YNOT EUROPE – Whether or not its Governmental Advisory Council approves, early next year the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers plans to approve the registry contract handing dot-xxx to Florida-based ICM Registry, according to a video posted to ICANN’s homepage Monday morning.

On Friday, ICANN’s board of directors passed, with three abstentions, a resolution stating ICANN “intends to enter into a registry agreement with ICM Registry for the dot-xxx sponsored TLD.” During the videotaped interview, ICANN Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush indicated ICANN will proceed with the registry contract over the GAC’s objections, if necessary. Consultation with the GAC at this point, he and ICANN Chief Executive Officer Rod Beckstrom indicated, is little more than a formality. The process of consultation is more important than the outcome, the men noted, as it will establish a working model for future consultations as the new generic Top Level Domain program launches next year.

At about seven minutes into the video, Dengate Thrush tells the interviewer he believes dot-xxx has raised some public policy issues within the GAC, which consists of representatives from the governments of more than 100 nations. Nevertheless, the GAC’s advice is only one of the components of any decision made by ICANN’s elected board of directors. The board attempts to take advice from all sources into account, but it is not required to heed any of the input.

“We have to take the advice from governments very seriously,” Dengate Thrush said. Under ICANN’s bylaws, when disagreements between the board and the GAC erupt, “we must have a good-faith and timely consultation with the GAC to try and bridge the gap.”

The long-lingering controversy surrounding dot-xxx represents the first disagreement the board and the GAC have not been able to overcome. Therefore, the matter is serving as a sort of “test case” for potential future consultations, allowing the entities to work through the consultation clause embedded within ICANN’s bylaws but never before invoked.

In the case of dot-xxx, “it looks like we are about to depart from GAC advice,” Dengate Thrush said, adding that all that really means is that the board must provide the GAC with a written statement outlining its reasons for disregarding the GAC’s input.

The consultation process formalization is an important step for ICANN, as observers expect the GAC and the board to be at odds more frequently in the future as the web’s governing body considers gTLDs. Some gTLDs, ICANN watchers have predicted, may represent offensive or potentially illegal concepts in some countries. Others may wish to provide homes for content or themes subject to governmental censorship in some areas. Still others may run afoul of national religious or social mores. All of those issues are embodied by dot-xxx, which for about 10 years has been a source of vigorous contention within and without the adult entertainment industry.

“The GAC has made clear to the board that it has concerns about some issues needing resolution before the launch of new gTLDs,” Dengate Thrush said. “So we have set up a consultation in February where directors and GAC members can engage face-to-face. We hope this will help expedite the resolution of these outstanding issues.”

Dengate Thrush said it is imperative that the launch of new gTLDs be handled cautiously and thoughtfully, and that all voices are heard and considered.

“We would rather do it right than do it fast,” he noted.

The next ICANN public meeting is to take place March 13-18 in San Francisco. It is unclear whether the board will wait to take action on dot-xxx at that time or vote in one of the monthly board meetings between now and then. It is unlikely the board will vote on dot-xxx before consulting face-to-face with the GAC in February.

In any case, ICM Chief Executive Officer Stuart Lawley on Monday told YNOT.com that dot-xxx remains on schedule to launch the first of three planned “sunrise” registration periods in April. Sunrise registration allows companies and individuals who own trademarks and service marks to protect their intellectual property by either blocking or registering domains prior to “open season” for the general public.

ICM’s “Founders Program” registration will begin Tuesday, Lawley said.

According to a statement on ICM Registry’s website, “The .XXX Founders Program is an initiative designed to engage early adopters and well known entities who are members of the sponsored community and are established in the adult entertainment industry … to proactively develop and maintain domains with the .XXX extension prior to the general launch in Summer 2011.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for applicants to secure their existing portfolios and memorable new premium domain names and get a jump on the competition by developing their .XXX domains before the rest of the adult industry.

“In addition to securing your existing matching adult domain name portfolio … without having to go through the sunrise or landrush phases, you get a premium, memorable domain name in the .XXX space to build and develop before the rest of the sponsored community has access to register .XXX domains,” the statement notes.

The Founders Program also solicits proposals from potential site developers who possessive innovative ideas for developing “generic” dot-xxx domains. Lawley said between 20 and 50 generic domains — porn.xxx, news.xxx, sex.xxx, for example — will be licensed at no cost to members of the sponsoring community who will “homestead” the sites in a way that provides value to the domain space as a whole. After two years, as long as the site developer has fulfilled his portion of the licensing agreement, he will be offered the opportunity to register his generic domain in the customary fashion.

All of that, of course, assumes dot-xxx actually receives ICANN approval. Free Speech Coalition Executive Director Diane Duke said after the Cartagena meeting last week, she is more convinced than ever there is reason for the adult industry to be “cautiously optimistic” that dot-xxx will not pass muster.

“I believe [ICANN’s] board intended to vote for dot-xxx going into [the Cartagena meeting],” she told YNOT.com on Monday. “But there are three new board members now [elected in Cartagena], and the GAC remains opposed to dot-xxx. I am cautiously optimistic.”