ICM Registry (proponents of the .xxx initiative) and Stuart Lawley, Chairman and President of the organization, have filed a 522-page brief in the ongoing Independent Review Process that began last June. The document with supporting witness statements from Becky Burr, former Commerce Department official, and Dr. Liz Williams, along with expert testimonies from Milton Mueller and Prof. Jack Goldsmith, may be found here. Earlier filings (ICM & ICANN) are cited here.

In a post on the IGP blog, Brenden Kuerbis writes: “In what may prove to be the biggest sleeper Internet governance issue of the year, ICM Registry has publicly posted its filings for the Independent Review Panel that will decide whether ICANN acted improperly in rejecting its application for a .xxx domain. ... This is the first usage of ICANN’s Independent Review Process. The ruling in this case will have major implications for ICANN’s accountability and the continuing controversy over the role of the U.S. government in ICANN’s affairs.”

Professor of Law at Brigham Young University, Cheryl Preston, has also discusses the issue in a recent paper, “Internet Porn, ICANN, and Families: A Call to Action” Journal of Internet Law, October-November, 2008 where she says: “Despite ICANN’s denial of ICM’s application in 2007, the idea of a TLD entirely devoted to pornography is not going away. Indeed, the “‘.XXX’ web suffix for porn sites is the internet’s vampire: it seems nothing can kill it.” ICM has appealed ICANN’s decision and, even if ICM’s appeal is denied, nothing precludes another company from applying for a similar TLD, such as .sex, especially since ICANN has given notice of an intent to increase the numbers of TLDs. Thus, while ICANN claims to only administer the Internet’s technological coordination, its power even with respect to allowing domains and approving names is critical in facilitating increases in online porn, an issue that matters a great deal to families and children.”