial proposed top-level domain, and to a lesser extent, gave background on Stuart Lawley and Jason Hendeles, the principals behind ICM Registry, the company that stands to gain from approval of .XXX.
While ICM Registry serves as the protagonist of the piece, the article seems to conclude that the company, and by extension .XXX, are the collective victims of a right-wing conservative campaign against pornography and, to a lesser extent, backlash from the adult industry.
Citing a letter from Fred Schwien, an executive secretary at the U.S. Commerce Department, which has influence, if not control, over ICANN, the Journal concluded that conservative values were the real force behind the anti-.XXX campaign. The person that matters most in this debate, the letter states, is Jim Dobson, an evangelical Christian host of the daily radio show “Focus on the Family.”
While that may be something of an overstatement in an attempt to put a public face on the conservative criticism that .XXX merely encourages more Internet pornography, the article pays scant attention to objections raised by the adult industry, mentioning Steven Hirsch, CEO of Vivid, only briefly at the end.
According to the article, Hirsch suggests that .XXX may be the only issue that the porn industry and the conservative right can agree on.
The article briefly mentions the adult industry’s financial objections to .XXX — Hirsch comments that .XXX would negate millions of dollars invested into .com — but no mention is made of the industry’s 1st Amendment concerns.
Putting a sympathetic touch on the plight of ICM Registry, the article closes with a quote from Lawley.
“We never said we're going to save the whales or stop world hunger,” he said. “We fit the criteria. The only question is, Will someone intervene at the last minute?”
ICANN could vote as early as today on .XXX.
