back to article .XXX to get ICANN nod

ICANN plans to give conditional approval to .xxx, the controversial top-level internet domain just for porn, 10 years after it was first proposed. During a public forum at ICANN's meeting in Brussels today, general counsel John Jeffrey revealed that ICANN's board of directors will likely approve the domain tomorrow. The …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I've never understood this argument

    What does it change?

    Will it create porn? No.

    Will it get rid of porn? No.

    Will it make porn harder to find? No.

    Will it make porn easier to find? Maybe a tiny, tiny bit.

    Will it make porn easier to police? No.

    Some porn people will pay for another domain name. Some admins / "policing" apps makers will type "domain .xxx = porn" somewhere. That's it.

    1. Asgard
      Big Brother

      @"I've never understood this argument"

      Dealing with the business side first, you are failing to see the long term game plan of the ICM Registry. Its like the old saying, follow the money. The ICM Registry are playing some big chess moves to force themselves into power (and profit). Here's some highlights:

      (1) The ICM Registry will control the XXX top-level domain and so profit from its use.

      (2) The ICM Registry knows the porn industry hates XXX because it invites censorship.

      (3) The ICM Registry also knows American religious right want to censor porn.

      (4) The ICM Registry also knows politicians are quick to use protection against porn as a short hand way to say to voters that they care. (They care all the way to the voting polls).

      Anyway, here's the end game. The ICM Registry will profit from this XXX top-level domain no matter what happens, because some porn companies will use it, but ICM Registry are gambling on a far bigger long term payout. Because how long will it be before some politicians (in every country) playing up to the religious groups will then start to push for all porn *by law* to use the XXX top-level domain and only the XXX domain. Because at that point, its a huge win for the ICM Registry who will profit hugely from becoming centrally in control of the XXX top-level domain.

      ICM Registry are playing a game of winning control and they are playing off each side to win control and that control will get ever better over time. Its just like the old say, follow the money and the money will be flowing increasingly into ICM Registry, as each country forces porn companies to use XXX by law (when they get around to changing their laws), so that country can then move to control all porn in their country.

      So the ICM Registry gain control, politicians also gain control, and religious right get to fight to repress everyone.

      The big question is why do some people seek so hard to repress the sexual expression of others. Answer that question and you get to the hidden driving force using the religious groups as rallying groups against the evils of sex. I don't have room to answer that question here, but it explains a lot of where the world is sadly going. So I'll post it on the end of this forum discussion if anyone wants to discuss it. It has to be said against these repressive controlling groups. :(

  2. Squirrel
    Happy

    yay

    can't wait to get a new email address ;)

    "Will it make porn easier to police? No."

    So filtering all .xxx is hard is it? wow. Wouldn't want to be you. xxx has a designated use and it's pretty fair if an admin filters the lot for work/school/nursery/hospitals/etc/etc/etc

    1. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      not required

      just because there *is* a .xxx TLD doesn't mean the porn sites have to *use* it, so no, it doesn't make porn easier to police. yeah, you can filter .xxx, but those same sites will probably still have a .com, .org, and .net. Before you make fun of someone's network knowledge, Squirrel, get yourself a clue.

      1. Squirrel
        WTF?

        actually

        if you read my post you would have seen that I only mentioned .xxx and not all porn in general. For blocking all porn you're better off with 'block all sites by default' and then import a list of allowed sites and then have that also run through a filtering proxy.

        That's because it's almost impossible to block all porn; you even have to get rid of all popular search engines or use their APIs/appliances for word searches only.

        To block ALL porn, you need a walled garden or a deny/block all plus whitelist. Still, I wouldn't want to be that admin. It's a classic benefit vs cost problem - there's no 100% perfect solution from third party vendors and white lists need a lot of tending.

        What .xxx does is just make it a little bit easier for vendors and admins because they know they are safe to block that TLD without disrupting business operations. No business in their right mind will use it unless they're into porn.

        AC L2R.

        1. Joe 3

          @ Squirrel

          "What .xxx does is just make it a little bit easier for vendors and admins because they know they are safe to block that TLD without disrupting business operations."

          Whereas right now the .xxx domain doesn't exist and therefore doesn't need blocking. 99.9% of porn sites will still have a .com so blocking .xxx just puts you back to where you are right now!

    2. Woodgar

      policing porn

      You're assuming here that it will be a legal requirement for all porn to be on a .xxx domain, which is clearly not the case.

      As AC said, this will not make porn easier to police, but it may create the illusion that it is.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      What?

      You seem to be assuming that all porn will suddenly move to .xxx

      Are you really that stupid?

  3. frank ly
    Stop

    Rules?

    If I register a .xxx domain, do I have to put porn on it? If so, how much porn, where, with what prominence, etc? If I don't put porn on it, can people make formal complaints to the registrar?

    These are not idle, surreal questions. I have a business idea for a non-porn .xxx website.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Joke

      such as....

      www.idontgivea.xxx

      hugsandkisses.xxx

      ozziesonlydrink.xxx

      etc

      1. frank ly
        Black Helicopters

        @AC re. such as

        Pah! My ideas are far more sophisticated than childish word games. You could not comprehend the magnitude of my evil genius.

      2. Stubar
        Headmaster

        such as....

        Pedantic I know, but ..... Aussies drink 4 X (XXXX) not Ozzies [sic] and xxx

        However Canadians drink Triple x

        Mines the one with the lager flowing out of pockets and the little label that says "Licensee" over the door.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    There is a danger...

    ...that if they force everyone on to a .xxx then smaller people won't be able to afford the cost.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Just think...

    Google.xxx - Find what you want without any of those pesky results for actual things.

  6. John G Imrie

    Avenue Q

    Will Avenue Q have to change the lyrics to their most famous song

    All together now ...

    The XXX domain's for porn,

    The XXX domain's for porn,

    So grab your ...

  7. This post has been deleted by its author

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    .XXX just the first step

    The most vocal opponents are from the adult industry itself - which believe it or not is a large and legal industry in most of the developed world. With a dedicated porn domain it would be trivial for governments to introduce legislation requiring any porn sites to be registered with only that domain.

    I would imagine that this legislation would be the first order of business for countries like Australia. Thus, rendering it trivial for ISPs, country level firewalls et al to block swathes of initially domestic generated porn but then potentially porn from other nation states as they introduce similar legislation. In fact, I'm kind of astonished that governments haven't stepped in to force its creation already. Perhaps they do fear just the mere association with XXX issues.

    Anyway, if .XXX gets the nod, I suspect its just the first step...

    1. Captain Save-a-ho
      WTF?

      Not the first step

      The first step occurred years ago, with the introduction of filters for browsers and proxies, based on safelists, blacklists, etc. Just because there's now a XXX TLD to filter on doesn't mean all of that other filtering goes away. Introducing this is no more tantamount to censorship than McDonald's offering salads makes them a health-foods store.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: .XXX just the first step

      And how exactly does country A legistate to force a company owned, hosted and run in country B to use a .xxx domain? It doesn't, so unless all countries in the world legistate in this way, and I can't see even a small percentage of them thinking that is a good idea, porn is still easily attainable on the internet.

      And lets be honest, the method of obtaining porn for most does not involve visiting a porn site anymore anyhow! lol

      So what exactly is the point, or the big problem? I can't see it changes anything, its just another domain name!

      1. John G Imrie

        Re: And how exactly...

        That's easy. You just add a clause to some over length amendment to the WTO rules and regulations.

  9. Graham Marsden
    Thumb Down

    Cue a lucrative "land rush"...

    ... as the cyber-squatters try to grab xxx.xxx fuck.xxx sex.xxx and so on.

    Meanwhile legitimate adult (but non-pornographic) businesses like mine have to decide whether we should go for the .xxx version of our domain *as well as* the other ones we already have resulting in extra costs and possible censorship of our domain and loss of customers or not getting it and seeing someone else grab it, possibly taking custom away from us...!

    Damned if we do, damned if we don't.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Stop

      the domain name rip-off will get worse

      whatever happens with .xxx is no big deal compared to what's around the corner.

      the domain name industry is going to really fuck over everyone. icann is about to open the floodgates for lots of new top-level domains: they're talking tens or even hundreds. apparently this is going to improve competition. which is bollocks. it's an almighty scam.

      what's going to happen is domain name owners and trade mark holders will be shafted over and over and over again. they'll be expected to buy their domain name in every new tld that comes along. because if they don't, cybersquatters will buy the names. and they'll rip you off even more in legal fees, loss of reputation, customer confusion, etc when you try to get your names off them. heads, they win. tails you lose.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      no real land rushes anymore

      In the cyber-squatters dreams.

      The current practice for new registries is:

      1) Reserve all best names

      2) Auction off all other names that more than one person is interested in

      3) Land rush ( open registration of mostly junk names )

      4) Slowly auction off the best names

      5) Profit!

      example: .asia

    3. Aculeo

      @ Graham Marsden

      "businesses like mine have to decide whether we should go for the .xxx version of our domain *as well as* the other ones we already have resulting in extra costs and possible censorship of our domain and loss of customers"

      Lost you a bit here. Costs, yes - understand that. But your choice to go for the .xxx *as well as* your existing domains means your domain will be censored? The .xxx edition, yes, but surely in that case you'll have the others *as well*?

      1. Graham Marsden

        @Aculeo

        Follow this through: I already have affordable-leather.co.uk if I then register affordable-leather.xxx what's to stop someone (probably in the USA) saying "Hey, this is an .xxx domain yet they're trying to sneak one past us by having *other* versions of the *same* domain! We should make the software block *all* versions of that domain!"

        Sure, it's not sensible, but that never stopped the Moral Minority, did it?

  10. CalmHandOnTheTiller
    Thumb Up

    I'm all for a .xxx domain...

    I may finally be able to get the three letter domain that I have always wanted for myself that has previoulsy been camped on all the other TLDs.

    Then I'm going to use it to write to my MP ... and then call him the fool for effectively blocking me as a constituent if he by default blocak everything and anything to do with the .xxx tld.

    Imagine all the things you can do and prove to have sent, to your tax office, your doctor, your PM, your kids teachers etc etc ... that will never get there ... through no fault of your own.

  11. Pirate Dave Silver badge
    Pirate

    Great

    now the worm herders will have a whole new domain with which to spread their malware. It's not that I'm against a porn-only domain (sounds peachy), but it seems like it might be tempting for the malware lowlife to register "hotandhornymilfs.xxx", then fill it full of exploit-laced pictures or movies and wait for Google to crawl it. If enough sites turn out like that, .xxx will eventually die.

  12. Rollasoc
    Grenade

    Missed Opportunity

    Personally, I don't like the .xxx idea. I think they should use .cum instead!?

    1. Count Ludwig
      Coffee/keyboard

      You Sir, owe me... etc

      It's coffee - honest!

      1. Mr Grumblefish

        I see a slight problem with that

        Won't somebody think of the lesbians.

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