XBiz World wants to print your thoughts on .XXX - hurry, u got 4 hours!
 

XBiz wants to hear what you have to say about .XXX - and publish your thoughts in the July issue of XBiz World. We?re interested in ALL points of view. However, we do ask that you keep your comments short and stick to the core issue.

Please note that our editorial policy restricts us from publishing rumors and personal attacks.

If selected, your comments will appear in the ?Talking Heads? section of our July issue. To be included, please post your opinion to the thread below, along with a hi-res photo, within the next 4 hours. Thank you GFY!

opinion yes
photo forget it. Can I use Lensman's?

You can submit a comment without a photo if you like :)

Xbiz is way better than AVNonline

I bet people already put up money to get all the decent names first behind the scenes I don't think theres any point registerring any hopefully it will become as popular in adult as .info

I think people are over reacting.

I feel the .xxx TLD is bad for the industry and does little to protect minors from viewing adult materials. I feel that it will simply be a means to tag adult content and make it easy for governments and ISPs to block areas of the web easily.

I feel a .kids domain will serve the public to a greater extent.

.

there has been like 8 serious threads about this, and everyone posted their opinion, not sure why repost it again

oh and i dont see anyone posting his picture here :error

I agree with you, besides, I don't have a hi-res photo of myself with a full-color target on my forehead all ready to post.

:1orglaugh

I love the "Talking Heads" especially their song "We're on the Road to Nowhere" :2 cents:

So is ASACP

How about XBiz reads all of the threads and makes their own editorial like how a journalist usually would....

Matt

Hum Let's see .xxx sounds great!

I read somewhere that some company was charging $75 for pre-registration.. (probably a scam I'm sure). If ICANN decides to charge premium rates for these domains, then I'm pretty sure there will be less takers.

I think that separating the adult side of the Internet has some benefits, but it's almost like segregation if it then means that the TLD gets generally blocked on most computers/ISP's/servers etc (ISP's love to offer those kind of 'features' to their customers).

No, we don't want children seeing porn, NO-ONE wants that, but we also want people to be able to access the sites without difficulty. Freedom of expression and all that ;)

Considering the new 2257 Regs coming in to play, imo, this new TLD is just another step in the 'Obscenity' direction to remove porn (as much as possible) from mainstream and bury it back into the 'dark corner/redlight district' so to speak.

Porn and adult material is becoming more and more mainstream with each passing year; hell, Playboy and Jenna Jameson have each released video games within the last year, and look at how much publicity and celebrity Paris Hilton got from her notorious sex video.

EVERYTHING is gearing towards sex these days, it feels like we're in another 'sexual revolution' era (it seems to me anyways) and of course the government doesn't really like it that much, since they're still of the archaic opinion that porn is bad and leads to crime.

Interestingly I read a thread the other day (yesterday I think) where someone quoted a survey conducted in Europe (and I believe some other countries) where they determined STATISTICALLY from FACTS that in those countries/regions where porn was legal, and more forms of porn were legal that the statistics on Sex Crimes (assault/rape/etc) were significantly reduced. It seems if you give Joe Blow public what he's looking for then he'll be less likely to just try to 'GET/TAKE' what he wants in whatever way he can.

Having the .XXX domains will at least enable people to easily recognise that the site they're about to view is of an adult nature, but it will mean a LOT of paperwork for a LOT of people, and a LOT of changes if it is to REPLACE the regular .com/.net/etc that is currently used.

Also, will SEO techniques necessarily work the same for a XXX domain? Things like that should definitely be addressed, let alone the big question of who has the right to what domain. If you own the .com and someone else owns the .net, and both sites are successful with good traffic etc, and have been around for the same amount of time, then who is the RIGHTFUL owner of the .XXX URL? There are lots of important questions that need to be properly addressed regarding the .XXX implementation.

My personal opinion is that this is just going to add more confusion and stress to the adult webmasters life.

:2 cents:

As for me personally, I'm all in favor of a voluntary "adults only" TLD - but would prefer a more encompassing ".adult" that could have included not only "porn" but things like gaming or other subjects of mature interest, rather than an isolationist ".xxx"

If .xxx becomes available, will you also register your adult dot-coms as dot-xxxs, just to protect your brand? I know I will - and will simply see it as a cost of doing business.

I feel that, although it will allow the industry to group together to solve any problems, it will allow groups to target porn as a domain group, rather than an entertainment type. It will create major censorship problems in the future if brought in. Not just from governments, but maybe from scared sponsors or processors requiring sites using them to be on the .xxx TLD.

http://www.sex.com/
Just look at the bottom of this site..
this is one BIG problem with the .XXX :2 cents:

Stephen

Why don't you email Gord from domainnamesystems.com (I believe you know him) as he is the first registrar to have put pre-registrations for the .xxx tld into full swing

his email is registrar@

No way in hell will these scam artists get one dime from me.

The way it has been presented as a way to 'protect the children', the $75 price point, and other points presented in other threads is enough to put me off of them. $75 for each domain? Give me a fucking break. This is clearly JUST about the people involved in .XXX making money.
If it was about more than $$$, the price would be dropped to a more reasonable level. Plus all the 'protect the children' crap :throwup

.com is simply better, without all the political rhetoric

Oh the irony... :disgust

I only see .XXX as a way to kill the porn industry & make us webmasters leave/quit & newbies give up altogether. Not to mention, all the sponsors its going to put out of buisness.

All the hard work & money that we've already put into our current .com/.net/etc domains will mean shit if .xxx becomes a reality. All SEO work (paid for or not) will mean nothing, every single webmaster would have to start over as far as link trades, traffic building, and pr ranking & SEO. Which also means that our paychecks are going to take a dramatic decrease from not only sufers not buying, but from also the sponsors pulling their sites.

What if we are forced to pay an insane price per domain, such as $75/each domain? Alot of people will quit for sure. (Me, being one of them.)

Some people say that "well, you can get your domain names that you have now, and just replace it with .xxx"...meaning that if i had www.Sex.com then I could just easily get www.Sex.xxx

That would be IMPOSSIBLE TO DO! What about the people that own Sex.net, Sex.org, Sex.biz and Sex.tv??? They wouldnt be able to get Sex.xxx .

.XXX doesnt make any sense, but if we *DO* end up resorting to using the .xxx extensions, I would seriously think about going to college to get a "real" job or go 100% mainstream.

I think you shouldn't run a article about it.

Be sure to quote me as SykkBoy ;-)

I feel .xxx is another step in furthering the agenda of sick, twisted freaks like Orrin Hatch. It will become a tool of segregation and it will only be a matter of time before religious kooks like him start banning access to .xxx domains at the ISP in his home state. It will spread like wildfire through the Jesus states.

I also hate the fact that this is being pushed as a "protect the children" agenda, when it's simply a moneymaking agenda for those involved. If these so-called "industry leaders" would just man up and say "Yes, we're doing it for the money" it wouldn't seem like such a huge pile of bullshit.

I'll protect my own children with things like keyloggers, blocking software and education. I don't need the government or some self-appointed group of industry leaders (and who are these leaders? I don't recall an election) to help me with that.

exactly!
since when did we become responsible for how adults are parenting their children anyways?

My niece has her own computer (shes 7yrs old) BUT she has all kinds of blocking software on it, I couldnt even get on Dells.com (a Wisconsin Dells website, its a place where familys go on vacation). AND, the computer is right beside my sisters computer & my niece is only allowed to use her computer when my sister is in the room so that she can monitor her (just in case software fails.)

I hate the fact that Im now being marked as a "supervising parent" for these kids that have been neglected by their own parents. Its bullshit. If little Johnny Jr. happens to stumble upon of my porn sites at age 10 because his daddy was taking a nap, thats not my fucking problem. :2 cents:

Here Stephen... perhaps this will help:

http://www.ynot.com/modules.php?op=m...cle &sid=9475

Here's my thoughts... (taken from my blog at YNOT)

http://www.ynot.com/index.php?module...etail&uid=5107

Sick of the adult industry? Love censorship? Then support .XXX today!

And don't bother telling us it's "to protect the children." We all know it won't.

In the spirit of problem solving by putting a bandage over a gaping wound (which the right wing fundamentalists have made so popular) .XXX will as an end result (if it becomes mandatory) have a much more negative effect than a positive one, not just for our industry but for free speech in general. If you believe that .XXX is a great way to protect children then you are either so caught up in your own bullshit, are ambivalent toward free speech (and the industry for that matter), or have made a deal with the devil and stand to profit off of everyone in the name of censorship and the false guise of "protecting children."

Or perhaps you fit into all 3 categories.

The very concept of hiding behind the concept of "protecting children" if part of your plan is really about profiting off the .XXX domain sales, then that is the worst kind of child exploitation of all and beyond despicable. You should be run out of this industry.

Is there such a thing as committing adult Internet treason?

As far as I'm concerned, protecting children is all about taking responsibility for your own actions. You want to protect children from viewing adult material on the Internet? You become a better parent.

And you give children their own domain. There's a "G" rating for movies and it has worked for decades. Now is the time to apply that to the Internet.

The last time I checked, the Internet was LOADED with all kinds of inappropriate material that kids can easily view and not JUST porn. Just today linked to Yahoo.com are photos of drug use and violence. All only one click away from the home page of the heaviest trafficked website in the world. Is violence and drug use kid friendly?

Perhaps .KILL or .DRUG could be added to the list of new domains needed to further censor the Internet?

What about sites that preach hate or lifestyle choices or religions that you disagree with or find "offensive"? You see where I am going with this? Support .XXX and other forms of "protecting children" aren't far behind.

Can you see what is happening here? Watching all of this unfold is like watching a car wreck happen right before your very eyes and doing nothing about it. In fact this harkens back to the "re-election" of that guy in the white house whose name I won't even bother mentioning. Seeing this whole .XXX scheme play out gives me the same sick feeling I had in November 2000 and then again in November 2004.

I look at it this way. If you TRULY have the interests of protecting children (as well as free speech) and not your own selfish and misguided interests and "moral" judgments, then you'll support a .KID TLD and push for it to go through. And push hard. Think about it. Any site that is deemed kid friendly will jump on board with a .KID domain, especially if it's totally voluntary. Why wouldn't they? It would be easier for kids to find "safe" sites, drive up all kinds of opportunities for Internet revenue, and having that extension would carry extra prestige, especially if requirements are strict.

Not to mention it would turn the tables and shut up the other "side." Because you are either for us or against us. The flawed logic behind a mandatory .XXX will do nothing but put money in a few people's pockets and pacify the right wing whackos... as well as those looking to exploit the industry for their own personal gain.

Imagine your kid coming home from school, jumping on the Internet and ONLY being able to surf sites deemed kid friendly? No porn, no violence, no drug use, no adult situations or text of any kind. If there is truly to be a kid safe zone on the Internet doesn't it make sense for it to be this way and this way only if you TRULY have the protection of children in mind??

I'll say it again... if you support .XXX, then you clearly don't support free speech, the interests and future of the adult Internet as a whole AND the protection of children. .XXX will be a reality, but it's up to all of us to fight it from becoming mandatory.

I agree that .xxx shouldn't be mandatory, but I can easily imagine that many more operators will register the dot xxx varients of their domains simply to protect their brand and hedge their bets than will opt not to in some form of "protest" - regardless of any public posturing.

And given this case, won't a dot xxx registration become "mandatory" de facto?

The question shouldn't be "Is this a good idea?" because whether or not it is won't stop its inevitable offering. The question should be "How best can we manage the challenges that will come from this offering?"

As a side note to the cost; while many (including myself) feel that $75 is excessive, I am reminded of when I first became a working webmaster in 1994, it cost $70 to register a domain. A $5 hike in price over 12 years is small inflation...

$70 was for 2 years.

And I imagine alot of insiders are 'banking' that 'xxx registration become "mandatory" de facto'

Alienq says:

The xxx domain is a good idea, but right now its all in bad timing with a very ambitious and hostile administration in power. Ultimatly many will benefit, and many wont.
Each webmaster will have to decide as the cards are laid out on the table.
You can work with it or just miss out since pandoras box has already opened.

http://www.ialien.com/level.jpg

It was free in 1993 . So that would be a $75 price hike in 13 years.

The point is that it's a reasonable cost of doing business: Just like the VISA fees; if you don't want to pay, you don't get to play ? no one's forcing anyone to register these domains...

BTW, don't mistake me for a defender of .xxx or someone who stands to gain from it - I'm just looking at the realities of the situation, which go beyond the fears of what "could" happen and recognize that this is inevitable.

So how will YOU handle the situation?

If the govenrment has thier way adult sites will be on the .xxx domain rather than the .com I dont think people realize the can of worms that are about to open if this pushes forward. For one how do you enfoce it? Keep in mind the Internet is a GLOBAL Entity.

What this means is all US owned and ran adult sites will all be on the xxx domain and Outside the US will stay .com or do as they please.

The internet cant be owned and ran by the US and their ideals.. The internet is a global entity. Sure they can muscle the US webmasters into complying.. But how are they going to get people outside the US to comply? And how is by adding the .com to xxx rule going to help anything at all when it comes to protecting the children or who ever they are trying to protect here by doing this when the net will remain the same and only a small percentage of US owned sites are forced to go xxx. The dot coms will still remain.. That is unless the govenment plans to censor out those that dont comply??

I just got back from Bejing China.. Many of our sites were blocked there by the government. Its Communist there.. No free speech, and highly government controlled censorship.. It would take something like that in order for this xxx idea to work.. But think of the backlash.. I mean we are talking censorship here to its fullest if this is going to work.

I think the land of the free is about to open a huge can of worms as it proceedes down this path. The issues of censorship, free speech are going to backlash hard as soon as the US starts playing police with the internet much like it likes to do with the world in global affairs. Censorship along with defining what should be on the xxx domain rather than a .com will be as judgemental and difficult as trying to define "obscene" or "art" has been in years past with obscinity laws..

Should be intresting. Not only will we be heading down a path of censorship, the never ending question of what is obscene and what is art will be at its Zenith not only in our industy but in our Country.

May God Bless America..
We are gunna need it.

and boneprone pics the yankess to win tonight.


that's a lock and you can quote him on it

Great read and very informative...couldn't have worded it better myself. :thumbsup

4 hours up yet?

Stephen, the cost of the domains is the least of our worries. And the whole concept behind .xxx is to have a forced migration. Congress is already talking about it. The fact that traffic flowing to our sites will be cut by 50% or more is the problem. Those that think otherwise know nothing about Net Nanny, Google PR ratings, and a whole slew of other problems which will arrise.

With a mandated switch to .xxx, a multi-billion dollar loss in revenue is "inevitable."

Quote this: "The mandated switch to .xxx will never happen. The Adult industry will at last come together and use it's collective financial power to legally destroy this push for a virtual red light district. Both .xxx and the 4 or 5 companies who fought for the mandate will be nothing but a distant memory."

xxx sucks

So uhhhh, who got it?