.XXX Domain Pornography
[Investigation! Uncommon links! Not a regurgitation like the zillions of other posts echoing this topic!]
I'm terming the .XXX domain, "domain pornography", as a pun on its denotation and connotation.While it's theoretically domain-name-FOR-pornography, in practice, it's domain-name-AS-pornography. That is, people find the concept salacious in itself ("red-light district!")
The above application really should be read to get a concrete sense of the agenda:
".xxx CHARTER
The .xxx TLD is intended primarily to serve the needs of the global
online adult-entertainment community. ..."
And here's the "money quote" (pun intended):
"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."
In short, it's clearly a way to extract rents from bona-fide pornographers in return for a weak certification against prosecution. Not a bad business plan, since they managed to get ICANN on-board.
The dot-XXX discussion is intriguing, for the message from distinguished free-speech lawyer Robert Corn-Revere, who's on retainer ("Legal Protections for the Voluntary Nature of the .xxx Domain"). And also Usual Suspect Talking Head ("WiredSafety and its WiredKids, Cyberlawenforcement and WiredPatrol divisions") Parry Aftab's message.
Follow the money, follow the money, follow the money ...
By Seth Finkelstein | posted in censorware | on June 03, 2005 12:01 AM (Infothought permalink)
