Porn-friendly '.xxx' domains approved

Pornographers and their customers soon will have a virtual red light district reserved just for them.

The nonprofit organization responsible for Internet addresses on Wednesday approved ".xxx" domains, a move that reverses the group's earlier position and heads off a potential political spat with conservative U.S. politicians.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said it's working with the ICM Registry to finalize remaining details, meaning the porn-friendly set of .xxx domains should be available by the end of the year. Other top-level domains still awaiting a decision from ICANN are .asia, .mail and .tel.

Stuart Lawley, chairman of the ICM Registry, could not be immediately reached for comment. In an interview last year, Lawley said that .xxx domain names would cost around $75 and come with no restrictions except that any sexually explicit content feature only adults. "Apart from child pornography, which is completely illegal, we're really not in the content-monitoring business," Lawley said.

The ICM Registry plans to handle the technical aspects of running the master database of .xxx sex sites. A second, nonprofit organization called the International Foundation For Online Responsibility will be in charge of setting the rules for .xxx. It's intended to have a seven-person board of directors, including a child advocacy advocate, a free-expression aficionado and someone from the adult entertainment industry.

ICANN's vote represents an abrupt turnabout from the group's earlier stance. In November 2000, the ICANN staff objected to the .xxx domain and rejected ICM Registry's first application.

Politicians quickly lambasted the 2000 decision. At a hearing a few months later, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., demanded to know why ICANN didn't approve .xxx "as a means of protecting our kids from the awful, awful filth, which is sometimes widespread on the Internet." Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., complained to a federal commission that .xxx was necessary to force adult Webmasters to "abide by the same standard as the proprietor of an X-rated movie theater." (Click here for a PDF of Lieberman's testimony.)

Even though the ICM Registry's approach is designed to be free-speech-friendly, the American Civil Liberties Union has expressed concern about .xxx domains. One worry is that some nations may force sites dealing with sensitive topics like homosexuality or birth control into the .xxx zone, where they can be easily blocked.

[whiterabbit--2008]

Plans to ban adult content from non .xxx

So is the plan then that they will eventually make the .xxx domain a requirement for web sites containing adult content?

I think that would actually be quite useful if they set a date like by 2007 all adult content, porn material must be identified by the special .xxx domain or something like that.

[Vulturo]

This Is Irrational

All this is okay, but I have one serious issue. If a standard domain costs USD 10, why should a pr0n domain cost USD 75? For what joy? The costliest domains (country specific TLDs and .biz and .info domains) are priced at USD 35. An attempt by ICANN to make a quick buck at the expense of the pr0n webmasters is apalling. It is against the basic concept of a fair playing field for all.

It remains to be seen, if major pr0n sites adopt the xxx domain. Also will the newly launched pr0n sites be forced to use a USD 75 .xxx domain? When they can get a .com domain for just 10 bucks? I don't think they could be forced to do so. And if they are forced, then I would say that ICANN is evil

I seriously don't see concrete benifits of the xxx naming scheme, except that room for more pr0n domains has been made with all the juicy .com domains having been already taken.

[System Tyrant]

Not really

Like most things new it always cost more in the begining. Now if in 5 years it still cost the same then price complaints are welcome.

Most likely the more that use it the cheaper the price will become.

The reason

The reason for the high price I figure is to help cover the cost of the commity that will oversee the .xxx domains.

Personally, I think having this commity is a slap in the face. What they are going to end up doing is making adult entertainment on the web a steril as a naked guy in a nuclear reactor.

Robert

[MistressMalice]

You are right!

This is so evil! To charge us more then any other website owner should be against our equal rights. You know freedom of speech may have been forgotten in this day and age where the leader of the Texas branch of the KKK is voted president but now are we also to lose our equal rights laws as well? Let's charge african americans $75 a domain -vs- $8 bucks for white people and let's see how many equal rights organizations jump all over that, but who's here to protect us the internet minority? No one... that's who! This is pure prejudice. I for one will not pay $75 to sit on the back of the bus and have my equal rights violated!

Also does this not go seem to go against the laws against sexism based on sexual preference in this country since homosexuals will strongly be targeted out as well? Since this campaign is largely also geared towards them as a minority? Hmmmm something else to think about when we're thinking of how many of our constituional rights are being infringed upon just by the simple fact that the government has decided to turn censorship into a multi-million dollar industry now?

[George Cole]

newly launched

http://www.analogstereo.com/mitsubishi_owners_manual.htm

[Steve Jordan]

Remember the point.

Don't forget, the idea here is to protect children. X-rated books and movies must be removed from children's view. Alcohol and cigarrettes must be kept from minors. The xxx domain will accomplish the same effect, and still allow access by consenting adults. The initial high cost probably has more to do with the ramping up of an infrastructure to manage the new domain and handle transfers, and I'd expect that cost to drop (though maybe not as low as the cost of a .com, considering there will not be nearly as many .xxx's as .com's).

I would hope the xxx .com's will understand the point, and follow the plan. I think it will result in an easier operating situation for them, as well as a safer online environment for the children.

Yes...

Yes, heave forbid that parents be held responsible for keeping their kids off of inappropriate web sites. Why does it always fall to everyone else to keep everyone else's kids out of trouble.

If parents can't monitor their kids then they need to be fixed, the kids taken away and they need to be shunned for the bad parents they are.

Besides anyone that thinks any of this is going to stop kids from accessing porn on the internet is as big an idiot as the politician's that run this country.

Robert

[gninke]

Uhh yeah

What a bunch of crap. I am sure the average 16 year old is going to avoid entering a site with a .xxx .

I have never seen a minor read the sign on a cigarrette machine and say 'oh it says for 21 and over, better not buy it' nobody is there to enforce it they are going to buy them. Same concept here. They only thing next is to lock up all the porn sites behind the counter like sudafed, cigarettes and booze.

[jamie.p.walsh]

i've never experienced such poor english and grammar

as I have in this thread.

[sanenazok]

'I' is

written in capitals, so your comment's subject should have started with "I've..." instead of "i've".

[Sentinel]

Should be banned completely

I don't seem to have anywhere that it will be a requirement that porn sites move to .xxx domains. Personally, I think porn should be banned from the Internet completely. It is trash, pure and simple and inmoral. Giving them their own "red light district" as the article call it is like saying "Do it, just do it someplace else." Just like telling teenagers that it's ok to have sex if they wear protection.

Not only is porn inmoral (and illegal in some places), but porn sites are one of the major sources of viruses, online scams and spyware. Some of them even sponsor other sites that contibute to software piracy, offering illegal downloads. Why would anyone want this trash to continue is beyond me. Honestly, who would even think about giving their credit card number to a porn site? Anyone who does it either very stupid, or very pathetic.

The idea of .xxx domains would be better if it was required that porn sites change to such domains. That way, all the trash from porn sites would be blocked from mainstream Internet. Let the perverts of the Internet have their playground, but apart from the rest of us.

Have you ever heard of the 1st Amendment??

I can't believe some of the junk I am reading in response to this story. Has no one heard of the 1st Amendment, that is an article to the U.S. constitution. For those of you in he U.S. that have responded and think that the porn sites should be forced to move to the .xxx TLD, I suggest you read it. For the rest of your, get over it.

Every major technology owes much of its' current success to the porn industry, don't believe me, then look at the advent of the VCR and DVD players.

People have to realize several things:

1. The internet is a global network of networks, there is no company called the internet ( and no I don't care what AOL thinks ).

2. The laws of a specific country, state, province or township can NOT be used to govern a global network in a draconian fashion. Yes, countries, like China, can block access to certain content from within their country, but they can't stop people in the U.S. or elswhere from accessing that same information. Freedom of choice, if your choose not access the information, DON'T. It is really that simple.

3. Parents need to take responsibility for their children's actions and actually have a hand in raising them. Raising children does NOT 'Take A Village', it doesn't take a government, it takes parents that actually give a damn. If children access porn because their parent are to rapped up in their insignificant lives to give a damn then that is the problem of the parents not society. I agree that their should be safe gaurds against children seeing and having access to inappropriate material, but it should start in the home, not in the legislature.

4. Just because a person does not like a particular type of content on the internet does NOT mean it should be banned or moved to a drak back alley as Omar suggested. Take some personal responsiblity for your actions, if you do NOT like it, don't access it. Don't try and make other conform to your 'view of morality'. What you are proposing in tantamount to censorship and if you are in the U.S., as I said before, read the 1st Amendment. People have to realize that when a moral view a few is attempted to be imposed upon the many, the many tend to vote the few out of office. Morality is a person decision, not a legislative one.

Just my opinion
Jim

[Brinf]

The porn problem

Let's face it, people, banning porn isn't possible, so let's just forget that notion. Porn is the fungus of the internet - try to eradicate it as you might, it will find a way to regrow. The .xxx domain is not the solution, but it won't worsen the problem either, and all of us - regardless of which side of the debate you come down on - ought to support it in principle. If we can't stamp it out, we ought to at least attempt to control it to the best of our abilities. Are there better methods than .xxx? Undoubtedly. But as many have rightly pointed out, the internet is not a US-owned commodity, so any "total" solution would require a level of international cooperation that is pretty much impossible. Someone else pointed out that porn has had a huge impact in subsidizing many other technologies, and this is, sadly, true. Anyone who works in IT realizes that smut is the engine of the internet. It's simply not going away, so we ought to do our best to control it, even if the solutions are partial or flawed, for the sake of our children and our society.

[George Cole]

very stupid

http://www.analogstereo.com/mitsubishi_pajero_owners_manual.htm

[Steve Jordan]

.com isn't the only suffix out there.

We already subdivide content on internet suffixes, like .net, .gov, etc. Creating a .xxx suffix and placing all xxx content there is no more unusual than that. And it has the virtue of making it easier for blockers to block the entire .xxx domain, instead of trying to exclude individual addresses in the .coms. You want to view it... you don't want to view it... fine. But allow the system to put reasonable protections in place, for those who should NOT view it... the children.

Message has been deleted.

.xxx TOO RIGHT

I write a a depressive, who unfortunately has been on that many pills etc I find it hard to 'float my boat', pornography helps me have a sex life.

I applaud the introduction of the .xxx domain and fully agree with restricting pornography to the .xxx domain. It will make finding the desired content easier for those who want or need to find it, and make it easier to stop out children being exposed to it.

JS


http://www.multiisuk.co.uk

[manaboulsi]

What will be done to the existing porn sites?

Will they be expected or foprced to change? his is probably too late.

[George Cole]

probably too late

http://www.analogstereo.com/mitsubishi_outlander_owners_manual.htm

[mmmm]

The whole .xxx thing raises some interesting questions.

Take one of the really big porn sites like:
www.sublimedirectory.com

Do they automatically get first rights to:
www.sublimedirectory.xxx

or what about:
www.sublimedirectoryxxx.com
or
www.sublimedirectoryx.com

?
There is going to be a lot of confusion here, people are going to scramble to register each others domains with xxx extensions.

There are not easy answers to this, but the industry standard has become .com - my prediction is that .com will just become even stronger defacto standard.

[MistressMalice]

Unfair To Adult Site Owners... Why?

I am the owner of 15 adult websites. Not only do I have special code inserted to warn search engines that my site contains adult content but I also have warnings clearly stated on the entrance pages of my sites. I for one had absolutely no problem whatsoever with transfering my domains names to xxx extension named adult sites until one cruel fact came to light. They are unconstitutionally charging extreme upcharges for domain names for the adult industry. I pay 8 a year for each domain name which boils down to about $150-200 a year now to switch all of my sites o fit into the new standards it would cost me almost a hundred per website. We're talking over $1,000 a year. That's completely ridiculous. That's like making people pay higher grocery slaes tax because they want whole milk instead of 2% milk. This is total highway robbery. This for myself is a 800% increase in domain costs. That is totally unfair to the adult market. Especially to those of us who wish to comply and work with the censors to improve the internet for children.

Though personally I must stae for the record that I do not feel that ANY child should be allowed online without adult supervision EVER! If you allow your children online without supervising them the least of your problem is some adult site popping up. Your main concern should be that some psycho pedophile will make your child their next victim.

You know I don't mind letting everyone know my sites are adult orientated they clearly state that anyway, and I thought that having a xxx domain would be rather cool and may even give us higher chances of being found by those who wish to view the type of material I make available, BUT I have a BIG problem with paying $75 dollars per domain which is $67 dollars more then normal domains just because people can't be responsible enough to for babysit their own kids!

[stoprebelling]

I bet you bitch about babies, too.

I bet you ***** about having babies when you get pregnant in a porno film. Isn't this all "a woman's right to choose" boils down, too?
LOL!!!!!!!!

[dalank81]

right on

and just to support you point of view, send me a list of you sites!

[dalank81]

Respect and agree

with your comment. In support, please feel free to send me any sites, domain, or etc. you think push the limit.

[gabytzu2010]

http://www.bangbull.com/details/36154-1C18/She_knows_how_to_please_me_.html