I just posted this to our Surfers. Won't hurt to do the same for your site.
Let's get some more voices heard on opposition to .xxx
Quote:
Another threat to your right to view porn.
Hi,
ICANN (http://www.icann.org/) which is the body that controls domain names, is reviewing a proposal for a new .XXX suffix that porn sites will need to use on the premise that ISPs (and parents) will then be able to protect porn from children more effectively.
What isn't immediately obvious is that the push for this domain is from a private company (ICM Registry) that wants to have exclusive rights to manage registrations of the proposed .xxx domain suffix. The value of all the new .xxx adult domain registrations would be in the hundreds of millions of $$
What it most probably means for you if it goes ahead
It means that your ISP could very easily flick a switch and block .XXX sites being viewable to you. They may then require you contact them and ask that your account not fall under this filter - and it is very likely they will want a payment from you for this. (they can justify that by saying its for age verification)
So, why am I telling you this?
For several reasons the main ones being;
A) ICANN is wanting public feedback to help with the decision
B) I can't personally stomach the fact that forcing all adult sites to a new domain so it can be easily censored is the best approach for anyone
Also, if the real reason is keeping sites from kids then a better way would be to create a kid safe domain, such as .kids and any sites that are child friendly can electively have a .kids domain. This is more practical because it isn't just porn that kids shouldn't view, (e.g. rottten.com) and they will not ever be able to get all adult sites under a .xxx name anyway.
What can you do to help?
Be informed - and send an email to ICANN's feedback email address for this topic wich is;
[email protected]
Links:
http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/xinfo.htm
http://www.icann.org
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