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ICANN Finally Creates .xxx Domain

by Terrence O'Brien on June 25, 2010 at 01:30 PM

.xxx and model
Since as early as 2001, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has been considering a move to segregate all porn sites from the rest of the Web by moving them to the .xxx top level domain (TLD). But, even after approving a voluntary use of the domain in 2005, it ran into objections from family groups who believed that having a .xxx domain would only encourage the creation of more porn, and make it easier for children to access the objectionable content. A brief glance at the Web's seedier side reveals that argument hasn't exactly held up over the years, with some estimates putting the number of pornographic websites at almost 400 million.

At a meeting this week in Brussels, the ICANN finally decided to create the .xxx domain, and allow explicit sites to move there on a voluntary basis. Most of the hundreds of millions of sites already out there will continue to have a presence on the .com side of the domain dividing line. Still, companies that make security and filtering software will be thankful for the move, which makes blocking objectionable or dangerous content easier, as any addresses ending with .xxx can be cut off in one fell swoop. The move should also generate significant revenue for ICM Registry, the company tapped to manage the .xxx TLD.

The company's founder, Stuart Lawley, told USA Today he expects to make up to $30 in revenue for each of the domain names. Addresses with the .xxx suffix will initially be sold for $60 apiece, with $10 of each sale being donated to the International Foundation for Online Responsibility (IFFOR), which will use it to fund child protection initiatives. The first .xxx addresses will be available in 2011, and ICM has reported that 110,000 have already been reserved. [From: USA Today]

Tags: ICANN, internet, kids, porn, security, tld, top, top level domain, TopLevelDomain, xxx, xxx domain, XxxDomain

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