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List of issues and solutions regarding .xxx for the IFFOR and the .xxx Board of Directors
This is an open letter that has been emailed to Chad Belville, one of the board members of the IFFOR, the policy making board for .xxx. He says that he believes .xxx will address our concerns. Below I have sent them what I think are the some of the key concerns of members of the adult industry, along with solutions that I think would benefit both .xxx domain owners and (in the long term) the .xxx organization. I'll be waiting for their reply.
List of issues and solutions regarding .xxx for the IFFOR and the .xxx Board of Directors
The Problem:
.XXX is currently selling domains not out of providing any service or value to Webmasters, but out of fear. This is evident by the fact that they are branding ?.xxx? as a way to ?Protect your Trademark.? For Adult Webmasters, we are threatened that if we don?t purchase a .xxx version of our .com domains, that we will have to fend for ourselves against Cybersquatters or other nefarious individuals stealing our brands and blackmailing us for thousands of dollars. In the mainstream world, .xxx is promoting itself to non-porn websites, also using fear as a tactic to get them to purchase the ?.xxx? version of their mainstream domains or else beware of the evil porn Webmasters who will grab them and use them to sell, well, smut.
The Solution:
.XXX should get out of the fear business and get into the business of providing a valuable service for the community it purports to represent. If you have a trademark, copyright or have been operating an active .com website for at least a year, .XXX should allow you to purchase your own domain for a reasonable cost, not exceeding $15.00. Obviously this ?discount? should not apply if you have a ?.com? website that is a parked page with no content, but on any websites where it?s deemed there is intellectual property, .xxx should apply the discount. Additionally, all those that already paid the $100 domain fee for the sole reason of ?protecting their trademark? should be refunded for $85 (or whatever the fair and reasonable cost determined is). This in turn would create more brand loyalty amongst all .xxx users, which means rather then boycotting .xxx and buying domains only out of fear, they might actually use the domains, which in the long term would benefit and give more value to all who are using .xxx
The Problem:
Many Webmasters are worried about the fact that we have no say in policy making decisions regarding what we can or can not do with our own domains. Currently there is a board of 9 Directors in the IFFOR Policy Council, and they hardly make up a fair and accurate representation of the entire adult community and all of our voices.
The Solution:
Most of us live in a Democratic society. .XXX Domain Owners should have a stake in any policy changes that are made regarding our own domains. Allow all .xxx Domain Owners to register to vote. Before any important change in policy or guidelines is implemented, it should be put to a vote of all Registered Domain Owners. Additionally, the IFFOR Policy Council Members should also be elected by a vote from Domain Owners. Let the .xxx Owners themselves determine their own futures, not a few select BusinessMen or Lawyers.
The Problem:
If we are going to be charged $100 per year for a domain subscription, we deserve the right to know where all that money is going to.
The Solution
Make it transparent. If the money was going to help build a legal defense fund and P.R. campaign to protect adult sites from censors, add valued services for Webmasters, as well as protecting first amendment rights (whether it be on .com or .xxx websites), then it might be seen as a worthwhile contribution to a good cause.
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