Plans for creation of adult .xxx dotcom are slammed

by Julia Pearlman, Brand Republic 03-Jun-05, 12:30

LONDON - The body that regulates internet domain names has been lambasted for its plans to created a new domain for adult websites, which will see the creation of the .xxx name and the emergence a so-called online red-light district.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers said it is due to begin negotiations to discuss the technical issues and prices for the new domain.

Icann said the voluntary measure would help protect children from "online smut" and would be a step towards promoting responsibility among adult websites.

Karl Auerbach, a former board member of Icann has attacked the plans as "obscene". He argues in his blog that Icann should be focusing on "socially positive domain name" proposals rather than helping pornographers make money.

"Is this progress? Is this a contribution to human values? Isn't the internet already enough of a sewer and a home for the worst that humanity has to offer?

"Do we have to honour that kind of depravity with an official home? Why should .xxx get precedence over schools, churches, civic groups, aboriginal communities, labour organisations, and artistic groups?," he said.

Auerbach argues that many social groups have been campaigning for their own top level domain names, despite the internet being able to accommodate many more internet addresses.

He wrote: "Icann's policy on TLDs [top level domains] is bankrupt. The internet can support millions of top level domains. So even an extremely conservative approach that granted one TLD per week -- 52 new TLDs per year -- wouldn't even begin to bother domain name technology for about 20,000 years. If Icann were to allow this, then perhaps we could then make room for a .xxx."

Adult-orientated sites, which are part of a $12bn online pornographic industry, with .xxx domains could come into effect by December, according to a spokesperson at Icann.

Icann recently approved internet addresses ending in ".jobs" and ".travel" and is in talks to develop nine other domains including .cat, .post and .mobi, and four additional proposed sponsored top-level domains, .asia, .mail, .TEL-Pulver, & .TEL-Telnic.

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