Can the .xxx domain boost the porn business?

The internet is getting its own red-light district... and no one seems to be happy about it

Pornographic websites will now have their own domain, .xxx, which is meant to help keep explicit material away from children.
(Image credit: Corbis)

Eleven years after the ideas was first floated, ICANN — the body that governs internet addresses — has finally set aside a new domain, .xxx, specifically for pornographic websites. Existing porn sites can keep their current addresses, but many popular sites have already registered a dual address at the new domain to avoid confusion. Though ICANN claims the .xxx designation will help keep explicit material away from children, the idea isn't popular with adult-video makers, who fear being ghettoized online, or with conservative groups, who fear that legitimizing the porn business will encourage the creation of more porn. Even the Obama administration has come out against the plan. Why is everyone so upset?

This will lead to censorship: The new domain will make it easy for foreign governments to block material they find offensive, says Diane Duke, head of a porn industry group, in a press release. ICANN has ignored the "overwhelming outpouring of opposition from the adult-entertainment industry — the supposed sponsorship community — dismissing the interests of free speech on the internet."

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