Porn Might Still Get Web Domain

Internet Oversight Agency Revives Plan For .XXX Web Addresses

(AP)  The Internet's key oversight agency has revived a proposal it earlier rejected to create an online red-light district, after adding stronger provisions to prohibit child pornography and require labeling of Web sites with sexually explicit materials.

The use of the proposed ".xxx" domain name would remain voluntary, but any porn sites that choose to use it instead of the more popular ".com" would be subject to the new terms issued late Friday by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

The idea of a separate ".xxx" domain has generated significant opposition from conservative groups and even some pornography Web sites.

But ICANN officials said they initially rejected the proposal in May not because of the opposition but because of concerns that the agency might be put in a difficult position of having to enforce all of the world's laws governing pornography. They noted that various nations' speech-related laws sometimes conflict with one another.

The new proposal does not directly address any potential conflicts in laws, but it calls for the company backing it, ICM Registry Inc. of Jupiter, Florida, to hire independent organizations to monitor porn sites' compliance with the new rules.

ICANN, the agency in Marina del Rey, California, designated by the U.S. government to oversee domain name policies, opened the proposal to public comment but did not indicate when it would rule.

If approved, ICM would be required to help develop mechanisms for promoting child safety and preventing child pornography, "including practices that appeal to pedophiles or suggest the presence of child pornography on the site."

Porn sites would have to participate in a self-descriptive labeling system, likely one from the Internet Content Rating Association. Under it, Web sites add tags based on such criteria as the presence of nudity and whether it is in an artistic or educational context, such as for sites on breast feeding. Relatively few sites now participate, although major Web browsers have mechanisms for reading the tags.

ICM also would have to develop automated tools to check for compliance and give users ways to report violations.

ICM believes the domain would help the $12 billion (euro9.17 billion) online porn industry clean up its act, as those using it must abide by rules designed to bar such trickery as spamming and malicious scripts.

Anti-porn advocates, however, countered that sites would be free to keep their current ".com" address, in effect making porn more easily accessible by creating yet another channel to house it.

Many porn sites also objected, fearing that an ".xxx' domain would pave the way for governments or even private industry to filter speech that is protected in the United States by the First Amendment.

[hermit22]

since the library can say, "shhhh, no talking in the library", they certainly can put the kabash on perverts, like they have on smoking in the library.

if all the perverts were put on an island, what would their culture be like in ten years?

[darkfyreaol]

BellaL: Wrong. If children are viewing pornography, the library's first action should be to revoke their access until the problem can be resolved.

Failure to act would make them susceptible to legal action.

[darkfyreaol]

This is no surprise. There are already .edu, .org, .net, .gov, .mil, and other sorts of extensions that have gone thus far unchallenged.

Why the sudden outcry of a .*** extension? Could it be the industry leaders are more concerned about money in their pockets than people not wanting to expose their children to such material?

Not to mention, the approval of the .*** domain would save millions in anti-porn filter development. All you would have to do is block the domain type, and your children would be safe - nothing to slip through the cracks.

[natural302]

(ICM believes the domain would help the $12 billion (euro9.17 billion)

ICM JUST WHANTS A PICE OF THAT $12 BILLION!
THAY THANK WE ARE STUPID..

[bellal-2009]

I've seen kids viewing hardcore porn at the library. Some of it looked like child porn to me and there is nothing the librarians can do because the kids' parents have signed the consent form, which in my neighborhood, most don't even speak English.

[antoniof123]

Hey people you can use your firewall to filter out the stuff you want it is really easy to do. Start being parents and stop asking the government to raise your children for you. We have a rule around the house if you get caught you lose your right to surf the net. Plus send the kids outside to play. You know it worked when we were young and guess what they still like it in fact the kids in our area sometimes do not want to come in. So stop blaming others and take some responsibility in your life you wanted kids not do the right thing.

[hermit22]

What is the media influence that the drive-by shooters of the 24 year old Bronco football player etc.were brought up on? Media influence, in this day and age, should be a test just like DNA testing. Sweetheart, how did you brain get so twisted?

Ted Bundy was trying to tell the public some of where he got his start, but the money media,and porn people don't want to listen.

[hermit22]

Hi Gaye5, thanks for speaking up! the reason I mention the cab drivers is because the same principle or lack of principle is happening....the powers that be, flop over and play dead and the perverts, or in the case of the cab drivers, the drunks win.

[gaye5]

Everyone has their rights! but I also have a right to bring my children up without seeing pornsex etc everywhere.. we know that children have their rights also they need to be protected... It is the first time in history that we are not protecting the most vulnerable, "OUR CHILDREN" and we will reap the consequences later...as we are seeing now with school shootings etc,,50 years ago we would NEVER have dared to answer a teacher back and we grew up fantastically with respect for others.. watch out world...

[gaye5]

What I am concerned about is as these 10 second peices of advertising is so effective and puts trillions of dollars in the pocket of the companies,What effect does hrs of violence, fear, porn, murder etc do to our population... doesnt anyone have any brains to see that these crimes have esculated in the last 40 years... we are told that it is percentage wise, but living in NZ where there was only 3 million people 50 years ago there was only one murder every couple of years, now there is 4 million people and murders are so frequent that they are not reported in the paper any more... if we can save one life by cutting out this stuff then we have succeeded... it has been proven that it has an effect on people...