Unlike in the previous ICANN meetings wherein only 1-2 hours were allotted for public forum, the Brussels meeting reserved a good four hours for all the topics in line for discussion on the floor. The new gTLD program remains to be the hottest topic in the forum, but another gTLD-related topic was also discussed, and this is the .xxx TLD, which was first proposed to ICANN 10 years ago. ICM Registry, the company that applied for .xxx TLD, is in Brussels to witness the Board’s voting tomorrow. Meanwhile, ICANN General Counsel John Jeffrey has reportedly said that ICANN"s board of directors will likely approve .xxx tomorrow.
ICM previously sought a decision from the Independent Review Panel, alleging that when ICANN rejected .xxx in 2007, the process was not done according to ICANN"s by-laws. Earlier this year, ICM won. The industry expected .xxx to be a significant topic in ICANN’s 37th meeting held in Nairobi, but ICANN had taken more time to study the matter. Tomorrow, the Board is expected to come up with a resolution on .xxx and the recent ruling of the Independent Review Panel.
The issue on .xxx did not take the limelight from the new gTLD program, as industry players remain vocal about their desire to see the launch of the first application round. The Board Meeting tomorrow may also discuss the registrar-registry separation as one of the issues to be polished and resolved prior to the finalization of the new gTLD applicant guidebook.

At the start of the public forum, it was announced that ICANN’s 39th Meeting will be held in Cartagena, Colombia from December 5-10, 2010. After that, ICANN will meet again in March 2011, somewhere in North America.
The Board Meeting tomorrow is expected to be highly attended due to the decisions that the ICANN Board will make in relation to .xxx and the new gTLD program.