ICANN has opened up a Public Comment Period on proposed changes to the .XXX Registry Agreement to, “among other things, modify the fees payable to ICANN schedule and also to add additional safeguards and compliance audit requirements”.
The highlights of the proposed changes are; ICM who owns the .XXX registry wants its per domain ICANN fee reduced from $2 a domain to $.25 a domain the same as all new gTLD’s. In return ICM is willing to subject .XXX to the Uniform Rapid Suspension procedure (URS).
Now that the new gTLD’s also owned by ICM; .porn, .sex and .adult have launched subject to the same rules as any other new gTLD, including being subject to URS; I don’t see a problem with this proposal.
The comment period is opened until November 24th 2016.
Here are the details:
“On 30 March 2011, ICM Registry LLC entered into a 10-year Sponsored Registry Agreement with ICANN for .XXX (https://www.icann.org/resources/agreement/xxx-2011-03-31-en).
ICM’s request is that ICANN amend the .XXX Registry Agreement to lower the per transaction registry fee from $2.00 per transaction to the per transaction fee contained in the new gTLD Registry Agreement ($.25 per domain)
“As part of the review process, ICANN conducted a review of contractual compliance under the .XXX Registry Agreement and found the Registry to be in substantial compliance with its contractual requirements. Additionally, ICANN reviewed the most recent IFFOR audit report of the Registry Operator’s CRS and found that the system is not only fully functional, but exceptionally functional and compliant for its intended purposes. ICM conveyed its belief that IFFOR’s Audit Report and trend analysis demonstrate effectiveness regarding mitigating abuse on the .XXX gTLD and further maintained that the .XXX gTLD no longer carries risk, for either ICANN or the Internet stakeholders initially concerned with the launch of .XXX. ICM explained that the data shows that the system has been enhanced beyond its original capabilities and has now demonstrated high levels of utility for its operation and ease of use, which is evidenced by a pattern of decline in cases.”
“During the course of discussions, ICM informed ICANN that ICM would agree to add both additional safeguards contained in the form new gTLD Registry Agreement, and a phased implementation of a reduction of fees based on ICM’s compliance with the terms of the .XXX Registry Agreement.:
Following negotiations, ICANN and ICM agreed to submit the proposed amendment to the .XXX Registry Agreement for public comment. The proposed amendment to .XXX Registry Agreement includes the following:
- An increase in the quarterly fee payable to ICANN from $2,500 to $6,500, except that, until the first adjustment to the per transaction fee is effective, the total registry-level fees will not exceed $90,000 (as currently provided in the .XXX Registry Agreement).
- A staged reduction in the per transaction registration fee from $2.00 to $0.25 over a period of several years if ICM passes a compliance audit tied to each stage of the fee reduction.
- The inclusion of certain rights protections mechanism set forth in the new gTLD Registry Agreement.
- The inclusion of contractual and operational compliance audits rights consistent with those contained in the new gTLD Registry Agreement.
- The inclusion of the additional public interest commitments that are contained in ICM’s Registry Agreements for its new gTLDs referenced in Section III of this proceeding.
ICANN invites public comment on the proposed amendment to the .XXX Registry Agreement
they should probably also stop charging 100 bucks for a domain too.
The bulk of that $100 feeICM pays to a third party watchdog who review domains for child porn and other illicit content. If they could charge what they do for adult/sex/porn they likely would.
who is the third party? IFFOR? ICM set up IFFOR and its them basically. Its all a joke.
They charge like $90 for renewals, F that, live up to the deal you made, who is getting the backdoor payoff to put a checkmark on this one?
Raising a new generation of youth that have absolute access to internet, this frightens me. Thankfully it is up to me to teach my kids appropriate content and how to steer clear from temptations, however, allowing this price decrease seems to me, these sites could become even more prevalent.
I feel strongly that the increase in violent abuse and increased access to pornography are linked. I am not in favor of this.
They save a whopping $1.50 if this goes through.
This wont have an affect on the number of porn sites out there.
Mom
The fee only applies to what the registry ICM pays to ICANN it does not effect the retail price someone charges to pay to register a .xxx domain.
It should have no effect on the number of .xxx registrations.
but potentially ti could have an effect on the retail price…
(whether positive or negative)
Ryan
New gTLD’s that charge $2,500 a year for a normal registration like .car .cars, .auto and even more for registrations under .bank pay ICANN $.25 a domain as well.
Yes, but .xxx was released before that, and they were desperate for a deal, so they made concessions.
Now ICANN is flush with cash, they want to go back, and reprice, much like buyers when they agree to a price, then want to buy at half the price.
ICANN needs to use those funds to better whatever they believe in, and they should make these companies live up to agreements, and start enforcing rules.
To many loop holes were used in the GTLD proces by the registrants, those gtlds that were meant for people who could not afford the .com, some actually cost more than the .com, and sit warehoused, this was not the mission of the GTLD program. Along the way the dollars got big, and with anything greed overcame good.
Jake
That is not true “The bulk of that $100 feeICM pays to a third party watchdog who review domains for child porn and other illicit content.”
No ICM pays IFFOR $10 per domain registration but only if the domain name resolves; for defensive or domains purchased as a blocked domain, ICM does not pay IFFOR on those registrations.
Ask ICM precisely how many child pornography sites they have taken down. Ask them to provide the url’s of the child pornography sites that they have eliminated. What exactly is their purpose other than to peddle pornography, and why should they get a contractual break?
By the way, have you looked at IFFOR website lately? You supported this organization. What precisely have they done. Would you be willing to examine posts from years past, where you argued that .xxx would fight child pornography?
Who is the IFFOR executive director and what has she/he done?
Shelly
I have not looked at IFFOR site nor have I supported the organization and never thought it should have been a mandatory contribution of $10 a domain
I have actually called them out in the past as well as .xxx for IFFOR.
Do you actually read this blog?
http://www.thedomains.com/2015/01/09/the-first-director-of-iffor-set-up-by-xxx-registry-clyde-beattie-resigns-the-money-went/
http://www.thedomains.com/2013/07/08/iffor-publishes-two-years-of-tax-returns-in-2012-gets-paid-for-26700-xxx-domains/
http://www.thedomains.com/2013/01/09/after-collecting-at-least-1-4-million-iffor-funded-by-xxx-finally-gives-2-grants-of-5k-each/