XXX Internet domain plan returns

Porn is a big business, especially online. The domain name, sex.com, is said to be one of the most valuable Internet domain names so if you've got some cash lying around you can bid for it on the 18 March. The starting price is $1m though...

However it shows the big business that online adult sites create and as such ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has resurrected a plan to create an Internet domain specifically for adult websites, three years after it was rejected.

The .xxx scheme will be pondered upon on March 12 and if approved could see the selling of .xxx domain names by the end of the year. The decision to make adult-orientated domain names had previously been given the go ahead in 2005, but it was reversed after protests from conservative groups in the US.

However it has now been decided that the reversal was unfair and the scheme should be reconsidered.

New era of online content

The idea for adult only domain names has been around for a while, first being proposed in 2001 in order to create a 'digital silo' for online pornography. The .xxx domain would enable those that wished to, to completely filter out such sites.

The only problem is that the scheme is voluntary, so adult sites ending with .com would still exist.

"If the contract is signed, we could be selling names by the end of the year," said Stuart Lawley, chairman of ICM Registry, which put forward the plans for .xxx and would sell the domain names to the BBC.

When asked about the decision to revisit the scheme, Lawley said, "Our claim was that ICANN came up with a lot of different excuses."

The board concluded that ICANN's decision to reject the .xxx plan was "not consistent with the application of neutral, objective and fair documented policy" and should be revisited. Mr Lawley described it as a "landmark" ruling.

A decision will be made on the 12 March, but a spokesperson for ICANN said there was "no indication what action the ICANN board will take".

What is your view on the .xxx scheme?

Relevant articles:

Is Internet access a 'fundamental right'? | How secure is InZero? | Microsoft shuts down global spammers

Like this article? Get the RSS feed:

blog comments powered by Disqus