Icann drops dot-xxx debate

Attempts to create a domain name to handle adult online content faced an uncertain future on Friday after Icann abandoned plans to debate the issue.

The proposal to create a dot-xxx domain was due to get final approval at an Icann board meeting in Vancouver. But Icann chairman Vint Cerf surprised the meeting on Thursday by announcing it had been removed from the agenda.

This is the second time Icann has pushed back plans to approve dot-xxx, after a delay in September.

Icann said on Thursday that its governmental advisory committee needed more time to review a 350-page report into the creation of dot-xxx. This report was finished back in August but only released earlier this week.

The proposed creation of dot-xxx has outraged some conservative groups in the US, who have lobbied the US government - which oversees Icann - to block the proposal.

Syracuse University professor Milton Mueller told Reuters the US has been lobbying other governments to oppose the plan.

But according to reports from Vancouver, there is speculation the EU put pressure on Icann not to approve dot-xxx. The EU is pushing to reduce the US influence over the internet. Holding up the dot-xxx domain could highlight flaws in the current state of internet governance.

Graeme Wearden writes for ZDNet UK