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He is involved as an investor or leader in a variety of side projects as well; this includes work with a home automation company, a health records company, and a multimedia online game company.<ref>[http://www.lawley.com/Welcome/Introduction.html lawley.com]</ref>
 
He is involved as an investor or leader in a variety of side projects as well; this includes work with a home automation company, a health records company, and a multimedia online game company.<ref>[http://www.lawley.com/Welcome/Introduction.html lawley.com]</ref>
 
===ICM===
 
===ICM===
Mr. Lawley has been with [[ICM Registry]] since 2003, and thus very much a part of the long process involved in approving the [[.xxx]] [[TLD]]; it was declined for approval in 2004, and subsequently approved in March, 2011 at the [[ICANN Silicon Valley]] meeting. It was first declined in 2000, years before Stuart became its CEO.<ref>[http://news.cnet.com/2010-1026-5176611.html News.CNET.com]</ref> Prior to launch, Stuart claimed that ICM could be bringing in around $200 million a year though .xxx; they also have plans to create a PayPal type service throughout the namespace.<ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_28/b4186038373596.htm BusinessWeek.com]</ref> Stuart maintains that he has "no current or historic links to the adult industry in any form".<ref>[http://news.cnet.com/2010-1026-5176611.html News.CNET.com]</ref>
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Mr. Lawley has been with [[ICM Registry]] since 2003, and thus very much a part of the long process involved in approving the [[.xxx]] [[TLD]]; it was declined for approval in 2004, and subsequently approved in March, 2011 at the [[ICANN Silicon Valley]] meeting. It was first declined in 2000, years before Stuart became its CEO.<ref>[http://news.cnet.com/2010-1026-5176611.html News.CNET.com]</ref> Stuart Lawley initially became interested in ICM when reviewing the applications for inaugural TLD introduction in 2000; he thought their proposal had real merit so he invested enough in ICM to take control of the company.<ref>[http://www.namesmash.com/the-adult-thing-to-do-an-interview-with-stuart-lawley-of-icm-registry/#more-733 Interview with NameSmash.com]</ref> Prior to launch, Stuart claimed that ICM could be bringing in around $200 million a year though .xxx; they also have plans to create a PayPal type service throughout the namespace.<ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_28/b4186038373596.htm BusinessWeek.com]</ref> Stuart maintains that he has "no current or historic links to the adult industry in any form".<ref>[http://news.cnet.com/2010-1026-5176611.html News.CNET.com]</ref>
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===Sponsoring Community Controversy===
 
===Sponsoring Community Controversy===
 
ICM faced a constant battle not only with ICANN and its [[GAC]], but also with the community that it claimed to represent. Stuart Lawley registered as a user of Xbiz.net, a members only forum for those involved in the adult industry, to directly answer questions and negative comments he was receiving on the forum. He immediately received a number of questions, and eventually responded to many of them full. He defended .xxx as a new income opportunity and not a burden; he defended the higher price of registration compared to a [[.com]] registration as necessary given their resources compared to [[VeriSign]]s; he promised to advertise and promote the name space to further increase its value; he claimed to have support from the industry and promised to turn the .xxx space into premium, secure real estate.<ref>[http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/images/pdf/XBIZ.net%20Thread.pdf .PDF Screen shot of Xbiz.net thread]</ref> The conversation, which was extremely variable in terms of tone and information, eventually led a number of prominent adult industry veterans to make a movie detailing ICM's business plan and deriding Mr. Lawley and his company.<ref.[http://www.juliemeadows.com/blog/tag/diane-duke/ JulieMeadows.com Blog post]</ref> The full thread from Xbiz.net can be read [http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/images/pdf/XBIZ.net%20Thread.pdf here].
 
ICM faced a constant battle not only with ICANN and its [[GAC]], but also with the community that it claimed to represent. Stuart Lawley registered as a user of Xbiz.net, a members only forum for those involved in the adult industry, to directly answer questions and negative comments he was receiving on the forum. He immediately received a number of questions, and eventually responded to many of them full. He defended .xxx as a new income opportunity and not a burden; he defended the higher price of registration compared to a [[.com]] registration as necessary given their resources compared to [[VeriSign]]s; he promised to advertise and promote the name space to further increase its value; he claimed to have support from the industry and promised to turn the .xxx space into premium, secure real estate.<ref>[http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/images/pdf/XBIZ.net%20Thread.pdf .PDF Screen shot of Xbiz.net thread]</ref> The conversation, which was extremely variable in terms of tone and information, eventually led a number of prominent adult industry veterans to make a movie detailing ICM's business plan and deriding Mr. Lawley and his company.<ref.[http://www.juliemeadows.com/blog/tag/diane-duke/ JulieMeadows.com Blog post]</ref> The full thread from Xbiz.net can be read [http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/images/pdf/XBIZ.net%20Thread.pdf here].