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Adult sites can now officially register for their own top-level domain: .xxx. ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) approved the ICM Registry’s application after initially rejecting it. It is still controversial whether this will help corral adult sites to one section of the Internet, and make them less intrusive to those who are not looking for them.
The ICM Registry has been trying to bring about the Web address for adult entertainment sites for six years. They made the decision soon after an independent review judged ICANN previous decision to ban the domain as incorrect.
The ICM Registry hopes that the domain will help enable the pornography industry to self-regulate. They also cited the following expectations they have for the new domain offering:
• The effective labeling of content, so that individuals and search engines know that .xxx websites likely contain adult content, which will allow for simple and effective filtering for those who wish to do so
• Best Business Practices to provide and promote confidence and certainty in .xxx domains
• More predictable revenue streams, greater customer retention and fewer complaints for adult entertainment suppliers
• A credible self-regulated forum for impacted stakeholders to discuss and develop policies relating to online adult entertainment
The ICM registry also used several polls to make its case. In one poll from MSNBC in 2007, 61% of respondents said that they believed that a “virtual red light district” who be effective in preventing kids from accessing porn. Only 17% said that they believed it would legitimize pornography and not be effective in preventing kids from accessing it.
The .xxx domain should be available in early 2011, and had 110,000 pre-reservations before ICANN had even approved the application.
