FSC Stages Rally, Press Conference in Opposition to .XXX
Free Speech Coalition, industry leaders and members will travel to San Francisco next week for the ICANN Board of Directors meeting, to be held from March 14-18 at the Westin-St. Francis Hotel in Union Square. FSC, it's members and numerous online business owners oppose the proposed .XXX sTLD, which will is scheduled to be addressed at the meeting.
FSC has opposed the .XXX "sponsored" Top Level Domain for more than seven years; if approved, it will cost adult online business owners millions in unnecessary fees, will make it easier for anti-adult entities to block .XXX addresses, and will set precedent for fragmentation of the Internet. Last week, FSC Executive director explained the complicated issues in a five-part series, "What's Wrong with .XXX?" that can be viewed at the FSC Blog.
On March 17, FSC will stage a protest rally outside the Westin-St. Francis Hotel from 12:30-2pm. All industry members that are in the Bay Area that day are encouraged to come to the location and participate in the protest. For more information, contact (818) 348-9373 or
[email protected].
Immediately following the rally, FSC will hold a press conference at a nearby location (TBA). Participating in the press conference will be industry leaders and representatives, including Evil Angel founder John Stagliano, Pink Visual President Allison Vivas, Kink.com founder Peter Acworth, industry attorney Paul Cambria, online publication YNOT's Connor Young, Wasteland.com founder Collin Rowntree, FSC Board Chair Jeffrey Douglas and FSC Executive Director Diane Duke. If you are media and would like to attend, please contact
[email protected]
FSC is also asking members and industry professionals to participate in a Twitter campaign against .XXX. Please follow us @FSCArmy for further details.
Controversy was stirred when Duke used the word "bullshit" to describe the negative consequences to the industry if .XXX is approved. After returning from the ICANN-GAC Consultation held in Brussels during the first week of March, Duke indicated that there is a strong possibility that ICANN will make a decision on .XXX at the San Francisco meeting - making it crucial for industry members to voice their opposition. A public commentary period at the ICANN meeting will be conducted from 4-6pm on March 17. FSC hopes that industry representatives will be allowed to speak to the issue at that time.
Duke said in the last part of her series on .XXX, "The time to act is now! Get involved! Let's work together to send a clear message to ICANN and the world, once and for all, that we think .XXX is …BULLSHIT!"
If you would like more information, please contact FSC with the information given above.