If approved, ICM would be required to help develop requirements that would create mechanisms to regulate companies that choose .XXX. ICM’s board shot down the original measure in May, 9-5.
“ICM has continued to work to modify the agreement in order to address public policy issues raised,” ICANN said in a posting on its website. “ICM and ICANN staff have been renegotiating a revised agreement for community review and board consideration.”
ICANN officials said that it would create a public comment period through Feb. 5.
With the issue again in the online adult spotlight, Jupiter, Fla.-based ICM would be required to contract third parties to monitor registrant compliance with content site-labeling requirements. It also would be required to create a set of “best practices” to protect children online and fund the International Foundation for Online Responsibility, an independent organization ICM has said it would create if approved.
The use of the proposed .XXX domain name would remain voluntary, but any online site that choose to use it would be subject to the new terms.
ICM, as in the original proposal, pledges to donate $10 of the proposed annual fee of $60 for a .XXX domain name to child-protection groups and to require users of .XXX to label their content.
Already, ICM has a long list of companies that have pre-registered for .XXX domain names. ICM President Stuart Lawley said that pre-registration for .XXX has been so successful that, if converted to registrations, it would be the most successful in Internet history.
“We have invested a lot of time and effort into this initiative and are determined to see it through to completion,” Lawley told XBIZ Saturday. "As ICANN have been at pains to point out the .XXX application was never rejected. We have spent a great deal of time over the last eight months negotiating closely with ICANN's general counsel, president and even outside counsel to ensure that the new contract absolutely addressed all of the concerns put forward by ICANN's directors in May last year."
"We are confident that this contract includes all the safeguards that ICANN were seeking and should correspondingly be ratified in due course," he said.
.XXX opponent Brandon Shalton on Saturday told XBIZ that the Department of Commerce’s involvement was one of the reasons .XXX was rejected last May.
“The U.S. government weighing in against .XXX was a major reason for the thumbs-down vote, and we all thought that was it,” he said. “But apparently, there is a lot of ulterior motives and additional players involved that is keeping this TLD application alive.”
ICANN’s latest proposal on .XXX can be viewed here.