We are excited to announce that the Business Excellence Solutions Team is working with the International Foundation for Online Responsibility (IFFOR) Ombudsman to implement and operate its new IFFOR Office of the Ombudsman. IFFOR is an international not-for-profit organization based in Washington DC that develops policies and standards governing the new dot-xxx Internet domain. IFFOR has adopted a number of policies that are “designed to combat child abuse images, facilitate user choice and parental control regarding access to online adult entertainment, and protect the privacy, security, and consumer rights of consenting adult consumers of online adult entertainment goods and services.” (For more information, see http://IFFOR.org/)
Our role as the Ombuds for IFFOR, will be receive and respond to complaints and concerns about IFFOR policies and the IFFOR policy process, and we will also be responsible for conducting periodic audits regarding how the ICM Registry – the organization that runs the dot-xxx registry – handles complaints that relate to registrant compliance or non-compliance with ICM Registry and IFFOR Policies.
We have already conducted the first quarterly audit of the ICM Compliance Resolution System for IFFOR and we have created a confidential, online process for individuals to raise complaints and concerns about IFFOR policies and the IFFOR policy process.
We are especially excited by this project because of the international, virtual nature, of the programs we will be working with and how those programs will interact with our own virtual structure. Through this new contract, our Business Excellence Solutions team is working on the cutting edge of virtual ombuds and complaint resolution services. We are excited by the prospect of broadening the base of online and virtual conflict resolution work we do including mediation services, organizational assessment and group conflict resolution, and policy and dispute resolution systems design.
We look forward to working with the ICM Registry and with IFFOR to complete their important missions and to ensure that the user community’s rights as well as their responsibilities are respected and enforced.
BJM