ICM Registry

Type:	Private
Industry:	Internet, Registry
Founded:	Delware, USA, 2000
Founder(s):	Jason Hendeles
Headquarters:	Suite 2500 130, Adelaide Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5H 2M2
Country:	Canada
Website:	ICMRegistry.com
Twitter:	@ICMRegistry
Key People
Jason Hendeles, VP, Strategic Business Development Stuart Lawley, Chairman and President Len Bayles, Chief Technical Officer

ICM Registry is the registry operator behind the .xxx registry. The International Foundation for Online Responsibility (IFFOR) is the sponsoring organization.

History

• 2000- ICM Registry was founded by Jason Hendeles in Delaware, USA.

• 2000- ICM Registry, a private company, submitted a proposal at ICANN’s 2000 Proof of Concept Round, proposing two unsponsored gTLD strings - .kids and .xxx. The evaluators in the Proof of Concept Round recommended against the inclusion of either the .kids or the .xxx TLD strings in the Proof of Concept Round.

After this, ICM Registry's proposal was accepted and later revoked many times.

• 2007- January 6th, ICANN put up for public comment a revised proposal following changes to the policy of the ICM registry including the policing of any site that signs up to use the .xxx registry.

• 2007- March 30th, ICANN rejected the .xxx proposal for the third time, citing that the board did not want to get in the business of content regulation, especially when the definition of "pornography" varies by jurisdiction.

• 2010- February 19th, ICANN's IRP (Independent Review Panel) issued a declaration in its review of ICM Registry's appeal. The Panel found that the application for the ".xxx sTLD met the required sponsorship criteria," and that "the Board’s reconsideration of that finding was not consistent with the application of neutral, objective and fair documented policy." A 45 day public comment was opened on March 26, 2010.

• 2010- June 25th, ICANN's board approved the proposal.

Services offered by ICM Registry

ICM Registry intends to provide the registry service for both .xxx and .kids through two of the internet's registry-service providers: dotTV Corporation and Verisign Global Registry Services. Primary registry application functions will be performed by dotTV. Verisign will provide a supporting role for all registration functions, ensuring the registry is reliable and stable.

Marketing

ICM Registry announced in September, 2011, that it would be sponsoring world champion, Mike Seebold's, powerboat. The boat is to be unvieled at the 2011 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference in Fort Lauderdale, a week before its racing debut at the World Championship in Key West. ICM Registry is a top sponsor for T.R.A.F.F.I.C 2011.

Other parts of ICM Registry's marketing plan include video ads featuring a character, Gavin, who flashes between living his normal life with his .com address and his possible new life as a super rich porn dealer made possible by .xxx. The videos were noted as viral hits, and reached international audiences thanks to the variety of subtitles available for them.

Also in Fall 2011, ICM Registry became a main sponsor of the " Porn Star Road Trip", which sees porn stars traveling for two week stints in a large bus to various nightclubs and industry events. The initial stint sponsored by ICM will see the bus traveling Florida and eventually attending a conference in New Jersey, though there seem to be plans to use the bus and actresses at other future events as well. The .xxx logo is plastered all over the sides of the bus.

Sunrise and Landrush

ICM Registry reported that it received 80,000 Sunrise applications, though this was before they verified the trademark or intellectual property rights. Half of those applications were received during the last week of sunrise, causing the registry to delay the auction period of the sunrise as it validated each applicants' trademark claims.

External links

• ICANN.org ICM Registry Business Plan
• Official website of ICM Registry