http://www.ifeminists.com/e107_plugi...hp?content.709

For the 4th time since 2000, the Internet governing body ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is considering the creation of an .xxx domain name that would function as a de facto red-light district on the Internet where porn web site would directed to park. Most news accounts of the currently-deferred decision, however, report the story so badly that the truth is the reverse of what they state; the accounts make it sound as though the .xxx domain names would be a boon to the adult industry, giving it a unique Web destination. Even accurate accounts seem puzzled by the fact that the vast majority of adult sites do not want the .xxx domain to go through. For example, the TechTree site declares, "Interestingly, most pornography businesses are against this proposal and so are anti-porn activists. Sounds odd, but its true!" Needless to say, it is protest from conservative anti-porn groups that have caused ICANN to delay its decision rather than the objections from adult-site owners. .xxx is scheduled to be discussed once more at ICANN's June meeting in Brussels.

Since conservative concerns are already being aired and treated seriously (e.g. easier accessibility of porn to curious kids), I'll focus instead on the reasons porn sites do not want or welcome the .xxx status. Their objections include:

1) Setting up a voluntary .xxx domain is the first step toward mandating its use by all adult sites. Indeed, without such a mandate, it would be impossible to exercise any control over the millions of "adult content" sites across the internet. Moreover, since a prime argument for .xxx is to let parents more easily block access to porn, a site would need to have only an .xxx URL and not a companion .com one for that filtering aid to make any sense.
2) Mandating the use of .xxx would require a definition of what constitutes "adult content," which varies from nation to nation, culture to culture. Would nudity be the criteria? If so, would anti-cancer breast exam demos be included? If not, would such legit sites have to apply to or reviewed by a new Internet censorship board with sweeping powers?
3) Regulating the expression of sex and sex-related matters would be a huge step toward limiting all free speech online.
4) Where the regulators see a red-light district, adult sites see a ghetto into which they are herded as second-class Web citizens. The .xxx designation would not be done for the business convenience of adult sites; if it were, why help only porn? Why not give special designations to a wide variety of businesses, like car dealers? .xxx would be the first and only domain name dedicated to a specific business enterprise.
5) The .xxx domain would do nothing to control 'illegal' porn -- e.g. child porn -- as only the legal sites would sign up to become visible to authorities.
6) Aa a wider privacy issue, an .xxx ghetto would facilitate the monitoring by authorities of whomever visits adult sites.
7) Herding the legit adult sites into a ghetto would make them much easier to regulate. It is criminally naive to believe that greater regulation would not follow. Indeed, even under the "voluntary" vision of .xxx, regulators have declared the intention to impose mandatory standards upon applicants -- sites would be labeled with machine readable tags.
8) Regulators have long dreamed of taxing porn sites in the same manner that "vice taxes" are levied in the non-cyber world. With .xxx they could not only tax away, they could also fine adult sites that did not comply....not to mention the license fees that would flow in!

A question remains: if neither pro- or anti-porn advocates want the .xxx domain, who does? Why does the prospect of creating .xxx keep popping up at ICANN? Follow the money. First and foremost, the regulators themselves would rake in fines etc. and give a patina of legitimacy (thus security) to their phoney-baloney jobs. The Telegraph reports on the next beneficiary in line: "Icann had previously accepted a request from domain registry ICM to be allowed to sell .xxx domain names, but then subsequently reversed its decision after pressure from conservative groups. An Independent Review Panel decision, however, then said that not allowing ICM to sell such addresses was in fact unfair." If the .xxx designation becomes mandatory for adult sites, this would be cash cow for domain registrars who would be flooded by customers legally required to purchase their product. Imagine what the premium URLs would cost: Google.xxx, porn.xxx, yahoo.xxx, sextalk.xxx, America.xxx, etc. The registrars would make a fast and furious fortune.

Always follow the money.

When might these new tlds .xxx .eco etc appear?

Not surprising. Who wants to spam (*cough* sell) a product that can so easily be blocked? My 8-year old mistyped the wizard101 domain and was confronted with ads for (amongst others) bestiality and sexual roleplay. A .xxx filter would really have scuppered the scum providing the data. However we know it neither would, nor could, be enforced so it would seem the only people that are going to win from this (as usual) are the registry and the only people that are going to lose (as usual) are the people who buy into the hype. If it goes through expect whole threads telling us how great the extension is (a la mobi).

Originally posted by Rob
My 8-year old mistyped the wizard101 domain and was confronted with ads for (amongst others) bestiality and sexual roleplay. A .xxx filter would really have scuppered the scum providing the data. However we know it neither would, nor could, be enforced so it would seem the only people that are going to win from this (as usual) are the registry and the only people that are going to lose (as usual) are the people who buy into the hype. If it goes through expect whole threads telling us how great the extension is (a la mobi).

Exactly. Creating a .xxx will do nothing to protect children, but only benefit the ICM and those affiliated with it.

Originally posted by suss
When might these new tlds .xxx [...] appear?

If ICANN does the right thing: never.

The ICM needs the support of the adult industry to get it approved and the ICM has fraudulently claimed they have it when in reality adult webmasters have been fighting the .xxx proposal since it first reared its ugly head.

http://www.icann.org/en/public-comme...options-report :
Tons of anti .xxx tld mails both from the adult industry and anti-porn religious groups. There were only a small number of pro .xxx tld, all from registrars and hosting companies that are in bed with the ICM.

If both religious groups AND the adult industry agree that the .xxx tld is a bad idea..........

It all boils down to moral perception. And to be honest I think the 'religious groups' are the *last* people I'd want giving us a system of morality. This is why it can never be it's utopian dream. As has already been stated - the only people that won't adhere to it are the exact same people we would want the system to force to adhere to it.