In a comment submitted by Mike Rodenbaugh on behalf of  the World Trade Center Association (WTCA), they think the .WTF extension should not be approved by ICANN for being  “Too Vulgar”.

“WTCA is a leading trade association in the promotion of international trade. The WTCA’s licensed members operate the well-known World Trade Center facilities around the world. WTCA is concerned about the application of a Donuts, Inc. company (Hidden Way, LLC) to register the .WTF gTLD. ”

“In response to Question 18, they state:

“WTF is a pop-culture term that is attractive to registrants seeking new avenues for expression on the Internet, and who are perhaps interested in demonstrations of irony, skepticism, humor, and critique. Individuals and groups will register names in .WTF when interested in editorializing, providing input, interacting with other communities, and publishing commentary.”

“From this it is only clear that the primary purpose of the unrestricted TLD is to refer to the “pop-culture term” represented by the WTF TLD string – “What the F—k?”

“Indeed, many people, organizations and governments likely will be asking that question of ICANN, if this TLD application is approved. ”

“Generally, ICANN ought not be allowing an accredited TLD operator to sell domain names specifically centering on that “F-word,” which is vulgar and offensive to many people. ”

“There are plenty of other ways for people to express themselves, including by using references to that word in domains at the second and higher level. There simply ought not be an ICANN-accredited TLD registry focusing its sales efforts around such a word.”

“ICANN’s Applicant Guidebook states that a TLD should not be approved if the applied-for gTLD string is contrary to generally accepted legal norms of morality and public order that are recognized under principles of international law. ”

“To be sure, use of the “F-word” in public discourse is not generally accepted as morally appropriate or orderly, even if legal in some contexts. The lead sentence in the Wikipedia entry for the word states that it “is almost universally considered vulgar.”

Further: The word’s use is considered obscene in social contexts…. In the modern English-speaking world, the word […] is often considered highly offensive. ”

“The word also carries a sacrilegious connotation to some. Many religious people oppose the use of profane, vulgar, and “curse” words which they see as offensive to a deity. It is considered highly offensive to utter the word in the presence of children.”

“Therefore, WTCA urges ICANN’s Independent Objector to further explore this issue, to file a Limited Public Interest Objection against this application as soon as possible, and for ICANN’s designated resolution panel to sustain that objection.”

“WTCA also encourages GAC representatives to issue early warnings to Donuts, and formal advice to ICANN to reject the application on this basis. Ultimately, WTCA would urge the ICANN Board to reject the application on the same basis.”