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New sTLD RFP Application
http://www.icann.org/tlds/stld-apps-19mar04/xxx.htm
Its worth reading. COMMUNITY TO BE SERVED As defined before, the .xxx TLD is intended primarily to serve the needs of the global responsible online adult-entertainment community (?Community?). The online adult-entertainment community is primarily defined as those individuals, businesses, and entities that provide sexually-oriented information, services, or products intended for consenting adults or for the community itself. The terms "adult-entertainment" and "sexually-oriented" are intended to be understood broadly for a global medium, and are not to be construed as legal or regulatory categories. Rather, the referenced Community consists generally of websites that convey sexually-oriented information and for which a system of self-identification would be beneficial. Although some individuals may have personal or moral objections to the Adult-Entertainment industry, statistics demonstrate unequivocally that sex is an integral part of the Internet. It is clear that the Community is comprised of persons and entities that have needs and interests in common, which are clearly differentiated from those of the general, global Internet community. Our research indicates there are around 100,000 individuals businesses or entities that make up the Community and that, on average, each of these manages around 10 to 20 domains. ? According to the Nielsen/NetRatings, in August 2003, over one in four Internet users in the United States (34 million) visited a pornography-related web site. Source: Sex sells, especially to Web surfers, CNN, Jeordan Legon, December 11, 2003. ? The updated statistics for December, gave similar results with 35.4m visitors. These figures are in line with our own research that indicates around 25% of all Internet search queries are of a sexually-oriented nature. ? In 2002, Reuters Business Insight forecast an estimated US$3.3 billion would be spent on online adult-entertainment services in 2003, making it the fastest growing segment of the adult-entertainment industry with a projected US$4.6 billion in global revenues in 2006. Source: Online Adult-entertainment, Reuters Business Insight ? Technology and ecommerce, Authored by Datamonitor, 2002. The impact that the online adult-entertainment industry has had on the broader adult-entertainment industry is significant. In a recent interview with Wired News (?Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Porn,? ? February 19, 2004), Larry Flynt discussed the transformative impact of the Internet on the industry. According to Mr. Flynt, in the 1980?s traditional publishing constituted 80% of his business, now it is just 20% with the Internet or video accounting for the other 80%. An Associated Press article (?Porn Mag Sales Go Limp,? ? November 10, 2003), reported on the recent filings under Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code by the parent companies of Penthouse and Screw magazines. These filings underscored the importance of the online market for the industry, and demonstrate why industry members are increasingly focused on the Internet. One magazine publisher, Al Goldstien of Screw said, ?We are an anachronism; we are dinosaurs; we are elephants going to the bone cemetery to die? The delivery system has changed, and we have to change with it if we want to survive." This article also referred to Professor Samir Husni, head of the magazine program at the University of Mississippi's journalism school, who noted that several hundred new adult websites launch each month, as compared to about 30 new adult magazines for all of last year. Today there is no one authoritative body representing the online adult industry. On the contrary, many adult webmasters are small independent or niche operators who do not actively participate in any forums. The majority of these smaller operators tend to affiliate with larger companies that provide a full range of turnkey solutions (such as content, services, transactions information, news) much of which is typically private-labelled before being presented to the consumer. SUPPORT Over the past four years, ICM has worked with the key constituents within the Community to develop support for the concept of a non-profit entity representing responsible members of the online Adult-Entertainment community. At the time of submission, many of the world?s leading adult-entertainment companies have expressed support for this application. In particular, as specifically requested in the RFP, ICM has detailed letters of support from major providers in the USA, Canada, Australia, UK, and Continental Europe, expressing support for the sTLD, for the sponsoring organization and for the proposed policy-formulation process. These supporters either supply services to, or themselves manage, the majority of adult entertainment on the Internet. See Part C, Business Risks and Opportunities for further details. Following the industry outreach that ICM undertook in 2000, it quickly became apparent that the creation of an adult-oriented TLD could in fact also establish a framework for bringing together members of communities that had traditionally existed independently and in isolation from one another (such as child advocacy, privacy, free expression). ICM also realized it was partly this failure in communication that prevented the members of the online adult-entertainment community from working together with other interested stakeholders to establish responsible business practices. The proposed .xxx TLD deals with perhaps the largest sector of the Internet in terms of traffic and usage. It is only by establishing a workable, consensus-driven framework around the new TLD that all interested stakeholders can work together to serve the needs not only of the responsible online adult-entertainment industry but also of the Internet community as a whole. In turn, there is a letter of support from IFFOR, as the sponsoring organization, for ICM?s application. BENEFITS TO THE COMMUNITY ICM and IFFOR believe that the proposed TLD offers a number of potential opportunities to serve the unique needs of the responsible online adult-entertainment industry. Some of these potential benefits include potential defenses in domain-related litigation, enhanced acceptance by search-engines and therefore increased functionality, better opportunities to negotiate with credit card and transaction providers, and new marketing opportunities. In terms of possible domain name related litigation, ICM and IFFOR believe that registrants may be better positioned to use an affirmative statutory defense in connection with prosecution under newly enacted US law. Under Section 108 of the Protect Act, entitled Misleading Domain Names on the Internet (aka Truth in Domain Names), it is now a crime in the US to knowingly use a domain name to deceive a person into viewing obscenity or to knowingly using a domain name to deceive a minor into viewing material that is harmful to minors. However, Section 108 further provides that ?for the purposes of this section, a domain name that includes a word or words to indicate the sexual material on the site, such as `sex' or `porn', is not misleading. CONSUMERS OF ONLINE ADULT-ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES Although many people may have a stereotypical image of the typical consumer of adult-entertainment products and services, several recent studies have revised this image. In fact, new information reveals that those individuals interested in adult-entertainment are much more mainstream than many people would likely believe. In addition, research into search engine usage has shown that over any reasonable time period, 25% of all search terms were adult related. One of the benefits the proposed TLD will give to both providers and consumers is an environment in which responsible consenting adults can purchase adult-entertainment services online with increased confidence. Unfortunately, as with many industries, some of the online adult-entertainment community have engaged in illegal and/or questionable business practices, such as unlawful redialers, credit-card fraud, breaches of consumer privacy, email spoofing, SPAM etc. ICM and IFFOR will incorporate a best business practices provision into the registrant?s domain name registration agreement and will develop compliance mechanisms to address non-adherence. |
Would you please keep this in the other seventy .xxx threads on the first few pages?
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