.XXX, Domain Blocking & Usenet
March 30, 2011 - NewsAdmin Staff Writer

During their March 18th meeting in Silicon Valley, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) entered into an agreement with ICM Registry to approve ".XXX" as a new top-level domain. This arrangement, which was originally proposed and rejected by the ICANN board in 2006, will create a dedicated domain on the Internet for adult content websites. Nine members of the sixteen member ICANN board voted to approve the ".XXX" domain, a decision that ultimately went against the recommendation of ICANN's Government Advisory Committee.

Reaction to the new ".XXX" domain suffix has been a mixed bag. Religious groups worry that the arrangement will further promote pornography to the masses... the adult entertainment industry fears that the move will create a virtual red light district that will impact their business... and organizations such as FSC (Free Speech Coalition) have concerns that free speech rights will be threatened.

In light of ICANN's decision, I can't help but play devil's advocate and express a few thoughts and concerns of my own.

Cha-Ching!
While ICANN has been vocal about the benefits Internet users and businesses will reap from the creation of the ".XXX" domain, they haven't talked about their financial stake. The registration fee for a single ".XXX" domain is $60/year, and nearly 250,000 domain names have already been registered since the announcement. Since ICM is not guaranteeing that trademark owners will be able to secure a matching domain name in ".XXX", companies are being forced to purchase a domain to preserve their mark, brand and identity. As an example, someone could own the "myadultwebsite.com" domain and trademark, but if they don't act quickly, a competitor could purchase the "myadultwebsite.xxx" domain. The system seems a bit unfair to business owners, but entirely lucrative for ICANN and ICM.

The Squeeze
Adult entertainment sites are not required to purchase a ".XXX" domain, and can continue using their ".COM", ".NET" and ".ORG" sites, but how long will that last?
Supporters of the ".XXX" domain say that it will make it easier for individuals and companies to filter content they deem inappropriate. If this were the motivating factor in ICANN's creation of the ".XXX" domain, it would be pointless for them to go through all this trouble only to allow adult oriented sites to continue operating out of ".COM", ".NET", or ".ORG" domains.

This could very well be the first step in a process that will lead to a restructuring of the Internet, more specifically, a forced migration of adult oriented sites to the ".XXX" domain. The arrangement would offer powerful filtering capabilities (blocking access to .XXX domains), more efficient monitoring of Internet content, and easier guideline implementations that businesses would need to satisfy in order to own a ".XXX" domain. This is a lot of power for any one organization to wield, and I think folks should be concerned with what ICANN and their partners will choose to do with that power.

Who Died And Left You King?
ICANN has not clearly defined the type of site that would fall under the ".XXX" domain hierarchy, and I'm not sure I'm comfortable with a single organization being responsible for providing that definition. They've made broad references to "adult content" and "adult entertainment", but that could unfairly cover any number of sites on the Internet. Would an art museum website featuring photography of nude models be considered adult content? Would a gambling site be considered adult entertainment? Would the "alt" newsgroups classify a Usenet service as an adult content provider?

While they've yet to define what constitutes a ".XXX" site, ICANN and ICM have not hesitated to detail their expectations for ".XXX" domain owners. In order for a business to register a ".XXX" domain they'll need to comply with a series of guidelines laid out by the IFFOR (International Foundation for Online Responsibility). In their current form those guidelines include "adult" sites having to be paid members of a "Sponsored Community", registrants providing detailed personal/contact information, and business owners consenting to their sites being monitored to ensure compliance with IFFOR policies.

Considering the present arrangement, not only will ICANN profit from the registration model they're imposing, they could potentially place themselves in a position where they're creating and enforcing regulations that control adult content on the Internet. While they're busily monitoring and managing everyone's business, what system will be in place to monitor them?

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