Less than two weeks away from ICANN's conference in San Francisco, representatives from the organization's Government Advisory Committee have rejected a US Department of Commerce proposal that would give GAC members veto power over new domain endings.

The Department of Commerce plan would have allowed governments to object to a generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) "for any reason." On top of that, "if it is the consensus position of the GAC not to oppose objection[s] raised by a GAC member or members, ICANN shall reject the application," the proposal added.

Critics like information studies Professor Milton Mueller of Syracuse University warned that the provision would let individual governments scrap gTLDs like .humanrights or .gay.

But the GAC's scorecard on recommendations to ICANN proposes government "advice" rather than veto power over gTLDs. Here's the text of the proposal:

At the beginning of the Initial Evaluation Period, ICANN will provide the GAC with a detailed summary of all new gTLD applications. Any GAC member may raise an objection to a proposed string for any reason. The GAC will consider any objection raised by a GAC member or members, and agree on advice to forward to the ICANN Board. GAC advice could also suggest measures to mitigate GAC concerns. For example, the GAC could advise that additional scrutiny and conditions should apply to strings that could impact on public trust (e.g. '.bank').

If ICANN's Board takes an action on gTLDs "not consistent" with the GAC's advice, "the Board will provide a rationale for its decision," the draft suggests. ICANN's Board will hold a public meeting in San Francisco on March 18. The GAC and the Board are holding a pre-San Francisco conference in Brussels today.