[governance] RE: Human rights and new gTLDs

[Karl Auerbach]

Kieren McCarthy wrote:

> Is it our "human right" to say whatever we want without regard to others'
> sensibilities?

To the first approximation, the answer is yes.

We have learned that there are certain limitations, such as defamation. 
  But those are exceptions to the general rule.

US first amendment law is very complex, but the default is always to 
allow expression and only limit it when there is a reason that is 
compelling and the limitation is only the minimal amount necessary to 
remediate.

The road that some here are advocating is a road that has many 
historical precursors.  From that experience we have learned again that 
the road of suppression does not bind societies; rather it makes them 
pressure cookers that eventually explode or fragment.

We have already seen the effects from .xxx, a triplet derived from the 
image of three crosses being dragged up Calvary mount.

Many of us find torture to be at least as offensive as images of naked 
people.  And there is one particularly gruesome image of a man who has 
been nailed to two pieces of wood, stabbed with a spear, crowned with a 
wreath of thorns, and left to die.

Should we ban this symbol from the internet?

The path that some are suggesting is neo Puritanism.  It is the kind of 
iconoclastic mind shoots howitzers at ancient statutes carved into 
mountain cliffs in Afghanistan.

The last centuries have taught us again and again that the answer is not 
to restrict expression but to require those who do not wish to see or 
hear to cover their eyes or ears.

This is not something that is hard to do - Personal, and even community, 
filters are easy to obtain and deploy.


> There is actually comparatively little connection between
> domain names and content and to pretend otherwise is frankly bizarre.

If that were true then why did ICANN deny .xxx?

And .biz has become known as the land of scammers.

And there are even companies that advertise their superior worth because 
they live in the Montecito of TLDs, .org.

		--karl--
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