Dan Krimm, Campaign Director and a founding member of Keep the Core Neutral, and a member of ICANN's Non-Commercial Users Constituency, wrote yesterday that ICANN's neutrality is on the line.

ICANN is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, and is a non-profit organisation which was originally set up to make sure that the DNS (Domain Name System) doesn't crash due to technical and operational problems. Krimm argues that, due to "mission-creep", ICANN is now responsible for more than just technical maintenance; ICANN also has a say in issues surrounding trademark enforcement, crime-fighting, personal privacy, and general morality and public order issues.

ICANN is reviewing its policies about how proposals for new general top-level domains (like .com and .net) will be considered. The changes could mean that tens or even hundreds of new gTLDs could be introduced every year. However, it's very possible that ICANN will take into account, in the review process for these gTLD proposals, not only technical and operational matters, but the opinions of trademark holders, governments and pressure groups. It claimed that its recent rejection of the proposed .xxx TLD for adult content was precisely because it did not wish to get into the business of content regulation, but some suspect that it was bowing to pressure from pornographers and religious groups alike. Others argue that whatever ICANN's reasons were, the proposed adult TLD would not have caused any technical problems, which should be the full extent of ICANN's jurisdiction.

Krimm argues that this sort of censorship is the beginning of a slippery slope, because once ICANN is allowed to censor the introduction of gTLDs, there's a chance they'll move on to second-level domains and in any other areas that policy-makers wish to assert themselves.

You can read Krimm's full article in the progressive online publication, Toward Freedom. Keep the Core Neutral is a campaign to keep the DNS "core" of the internet untainted by censorship; you can sign a petition online.