New gTLD .SUCKS, a source of great controversy already, attracted attention of the US law makers. On May 13 US Congress will hold a hearing organized by the House Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet. The title is quite eloquent: “Stakeholder Perspectives on ICANN: The .sucks Domain and Essential Steps to Guarantee Trust and Accountability in the Internet’s Operation.”
It should be recalled that .SUCKS gTLD was delegated despite numerous protests of different groups – from human rights activists and representatives of large business till ICANN’s Intellectual Property Constituency. It is clear from the wording of the hearing agenda that its organizers intend to link the situation around .SUCKS domain with the total assessment of ICANN’s activities. Taking into account that now the control functions over DNS root zone are transferred from the American government to Internet community, we should recognize that ICANN is hardly thrilled that it has to explain to the US Congress why the controversial domain has been delegated anyway.
