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ICANN Board Member Calls .xxx Decision "Weak And Unprincipled"
The U.S.-based ICANN, the group responsible for internet domain suffixes, has once again rejected calls to create a .xxx domain for adult sites. The board voted 9-5 against the domain, but not everyone is happy with the decision.
Susan Crawford, a member of the ICANN board, [writes on her blog][3] that she found the resolution adopted by the Board (rejecting .xxx) both "weak and unprincipled."
This is not the first time ICANN has rejected the idea of an adults-only domain suffix. The idea was first floated in 2001 and rejected in 2006.
"This decision was the result of very careful scrutiny and consideration of all the arguments," Dr Vinton Cerf, chairman of ICANN, said in a statement on the group's Web site.
But Crawford disagrees, writing on her blog that ICANN has ignored the internet community at large. "I am personally not aware that any global consensus against the creation of an .xxx domain exists."
She goes on to argue that "in the absence of such a prohibition, and given our mandate to create TLD competition, we have no authority to block the addition of this TLD to the root."
Those in favor of the .xxx domain argue that creating a virtual red light district would make it easy for those who wanted to avoid or filter adult content to do so, but opponents argue that it would also be easier to find the material.
The European Union has already accused the U.S. of political interference in the decision claiming that ICANN is bowing to political pressure from the Christian groups in the U.S. who feel that the .xxx domain would somehow legitimize the porn industry.
But it's not just Christians that opposed the domain, some porn site operators worry that the domain name, while voluntary, would make it easier for governments to shun adult sites into what the industry terms an online ghetto.
However Crawford points out that "this content-related censorship should not be ICANN’s concern." She goes one to argue that "ICANN should not allow itself to be used as a private lever for government chokepoint content control by making up reasons to avoid the creation of such a TLD in the first place."
Traditionally ICANN does not regulate content in any way and indeed in the U.S. requiring porn sites to use the .xxx domain would very likely violate the First Amendment.
Although ICANN rejected to current proposal it is possible that supporters will rewrite the proposal and resubmit at a later date.
[photo credit][4]
[1]: http://www.icann.org/minutes/resolutions-30mar07.htm#_Toc36876524 " Proposed sTLD Agreement with ICM Registry"
[2]: http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-30mar07.htm "Board Rejects .XXX Domain Application"
[3]: http://scrawford.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/3/30/2845638.html "Why I Voted For XXX"
[4]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinkmoose/181948399/
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