ICANN to Consider Free-Form Top-Level Domains
By Bob Preston
Monday, Jun 23, 2008 Text size:
CYBERSPACE ? In a move that could give the .XXX top-level domain a back-door onto the Internet, ICANN will vote Thursday on a proposal to relax requirements for top-level domains.
If approved, the proposal could potentially let companies and individuals make up their own top-level domains in a fashion similar to how some countries have made use of the top-level domains assigned to them.
For example, the top-level domain .tv was introduced in 1996 and eventually assigned to the the Polynesian island nation of Tuvalu. The country wound up cutting a deal to sell domains bearing the dot-TV ending to anybody, not just citizens and businesses of Tuvalu.
In a similar fashion, companies and individuals might be able apply for their own unique top-level domain, which would cost "several thousand dollars" and be subject to a review process. Applicants would have to submit a business plan and demonstrate that their proposed top-level domain has some kind of "technical capacity."
But such a fluid system raises the specter of a recent pain the in the adult industry's neck: .XXX. To date, ICANN has regulated the existence, if not the use, of most top-level domains, and if they were to approve this proposal on Thursday, then someone could simply submit .XXX for approval.
Dr. Paul Twomey, chief executive of ICANN, said that the proposed new system would be open to anyone.
The adult industry reached a near-consensus in its opposition to the .XXX top-level domain. Free Speech Coalition Chairman Jeffrey Douglas said that .XXX would have meant there would be an Internet ?ghettoization.?
[click here for the rest of this article...]
By Bob Preston
Monday, Jun 23, 2008 Text size:
CYBERSPACE ? In a move that could give the .XXX top-level domain a back-door onto the Internet, ICANN will vote Thursday on a proposal to relax requirements for top-level domains.
If approved, the proposal could potentially let companies and individuals make up their own top-level domains in a fashion similar to how some countries have made use of the top-level domains assigned to them.
For example, the top-level domain .tv was introduced in 1996 and eventually assigned to the the Polynesian island nation of Tuvalu. The country wound up cutting a deal to sell domains bearing the dot-TV ending to anybody, not just citizens and businesses of Tuvalu.
In a similar fashion, companies and individuals might be able apply for their own unique top-level domain, which would cost "several thousand dollars" and be subject to a review process. Applicants would have to submit a business plan and demonstrate that their proposed top-level domain has some kind of "technical capacity."
But such a fluid system raises the specter of a recent pain the in the adult industry's neck: .XXX. To date, ICANN has regulated the existence, if not the use, of most top-level domains, and if they were to approve this proposal on Thursday, then someone could simply submit .XXX for approval.
Dr. Paul Twomey, chief executive of ICANN, said that the proposed new system would be open to anyone.
The adult industry reached a near-consensus in its opposition to the .XXX top-level domain. Free Speech Coalition Chairman Jeffrey Douglas said that .XXX would have meant there would be an Internet ?ghettoization.?
[click here for the rest of this article...]
Comment