back to article .XXX domain deal stripped bare

The company behind a proposal to create .xxx, an adults-only top-level internet domain, is set to run the gauntlet of objections from angry pornographers and appalled Christians for the sixth time. ICANN last week published a draft contract that, if signed, could allow Florida-based ICM Registry to start offering .xxx domains …

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  1. Steve Jones 2
    Paris Hilton

    I prefer...

    ... my idea of using .CUM as a TLD for porn sites. Made I larf!!

    Paris? Oh cum on...

    1. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: I prefer...

      Ewwwww.

      1. Alan 26
        Jobs Horns

        I prefer...

        @Sarah

        3 letters only please so the .ich or .eww maybe?

    2. h 6
      Boffin

      Actually

      It's actually spelled "come."

      Read your Dan Savage.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Boffin

        RE: Actually

        Someone evidently doesn't peruse much porn.

        Safety goggles, because, well...

  2. Thomas 18
    Joke

    Will there be a .x domain for softcore porn?

    This all smacks of money making to me anyway.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    DOT Wot?

    .ttz .cok .twt .ass ( .bum.uk)

    Of course if a single catch-all perhaps it should be .wnx rather than .xxx?

  4. Michael 47
    FAIL

    Shameless money grab indeed...

    but not necessarily from the pr0n industry, but from all the other companies that will buy .xxx domains to make sure that their company image is safe

    1. pkr
      FAIL

      Reading FAIL

      FAIL - @Michael 47 apparently you forgot to read the article before commenting

      Could be interesting to see how a company will enter the porn industry to protect their company name being associated with the porn industry

    2. batfastad
      Jobs Horns

      yep

      Exactly. All these sponsored TLDs are a complete money-grabbing opportunity, forcing Google, MS, Apple, Sony, Cocacola etc to fork out dosh to prevent someone cyber-squatting* on their domains. Even if they have no intention of using the domain, it's cheaper to register and own it than run the risk.

      I think I heard that it could cost something like $100,000 to set up your own sponsored TLD.

      Surely you can make that back just on all the big coorporations feeling obliged to claim their internet real estate.

      It's like magically creating more land for people to buy.

      .info .biz .mobi .travel .museum .whatever can all die as far as I'm concerned.

      Actually .com .net .org are flaky in their definitions. It's all a weird mix of domain extensions by industry/site content, then a bunch of geographical extensions. I don't even have an answer as to how it should work. Probably the sponsored TLD is a good idea, there's a ridiculous premium on .com domains so people need to be used to using and visiting sites which have other extensions.

      This one definitely smells like a money-grabber though.

      * No apologies for saying cyber-squatting. Twice.

      1. pkr
        FAIL

        huh?

        "In order to be considered a part of the .xxx Sponsored Community and register domains, a business [.....] has to provide adult-oriented products and services"

        Unless I'm missing something "MS, Apple, Sony, Cocacola" don't do either of the above?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          adult-oriented?

          We adults do like other things than sex, you know. There's beer, and, umm,

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: huh

          > In order to be considered a part of the .xxx Sponsored Community

          > and register domains, a

          > business [.....] has to provide adult-oriented products and services"

          > Unless I'm missing something

          > "MS, Apple, Sony, Cocacola" don't do either of the above?

          They will happily fuck you over , given the oppurtunity.

          Would that count ?

      2. James 139

        The biggest problem

        was that domain "general" TLDs, like .com, were created and "suggested" for use by Business (.com), Network Providers (.net) and not-for-profit Organisations (.org), rather than enforced and strict use applied.

        The .xxx seems to be using the "strict" approach, in that you *must* be a porn provider to buy one.

        Which will make it interesting to see just how they handle squatters and "outsiders" trying to get their "trademarks" back.

        I say "trademarks" because celebs names arent trademarks but for some reason ICANN believes they have more right to them than anyone else with the same name.

        That said, it doesnt seem to indicate that porn providers are required to have .xxx domains, ICM and maybe ICANN seem to think they should.

      3. Thomas 4

        @batfastad

        Before people get too carried away with the whole cybersquatting thing, would *you* visit a site called www.apple.xxx, loaded with pictures of fanbois cracking one off over an iPad?

        Didn't think so. Next.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    But will port still be free?

    But will port still be free on the internet.... well except for the malware, virus, and general evil administrators that refuse to show me the good stuff with out paying the fee.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Self-describing Ameritards

    "Mike South, a self-described "Gun Totin’, Libertarian Pornographer""

    I bet his custom licence plate screams some or all aspects of the above, although kudos is required if he can cram it all into something so necessarily concise.

    1. Queeg

      To be honest...

      I have no problem with a .xxx suffix.

      What really bites my ass is the 6 times mark up on the price compared to a .com

      domain name.

      There's your money grab right there.

    2. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
      Go

      Better than...

      ...anally retentive gun-fearing interventionist cruise missile liberal with a warfare/welfare State Worship Complex, I would reckon.

      If all the Ameritards were like him, the world would be a better place.

      1. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

        Re: Better than...

        'Ameritards'? Gawd.

        1. Disco-Legend-Zeke
          Coat

          "The Redcoats Are...

          ...cumming!"

    3. MikeSouth

      Actually

      My plates are rather normal, but I do drie a Pick Up Truck with a bumper sticker that says Guns cause crime like spoons cause Rosie (ODonnell) to be fat and stupid.

      The French Parliament read my byline and my eponymous website and immediately draft an unconditional surrender.

      Cheers,

      Mike South

      1. Alexander Hanff 1

        lolz

        if that is really the same guy - kudos for commenting a response, gave me a chuckle.

        One thing Mike - why don't those in the porn industry who are opposed to this move simply start a campaign to boycott the extension if it gets approved? Or perhaps another option would be to sponsor the same extension (xxx) yourselves as a different group, with the cost being inline with .com - then when ICANN try and tell you that you can't because someone is already sponsoring it, go to the DoJ and ask them to file anti-trust proceedings against ICANN for supporting monopolistic practices?

        There has to be something you guys can do.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Down

      Curious

      At just what point did 'Libertarian' stop meaning Libertarian and start meaning 'rich bastard who wants a police state that keeps his money safe but turns a blind eye to people like him'?

  7. Graham Marsden
    FAIL

    .xxx gives members of the adult industry the opportunity to self-identify

    You mean my putting "Adults Only" and "18+" and including related tags on my site and registering with Net Nanny, Cybersitter et al isn't "self-identifying" enough?

    1. Sly
      Pirate

      Enough for your site...

      but as for the others that don't supply a front page and don't register with anyone... etc etc... no. Also, all those hacked sites that fork porn don't give a rat's tail about registering with anyone about anything. Try searching Google for the latest craze (whatever is spiking their search top 10 list) and you're bound to pull up a few of those hacked sites.

      1. Ben Tasker

        RE: Enough for your site...

        Yeah, and these 'hacked' sites are really going to be bothered about going through the hassle of registering for .xxx. Oh wait..... No they won't.

        There'll always be those who won't follow any best practices or guidelines, but you know what? The Internet is an adult world, no-one ever said it was safe to let kids browse unsupervised. There'll always be some pages that get through the content filter, but .xxx isn't going to change that.

        It's a money grab pure and simple

  8. ratfox
    Thumb Down

    Yeah, great idea

    I propose the new TLD .usr, for all websites which have users.

    I am the only one who can sell these domain names. Registration is $300, of which $100 will go to user protection organizations. I keep the rest, of course.

  9. Magnus_Pym

    Obviously..

    If it costs more and offers no additional benefit the worst offenders (in all senses of the word) in the porn sector just won't bother. Maybe they should have chosen '.fail'.

  10. Herby

    Probably little p0rn on an xxx domain

    It might be like viagra. Most of the time when you actually see the word spelled correctly, it ISN'T a sales offer. The sellers are so used to "disguising" the work, that the actual word now is the most accurate, and has the least offensive content.

    It might even happen for the xxx domain (although I doubt it). Soon, when xxx isn't enough, they will need xxxx to make up for it and the arguments will start over again.

    (*SIGH*)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Alert

      Animal pr0n

      The porn industry already did this. xxx was because they said "too much porn for only one X" in reference to X (Adult) ratings.

      Then they came with xxxxx, which means "animal sex".

  11. Network Manager
    WTF?

    ICANN should stand up and do this right

    If ICANN did it correctly they would tell ICM to take a hike...

    Create the .xxx domain and offer to give one to every adult domain provided their .com .net etc sites redirect to .xxx automatically.

    Reputable porn sites don't want kids on them and the legal problems that causes. And it would allow parents and schools to easily prevent kids from getting to most of these sites.

    Charging that much for the .xxx domains is just greed and will basically assure that what good could come from this won't happen.

    And religious groups complaining about this? WHY? You'd think they would be happy with having a potentially easier way of preventing access for their precious children.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Please stop

    With all of the anti-Christian bigotry.

    Thanks.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    logika

    It is absurd that this proposal has got so far.

    99% of adult webmasters are against it, along with many public organisations.

    It won't reduce porn online anymore than regular filtering already does.

    So the the real intention of the xxx registrar to campaign for a virtual ghetto - where they can increase prices at will in a monopoly situation.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How do I get one?

    Do I have to form a company to sell pics of myself? That, in itself, will cost more than $60...

    And then I have to find buyer.

    Because all I really want is an email address like anonymous@xxx.ooo.xxx

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    Small beer: the catch-all name for sex

    I must say, I'm quite bemused by this storm in a sperm-donor cup over Titilation Level Domains.

    Someone needs to get a grip, surely? Be more 'hands-on' etc etc.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I propose a new protocol - xttp

    No new domain name needed. Just a new protocol - xttp:// - which browsers can filter to protect children, or not. That would allow some parts of a domain to be visible and others not etc etc loads of advantages I can see and few, if any, disadvantages.

    1. Swoop

      Port number?

      So...that would run on port 69, then?

      (sorry, I just couldn't resist!)

  17. Sly
    Coat

    Christians oppose this?

    why? It would make blocking porn freakishly easy. Block all .xxx domains. There... the kids are safe.

    I'm a Christian and I approve of this top level domain.

    Do it for the children (or for making children... depending on what "it" you're talking about.

    Mine's the one with the Bible+ installed on the Palm Zire in the pocket.

    1. MikeSouth

      Dont be short sighted

      You may be a Christian but you are a short sighted one. First of all its very easy to filter out adult sites already but more importantly as an industry we support voluntary filtering...I dint want your kids viewing my paysites, they dont have credit cards.

      My problem is the potential for government abuse, governments blocking .xxx altogether, states mandating that in order to provide ISP services you must block all .xxx domains etc.

      Remember my Christian friend, the same end of the pencil that erases my smut can erase your scripture.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Well,

        wouldn't your beef be with the government then, rather than those who choose to block whatever they wish to in their hosts file?

    2. Paul S. Gazo

      The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.

      How does that work? I mean, sure... you keep your kids from visiting Humpty-Dumpty.xxx I don't dispute that. But what about Dirty-Crotch-Lickers.com?

      Or are you somehow implying that you think that pornography will just... suddenly stop being available on any other TLD? Sorry, but dream on.

      And stop worrying so much about your kids learning that sex is fun. You figured it out and they will to, no matter what you do. I'm not advocating deliberately exposing them to porn or sexuality, but there's a sliding scale of what is sensible to pretend doesn't exist. Five-year-olds won't CARE because they're hormonally disinterested. Ten-year-olds much the same. At fifteen... well, I've got news for you. Not very long ago in human history people would be married off and be at it like bunnies by fifteen.

    3. Tim Bates
      Thumb Up

      Me too

      I've been wishing this would happen for about 10 years now... I also would like the extension where ALL porn sites MUST use this TLD so that people wanting to filter porn can do so very easily.

      I have this view not just because I'm a Christian, but because I work for a school. If most porn was hosted on a single TLD restricted for porn use, then filter lists would be very short and fast.

      1. Graham Marsden
        FAIL

        @Sly and Tim Bates

        Once again I have to point out that whilst my site might deal with BDSM gear, it is *less* "pornographic" that what you can legally buy off the top shelves of newsagents.

        So should I be compelled to ditch affordable-leather.co.uk and re-register as affordable-leather.xxx because my product images offend your delicate sensibilities?

        Or should I do (as I have already mentioned) put appropriate warnings, register with blocking services etc and expect *YOU* as (presumably) responsible parents to do *YOUR* job of protecting *YOUR* children from material that *YOU* don't like instead of you wanting *ME* to do the job for you?

  18. Mr Young
    Joke

    Maybe not?

    What about the Xeranthemums managing to stay nice and dry on that Xebec, providing the world with plant crafted Xylographs - they need a TLD as well don't they? Yep, I'll get my coat...

  19. John Stirling
    Welcome

    @Network Manager

    You are clearly not a refugee from a religious upbringing. Lucky you.

    The religious mind relies heavily on ignorance. The faithful are not persuaded by logic, or reasonable dialogue to avoid sin. They are scared into virtue, and scared into ignorance. An enquiring mind is rarely a religious mind.

    The religious mind must object to this - not to do so would be tacitly admitting it has a right to exist, and that cannot be admitted. The religious solution is not for .xxx to stay .com, it's for porn.com to be banned and cease to exist.

    It is an amusing irony that the religious right and the porn industry all agree on what a bad idea .xxx is - none of them for particularly good reasons however.

    Personally I'm all in favour - and welcome our .xxx overlords.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Troll

      Religious view

      While there has been plenty of speculation as to why the God Botherers are against this domain (@John Stirling, for example) it would be good to hear some first-hand opinions as to why they are opposed to it.

      Personally, I think the whole idea is a waste of time as there is no suggestion that porn will be banned from other domains, so all the filtering (to protect kids, employees from sexual harassment suites etc) will have to continue. It just exists as a money maker for ICM.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      >The religious mind relies heavily on ignorance.

      And of course, classifying billions of people whom you have never met, as 'ignorant' must be the absolute apex of intellectual enlightenment.

      I'll be glad when the school holidays are over, and all of the angsty 15 year old 'rebellious' crew are back in school.

  20. JDX Gold badge
    Happy

    Oh no, $60

    How will those sites survive this massive cost.

    Also, good use of the word "rampant", given the context.

    1. Tim Bates

      One less video?

      I'd guess it would reduce the number of videos they publish by approximately 1... If that.

      I mean even a budget porno using non-professional "talent" would have a production cost far higher than $60, wouldn't it?

  21. Dazed and Confused

    @why

    Because putting all the pr0n sites in one place would just make it easier for their precious kids to find what they are looking for, not that they normally need any help.

  22. James Woods

    hrm

    Why does "child protection" always find itself labeled in with the adult industry.

    The last time I checked, the real child predators are in government.

    How about our safe school czar that thinks it's fine for men to have sexual relations with pre-teen boys.

    So sick and tired of see'ing this label put on the adult industry. I've been looking at porn since i've been on the computer (not constantly) and i've never even as much of stumbled upon it.

    You sure as hell won't find it on any pro sites.

    The adult industry is against this proposal for financial reasons. It's a great idea to have .xxx, makes it very easy for people to restrict access to *.xxx rather than a million .com names.

    1. Hegghogg

      Why?

      "Why does "child protection" always find itself labeled in with the adult industry. [...] So sick and tired of see'ing this label put on the adult industry. I've been looking at porn since i've been on the computer (not constantly) and i've never even as much of stumbled upon it."

      Maybe it's because of the persistent use in the media of the term 'child porn' to describe images of the violent sexual abuse of children. This usage is rarely challenged, yet it conditions the public to believe that such acts somehow equate to, or are a form of, pornography. That in turn leads to the assumption that one will invariably lead to the other.

      Whether or not we personally approve of the adult entertainment industry, we can look at this one in two ways: this casual mislabelling either tars that legal industry with shades of child abuse; or it excuses child abuse by applying to it a euphemism far more innocuous than it deserves.

  23. Flybert
    Go

    just let it go through

    ICM will lose their asses, go bankrupt and get sued by the few that got sucked into buying a .xxx for $60 per year

    A win-win for pornographers and the Christian fundamentalists .. how amusing ..

  24. robert247
    Thumb Up

    Ameritards - priceless!

    I work with them and will now be actively campaigning to introduce this word into the common lexicon - oh yes... revenge is MINE! Mwahahaha!

  25. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

    So let me get this straight...

    Pornographers wanting a .xxx domain would have to have their business verified and would have to meet certain minimum standards of not being a jackass. In other words...it would be an entire TLD for legitimate and ONLY legitimate porn.

    FANTASTIC idea. Basically, it gives me a great reason to install a porn blocker for every TLD that is not .xxx. .xxx pornographers would have to meet a certain level of "not being a society-ruining asshat" and most likely "not being a malware harbouring computer ruining asshat." I support this wholeheartedly.

    I wish we could do this with other industries. Then one day we could reach a point where we just collectively ban ".com" as the horrifying wasteland of the internet.

  26. ShaggyDoggy

    Connection

    Will someone please explain what religion has to do with online porn ?

  27. uninventiveheart
    FAIL

    Bad idea.

    Ignoring the onus that Christians may feel on this matter, appeasing the religious right is pointless only for the fact that they will oppose any measure on porn except outlawing it. Largely a waste of time for them and us... But they will do what they do without compromise and count this as a hollow victory against the porn industry when losing it makes no fundamental change to their fight.

    The cost of such domains need to be equal to .com or less, or adult entertainment groups will never use it. Beside the fact that the proposed TLD isn't being enforced on existing adult-content sites anyway, so the filtering argument for it's passing is weak as well.

    Approving this is a waste of time.

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Railing against America-centric global utilities

    I can't help but wonder if this would still be a story if a non-american company was the one starting this. Dutch for example, or perhaps even Swiss.

    Gotta love the ever Altruistic ICAAN....

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    Excellent news - let it work

    Only the vocal minority are against this.

    I have yet to speak to a single fellow website owner in the adult world who is against this.

    Maybe those who own good .com domains do not want to risk loosing them in the future, and not getting the same .xxx domains. perhaps this is closer to the truth.

    For others that do not have such a good domain name, this is good news.

    Let us hope that ICANN are the ones with the balls and can push this through at last.

    1. Graham Marsden
      WTF?

      Dear AC, which site do *you* run?

      "I have yet to speak to a single fellow website owner in the adult world who is against this."

      Really? And exactly how many have you spoken to? Because I, as just one website owner who supplies adult products am entirely against this as a waste of time and energy which will just increase my costs, add extra bureaucratic hassle which I don't need and do *NOTHING* to benefit my business.

      I think you will find it is only a vocal minority who are in favour of this.

      As for: "For others that do not have such a good domain name, this is good news."

      Is it really? Do you think that someone who has anyadultdomain.co.uk will get preferential treatment if .xxx is brought in and will be the first person allow to register anyadultdomain.xxx?

      Of course not, what will happen is a frantic "land grab" where the cybersquatters and domain resellers will bombard the system with applications for all the "good" domain names (and probably every other adult related domain name they can find and then offer to sell them to legitimate businesses for many thousands of pounds or dollars more than the $60 registration fee they paid.

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    Surely it's .wnk

    Isn't that the whole purpose of online pr0n?

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Tim Bates et al.

    " I also would like the extension where ALL porn sites MUST use this TLD so that people wanting to filter porn can do so very easily."

    What a shame, part of being a grown up is accepting that we very rarely actually get what we want. Most of the rest of being a grown up is the realisation that when we do get what we want it often isn't really "what we want", but I digress.

    You can't force legitimate groups to be corralled in a way you want, just because you have a problem with that group. Filtering porn is already very easy and if you let your children or children you have responsibility for access the web unsupervised then the problem is most certainly with you and not with the pornographers.

    "I have this view not just because I'm a Christian, but because I work for a school. If most porn was hosted on a single TLD restricted for porn use, then filter lists would be very short and fast."

    I have a better idea. Take all the sites you know are wholesome and put them in a white list. Filtering is much easier there and you have the benefit of knowing that your children can only access things that you agree with them being able to access. No surprises and no bad things.

    Look, the internet is not a child's toy. It never has been and it never will be. If you think the internet is not a good place for your children to hang out alone then either supervise them or remove their access to the internet (either through whitelists or completely).

  32. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    "pornographers could sue to block .xxx's passage"

    Fnarr fnarr. That is all.

  33. Stuart Halliday
    Go

    let's do it

    You can see why they wouldn't like it.

    hosts file:

    127.0.0.1 localhost

    127.0.0.1 .xxx

    Too simple to block or to search your logs for staff breaking policy if you're a IT bod?

  34. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Fun?

    @Paul S. Gaszo, "And stop worrying so much about your kids learning that sex is fun. You figured it out and they will to, no matter what you do."

    Learning that sex is fun? I'm not uptight about porn (despite being a US'ian), but frankly there's a large quantity of low quality porn, where nobody involved appears to be having a bit of fun.

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