We’ve all done it. While innocently Googling a phrase at the office, we accidentally pull up a porn site on screen that we didn’t expect. Over the weekend the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved a new top-level domain ending that could potentially alleviate some of those embarrassing moments. Operators of sexually explicit sites now have the option of choosing a .XXX domain name instead of a .com or .net domain name. So web addresses could now read “www.pornsite.xxx” instead of “www.pornsite.com”.
ICANN actually approved the motion back in 2005. But withdrew its approval after the Bush administration demanded the .XXX domain not be added to domain registries. Religious groups at the time said it would be a public endorsement of what they felt was immoral material.
But like it or not, makers of porn have freedom of speech rights. So ICANN has decided to move forward with the .XXX domain. A United States government agency, its main function is to neutrally make sure the internet works properly and safely, not to censor it.
But even some of the porn industry is pushing back on the new .XXX domain. It currently is merely a voluntary option made available to the sites due to the crowding of the .com domain. But many fear the government will force porn sites onto the new domain, corralling them into a digital ghetto.
I for one don’t see what would be wrong with that. The people who look at internet porn now wouldn’t mind typing .XXX instead of .com. Porn might have freedom of speech rights. But just like a copy of Hustler at the corner store, it can’t be freely distributed to minors or anyone who doesn’t wish to view it.
.XXX would enable those of us who want to avoid internet porn do so much more easily, while allowing the operators of the site to run them with greater ease. .XXX domains could easily be blocked with parental controls on web browsers; or omitted from web search results on Google. But those of us who still wish to view the material can still browse .XXX web addresses with great ease.
It really seems like a win-win situation here. Porn sites preserve their freedom of speech. And everyone gets a real choice about whether or not they are exposed to this type of material.
© Kelly Podzemny. All rights reserved.
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