YNOT EUROPE – The International Foundation for Online Responsibility has named four attorneys and a chief executive to the five Policy Council seats the organization reserved for representatives of the adult entertainment community. The four so-called “mainstream representative” seats on the nine-member council tasked with recommending binding policies for the dot-xxx domain-name space were filled in June.

The adult industry representatives, two of whom represent Europe, are:

Jerry Barnett, managing director of Strictly Broadband Ltd., a leading adult VoD provider in the UK, is the only non-attorney to be seated among the adult industry reps. An entrepreneur with a computing technology background, he also serves as chairman of the UK’s Adult Industry Trade Association.

Florian Sitta heads the legal department of Germany’s Beate Uhse AG, where he is responsible for intellectual property, licensing, internet and communications, corporate governance, and compliance. In addition, he serves on the Commission for the Protection of Youth.

Trieu Hoang, in-house counsel and business development director for AbbyWinters.com, was chosen to represent Australia and Asia on the council. AbbyWinters.com recently relocated to the Netherlands from Australia, and Hoang originally hails from Vietnam, making him expert in the perspective of both regions, IFFOR Executive Director Joan Irvine said.

Chad Belville, an independent attorney who practices primarily in the areas of First Amendment and intellectual property law, represents not only the U.S. but also the gay community. Belville has participated on numerous panels during adult industry conferences and is a member of the First Amendment Lawyers Association.

Andy Kayton, also an American and a FALA member, is general counsel for WebPower Inc. One of the oldest and largest U.S. adult internet service providers, the company’s holdings include the iFriends adult webcam network and the ClickCash affiliate program.

These five new members join professor and privacy and security expert Fred Cate, child protection authority Sharon Girling OBE, former American Civil Liberties Union president and free expression defender Nadine Strossen, and attorney Robert Corn-Revere, who represents dot-xxx overseer ICM Registry.

“IFFOR is honored that these international leaders have committed their expertise to help develop polices for dot-xxx domains,” ICM Chief Executive Officer and IFFOR Chairman Stuart Lawley said. “This is the first time that adult and non-adult representatives will work together to define multi-faceted policies to help protect children, consumers and the adult entertainment industry.”

The Policy Council will define responsible business practices and conduct within the dot-xxx domain space, based on the IFFOR baseline policies (PDF) outlined in the registry contract between ICM and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Among the initial goals are to make online adult content less accessible to children and protect the privacy and security of consenting adult consumers.

According to Irvine, each of the Policy Council members will form a standing subcommittee, termed a “stakeholders group” by IFFOR, to solicit input from the overall community of dot-xxx website owners in order to address not only IFFOR’s goals, but also the concerns of the “sponsored community.” The stakeholders groups and other parameters under which the Policy Council will operate will be determined by the council during its first meeting, expected to take place early this fall.

Each initial Policy Council member will serve a term of one year, then stand for election with other nominees selected by the stakeholders groups, Irvine said.

Anyone who owns a dot-xxx domain name may apply to become a member of a specific stakeholders group, but the Policy Council members will select the members of their respective groups and each group will be limited to a dozen or fewer people in order to maintain manageability, Irvine noted. She also said she hoped Policy Council applicants who were not selected will apply to join a stakeholders group.

“A number of really good people applied, so it was hard to choose just a few people,” Irvine told YNOT.com. “We’ll be reaching out to all those people to be on a stakeholder group.”

As to the preponderance of legal eagles filling council seats, Irvine explained that any new nonprofit organization attempting to address varying international laws and moral codes would be well-served by accepting including attorneys among its volunteer directors.

In IFFOR’s case, “those are the people who came forward, and those are the people who understand policy,” she said. “We’ll be dealing with a lot of legalese. We also tried to ensure the council is diverse not only in geographical region, but also in sexual orientation and gender. I think we did a good job.”

For their parts, the new Policy Council members said they are eager to get to work.

“I look forward to helping shape policies that will promote free expression, protect children from exploitation and assist parents in controlling the content that enters their homes,” Belville said.

Hoang averred, “I’m on the Policy Council to represent the interests of the industry. As a member of the council, I will try to influence and explain whether a policy is feasible and pragmatic to implement. Of utmost importance is that any policy must be to the benefit of the industry.”

Barnett added, “I believe a well-funded body like IFFOR can supplement and strengthen the efforts of other bodies around the world that promote the industry or campaign for freedom of speech. As well as being the most technology-oriented council member, I will strive to represent the needs of the UK and wider adult industry, and continue my work to defend sexual freedom and freedom of speech.”

For more information about IFFOR, visit IFFOR.org.