Just been talking numbers with ICM Registry supremo Stuart Lawley, who is addressing the ICANN community in an open letter posted on CircleID.

And whatever opinions you have on the .XXX saga, you have to admit that the costs are simply staggering and show that there's obviously something wrong with the whole process when a business that was initially given a green light has to go though so much time and expense just to get what it was promised.

In saying this, I am merely repeating what ICANN's own Independent Review Panel thought a few months ago.

The costs of that review alone are staggering, for ICM and ICANN (i.e. the Internet community, or you and I if you prefer). "We spent $1 million in the first round in 2000," says Lawley. "Then another $1.5 million to get to the June 2005 approval stage. Then another $1.5 million to get to the Lisbon ICANN meeting. And the IRP review cost us over $5 million… so that's $9 million plus already."

Incredible isn't it. Lawley says that total costs for ICM have now risen above $10 million. "And the clock still keeps ticking," he adds.

ICANN's legal costs on the .XXX review are said to be around $2 million.