The Internet's "Red Light District"

ICANN kills .xxx porn domain said:
The proposed .xxx porn domain has been kicked into the long grass just days before it was due to meet final approval.

ICANN chairman Vint Cerf stunned an open meeting of the governmental advistory committee (GAC) in Vancouver late on Tuesday when he announced that the whole issue had been pulled from the Board meeting agenda - where it had been the first topic of discussion.

The reason given (this time) was that the GAC needed time to review a 350-page ICANN report on the domain's feasibility before it could provide its approval (or disapproval).

That's a red herring though. The report was completed on 31 August, and is mostly complimentary about the proposed domain. Not only that but all the issues surrounding the domain are already well known to everyone involved, and up until Cerf's sudden announcement, had been effectively given the green light.

ICANN has come under pressure to release the report and so provide adequate excuse for delaying .xxx's approval yet again. The people behind .xxx, ICM Registry, opposed its release, complaining that no other new domains had had their ICANN report released before they had been granted final approval and that they were being unfairly treated.

However, if rumours are to be believed, ICANN took a top-level decision to release the report and so provide a delay excuse, after EU commissioner Viviane Reding called the head of ICANN Paul Twomey direct and threatened to withdraw all the EU's representatives unless the issue was pulled. Twomey this morning denied he had had any communication with Reding over the issue.

If would certainly be an unusual decision on Reding's part, especially since the EU has been mostly supportive of .xxx. It is only Brazil and the US administration that remain opposed to the domain.

More likely is that the US government intervened but is desperate to avoid being seen to do so because of the ongoing Internet governance conflict, where the US government retains unilateral control of the Internet but claims never to use apply it.

The Bush administration has been very effectively lobbied by the Christian right, and the US is desperate to make it look as though other governments are equally concerned about .xxx. The conspriacy theory is that by delaying .xxx, the EU puts a spotlight on the US' attempts to sway the course of the Internet.

Whether that's true or not, it still leaves one furious owner of ICM Registry, Stuart Lawley, who has sunk millions into the project and been consistently stymied at the last minute by unusual delays. ®
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i'm all-upons "PORN SITE FREEDOM/DOWN WITH 2257" etc, and all that, and i think the .xxx idea is great.
agreed it can't be all the sites, due to those preexisting.
agreed the definition of "porn" will have to be made and enforced uniformely which is going to be hella tricky.
agreed that if .xxx happens, websitter softwares will probably have a version or patch to include an .xxx blocker... they're probably wating very anxiously i would imagine.
agreed that if .xxx happens, it'll be a lot more complicated than it seems.

but in theory, it's a great idea.
 
ash r said:
i'm all-upons "PORN SITE FREEDOM/DOWN WITH 2257" etc, and all that, and i think the .xxx idea is great.
agreed it can't be all the sites, due to those preexisting.
agreed the definition of "porn" will have to be made and enforced uniformely which is going to be hella tricky.
agreed that if .xxx happens, websitter softwares will probably have a version or patch to include an .xxx blocker... they're probably wating very anxiously i would imagine.
agreed that if .xxx happens, it'll be a lot more complicated than it seems.

but in theory, it's a great idea.
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Ash, if anyone could convince me that 100% of the internet porn would be moved to XXX domains, I'd vote for it in a heartbeat. It won't. All this is is a way to open up millions of new porn site domains, without doing a thing to regulate the existing ones. I hardly think we really need more porn domains. But I'll be that the www.whitehouse.xxx and www.microsoft.xxx sites are already entered on hundreds of forms, with mouse pointers poised over the submit buttons just waiting for the second that they become available.


So who's gonna reserve the www.otcentral.xxx domain?
 
I think they if they could make sure EVERY porn site was REQUIRED to have a .xxx domain (including the exisiting ones) then it would be a good idea. Interms of Bish's repeating question about subdomains...it would just have to be forbidding for any hosting service/site to allow porn unless they offereda .xxx domain too. Geocities wouldn't have to TURN INTO geocities.xxx, that is just retarded, there are alot of non porn sites there. Geocities or whoever would be required to register a NEW .xxx domain and transfer all their porn client sites over there if they wanted to keep them as clients. Otherwise, if they didn't register a new domain they'd have to shut down those site.

In theory, if it could work like this I'd give it two huge thumbs up. I hate randomly running into porn when I'm looking for other stuff...expecially when there is someone looking over your shoulder...it gets kinda uncomfortable.
 
If it makes it easier to track who went where, then why is there such a brouhaha over it?
 
I don't really have an opinion on the .xxx thing. I was just reminded of this time a few years ago, the kid got a "hot tip" from an older kid at school about a web site with "really cool games and stuff :) " So, at home on the 'puter he types in triple-w.triple-x.com, and hits enter with great anticipation. He then let out a squeal, covers the screen with his hands and yells out to mama for help.

Today I suspect he would have gone very quiet, sloooowly pointed the mouse towards the red x to get rid of it, and then mentioned it later that day to avoid the embarassment of being confronted with my findings on the log. :p
 
Starya said:
I don't really have an opinion on the .xxx thing. I was just reminded of this time a few years ago, the kid got a "hot tip" from an older kid at school about a web site with "really cool games and stuff :) " So, at home on the 'puter he types in triple-w.triple-x.com, and hits enter with great anticipation. He then let out a squeal, covers the screen with his hands and yells out to mama for help.

Today I suspect he would have gone very quiet, sloooowly pointed the mouse towards the red x to get rid of it, and then mentioned it later that day to avoid the embarassment of being confronted with my findings on the log. :p
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Sure he didn't find this site? :D
 
Nixy said:
I think they if they could make sure EVERY porn site was REQUIRED to have a .xxx domain (including the exisiting ones) then it would be a good idea.
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It wouldn't work. A big problem is that forcing a successful company with a .com or .net domain name to transfer to a .xxx would often mean a name change that could potentially ruin the company.

For example if pornstars.com, pornstars.net, pornstars.tv, and pornstars.ca are all required to get a .xxx domain 3 of them would have to change the name of their business.
 
flavio said:
It wouldn't work. A big problem is that forcing a successful company with a .com or .net domain name to transfer to a .xxx would often mean a name change that could potentially ruin the company.

For example if pornstars.com, pornstars.net, pornstars.tv, and pornstars.ca are all required to get a .xxx domain 3 of them would have to change the name of their business.
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How about pornstars.com.xxx, pornstars.net.xxx, pornstars.tv.xxx and pornstars.xxx.ca ;)
 
flavio said:
It wouldn't work. A big problem is that forcing a successful company with a .com or .net domain name to transfer to a .xxx would often mean a name change that could potentially ruin the company.

For example if pornstars.com, pornstars.net, pornstars.tv, and pornstars.ca are all required to get a .xxx domain 3 of them would have to change the name of their business.
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Exactly the point. All this is going to acheive is to add a whole new layer of internet porn, without limiting, restricting, or freeing up any of the existing porn. Just like a news agent adding another rack for the porn magazines without taking any of the porn off the old ones.
 
Professur said:
Exactly the point. All this is going to acheive is to add a whole new layer of internet porn, without limiting, restricting, or freeing up any of the existing porn. Just like a news agent adding another rack for the porn magazines without taking any of the porn off the old ones.
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But it would force the new ones into that domain. That is what the point is. If you quibble over the old stuff, nothing will ever change. On top of that, those older names are not registered forever, and when they come up for renewal, you just force them into the .xxx domain as well. Sheeple are always looking for the quick fix, and thus miss the bigger picture.
 
Gato_Solo said:
But it would force the new ones into that domain. That is what the point is. If you quibble over the old stuff, nothing will ever change. On top of that, those older names are not registered forever, and when they come up for renewal, you just force them into the .xxx domain as well. Sheeple are always looking for the quick fix, and thus miss the bigger picture.
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Never happen. There'll be lawsuits galore if they tried it.
 
Professur said:
Never happen. There'll be lawsuits galore if they tried it.
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Which will be summarily dismissed. ICAAN, though a private corporation, is acting as an agent to both the US government and the UN...meaning they cannot be sued.
 
Gato_Solo said:
those older names are not registered forever, and when they come up for renewal, you just force them into the .xxx domain as well.
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Then if their name is already taken they would have to change it. Most likely ruining their business. Forcing countless legal businesses into ruin is not the right thing to do now is it?
 
flavio said:
Then if their name is already taken they would have to change it. Most likely ruining their business. Forcing countless legal businesses into ruin is not the right thing to do now is it?
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That's why before applying such rules you'll put a giant banner warning them all. ;)
 
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