Today it was announced that ICANN approved the creation of .xxx as a top level domain. This domain will be used for adult websites. Some general points about this top level domain are:
- The registration will be $60.00 per year.
- .XXX will only be for adult websites.
- Adult websites with .com based names will have first dibs to their .xxx (so Playboy.com will be able to get Playboy.xxx)
There is a lot of chatter about this approval and various groups, including those in the adult entertainment industry, that disapprove of this. I really haven’t thought about this much but I started to think about it today. After about 15 minutes I found myself, to my own surprise, not very happy with approval. So why is this .xxx top level domain so bad?
- What actually constitutes an adult site? Sex video? Sex photos? Nude photos? Scantily clad photos? Explicit discussions? Implicit discussion? Exposed breast? We as a country cannot even agree upon what qualifies as broadband but we think we can define this? Give me a break.
- The creation of a roped off section on the Internet is just asking for the other shoe to drop. Today we say that adult sites can use this. Tomorrow, figuratively speaking, some bone head politician is going to introduce some bill to force adult sites into this caged off area. A business, even a porn business, has the right to conduct its business on the Internet where ever it pleases.
So no, I’m not for this at all. It’s not that I’m pro-porn, I’m for an open and free Internet.