Federal Communications and IT Minister Helen Coonan has rejected a proposal to set up the .xxx domain as an internet “red-light district” for porn companies.
A vote on the proposal is expected to take place this week in Lisbon, Portugal, at a meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the international governing body for Web names and addresses.
Senator Coonan wrote to ICANN chief executive Paul Twomey last month to reaffirm the Australian Government’s opposition to the .xxx top-level domain.
It is understood Senator Coonan has also instructed the Department of Communications IT and the Arts (DCITA) representative at the meeting to lobby against the proposal.
The issue of creating a ‘virtual’ red-light district has been a confusing one, and for this ICANN meeting has created some strange lobbyist bedfellows.
Reports from the US say groups representing adult content companies have joined forces with religious groups to oppose the creation of a .xxx domain.
Online porn companies oppose the plan because although registering with the .xxx domain would be voluntary for adult content companies, it would become easy for governments to later mandate the use of .xxx – and fear that the plan would “ghetto-ise” sexual information generally.
Religious groups have opposed the domain because they say .xxx will “legitimise” explicit sexual content – and would increase the number of sex sites on the net.
They say existing XXX sites would retain their .com web addresses, and register for .xxx addresses as well – doubling the number of porn sites out there.
For more Digital Content and e-Government news, click below.
