ICANN as the Net's Word Police

"ICANN may be trying to become the Net's 'word police,' believes the Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC).

ICANN's policy council, the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO), wants string selection criteria that would prevent the registration of a new gTLD string containing a controversial word or idea, says Blogger News Network.

With that in the background, ICANN's NCUC says it's submitted a proposal to protect freedom of expression and innovation in the introduction of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs)."

"The February 13 proposal would essentially make ICANN the arbiter of public policy and morality in the new gTLD space, "a frightening prospect for anyone who cares about democracy and free expression," says Robin Gross, executive director of IP Justice, an NCUC member organization. "The proposal would give ICANN enormous power to regulate the use of language on the Internet and lead to massive censorship of controversial ideas."" -- Read more