ICANN has finally agreed that xxx domains will be hitting the World Wide Web soon. The decision has taken many years and has a lot of supporters and dectractors, but it means that pornographic sites will be under a moderated and trusted domain for easier control and reliability.
The decision to offer xxx domain links is not going to be forced onto companies and site owners, it will be completely optional, but it means that porn content can be contained under a seal of safety and reliability. ICM Registry, a Florida based company who will handle the administration have said it will monitor the websites under the domain to make sure that standards are kept – removing viruses, spyware and spam sites from their services.
The company also claim that some of the registration fees will be diverted towards an affiliated foundation to promote free speech and to fight child pornography. The xxx domain does intend to bring higher standards to the online pornography industry.
Negatively, by putting all pornographic sites under the xxx umbrella, it means that censorship by restrictive governments will be much easier. A blanket ban of all domains ending in .xxx will be straightforward and easily made possible by government monitoring systems. There is also the risk of cyber squatters who can easily purchase the best names then sell them off later at much higher prices.
KitGuru says: A good or a bad thing?