By Liam Eagle, March 21, 2011
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- At its meeting in San Francisco last week, the board of Internet regulatory body ICANN (www.icann.org) decided Friday that it intends to contract with ICM Registry (www.icmregistry.com) for the creation of a .XXX top-level domain, in spite of protestations from within the adult content business.
In a press release, ICM Registry, which has spent years campaigning for the creation of the TLD, says it intends the domain do be “a clearly labeled place where adult entertainment can be accessed.”
As a sponsored TLD, .xxx would have certain restrictions, being available only to the adult entertainment industry, and requiring registrants to complete an application process overseen by the International Foundation for Online Responsibility.
Opponents within the adult business have fought against the domain’s creation, via an organization named the Free Speech Coalition, arguing that, among other things, a .xxx domain would “ghettoize” their content, that its creation implies the adult Internet was previously operating irresponsibly and that they would be forced to register domains at considerable expense to protect their existing trademarks.
ICM Registry says the benefits to consumers would include an assurance that they’re protected from risk associated with identity theft, credit card fraud and images of child abuse, and that that consumers not interested in encountering adult material would have a simplified means of blocking it.
The approval of the domain might have been in part due to the scale of the opposition. In a post made Thursday on Domain Name Wire, Andrew Allemann wrote that a protest against the .xxx domain only managed to draw about 25 protestors.
ICM Registry also insists that there are benefits for the adult community.
“The knock-on benefit for the adult industry,” says ICM Registry CEO Stuart Lawley, quoted in a press release, “beyond the fact that consumers are going to be more prepared to make purchases when they know that they will be secure, is that the consumer will also know that .xxx sites are scanned daily for malware, thereby being safer to visit, leading to greater traffic. It’s a win-win situation.”
In another Domain Name Wire post reporting on the approval, Allemann wrote that many board members had spoken about the vote, with several saying they had voted in favor, partly because if a .xxx TLD isn’t approved now, it would almost certainly be submitted and approved in the new TLD process, and that the regulation around the current bid is preferable to the unregulated potential future domain.
The domain itself seems to have some traction. A ticker on the ICM Registry site is currently showing more than 300,000 pre-registrations for .xxx domain names.
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