.xxx domain proposal revisited

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 29 March 2007 03:24

Your IT - Home IT

ICANN's Government Advisory Committee (GAC) has again been discussing the proposed .xxx top-level domain for pornographic sites, but has yet to reveal what it will recommend to the full board.

Support among the broader community for .xxx appears patchy at best. It would give domain registrars a new product to sell, as the use of .xxx would be voluntary and so porn operators would most likely use it in addition to .com and other top-level domains.

The voluntary nature also negates the potential benefit of making it easier for parents, schools and workplaces to block pornographic sites.

But if ICANN mandated the use of .xxx by porn sites, who would determine whether material on any particular site is pornographic? That is not a job ICANN wants, and a 2000 proposal to establish .xxx was put aside for that reason.

The backer of .xxx, ICM Registry, proposes rules governing the domain would be set by a new International Foundation for Online Responsibility and enforced by independent organisations.

.xxx has been opposed by civil liberties and conservative groups alike, although for very different reasons. Civil libertarians and some porn site operators seem concerned that it could lead governments to further restrict the availability of online porn, while conservatives argue it would legitimise Internet porn.

A communique setting out the GAC's position is expected later today, with an ICANN board decision on Friday.