ICANN Delays Decision on .xxx Domains: Filtering Red Light Sites

by Jacob Zinn | March 16, 2010 at 03:38 pm

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After a decade of debating, the .xxx domain suffix is still unavailable to distinguish pornographic websites as a virtual red-light district on the Internet.

The decision to allow the top-level domain has been delayed for 70 days by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers in their 37th international meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. ICANN has given its chief officer and chief lawyer 2 weeks to recommend options for the controversial issue.

For years, conservative groups in the United States have been opposed to making “.xxx” a top-level domain, saying it would legitimize pornography.

"The Department of Commerce has received nearly 6,000 letters and e-mails from individuals expressing concern about the impact of pornography on families and children," wrote DoC assistant secretary Michael Gallagher in a 2005 letter.

While adoption of the domain would be voluntary for pornographic websites, it would actually be easier for parents to filter and block sites ending with “.xxx” than pornographic sites with “.com” domains.

The Debate Over the .xxx Domain

The .xxx domain was proposed in 2000 and ICANN announced it would be implemented in 2005, but reversed its decision in 2006 and rejected another proposal in 2007.

In June 2008, the ICM Registry—a private company that would be in charge of the domain—challenged the rejection and filed an application for an independent review of ICANN’s denial of the domain.

On February 22, 2010, a panel of international jurists from the Independent Review Process determined ICANN had violated international and California law in denying the domain. This reopened the discussion for the Nairobi conference until the decision was postponed.

The board of ICANN is expected to make a decision at their June meeting in Brussels, Belgium.