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Internet porn gets new address: ".xxx"

The racy side of the Internet has a new address: a ".xxx" tag for Web sites that's intended to help keep kids away from online pornography.

Web site names using the adult suffix could go on sale by year's end, joining the ranks of popular top-level addresses or "domains" such as ".com," ".org" and ".edu."

While proponents of ".xxx" say it will make it easier for families to filter Web pornography, critics argue the voluntary measure will do nothing to make adult site owners abandon their current addresses.

Many in the $12 billion adult entertainment industry also worry that it is a step toward government censorship and segregation of adult Internet content.

The new adult address was one of 10 new domains being considered by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The oversight organization approved a plan to create ".xxx" on Wednesday after rejecting a similar proposal in 2000.

ICANN said it will work out the remaining technical and price issues with ICM Registry Inc., which will administer the new address.

ICM, based in Jupiter, Fla., said in a statement that more than a quarter of all Internet searching involves pornography, and the "creation of a top-level domain for adult Web sites will help protect children."

"It isn't a complete solution, but it is a very important step in the right direction," said Parry Aftab, executive director of WiredSafety(cq), a group of volunteers who patrol the Internet looking for child pornography, molesters, scams and other threats to Web users and kids.

Aftab said it would be good business for adult sites to migrate to ".xxx," which is to be governed by rules intended to protect children, defend customer privacy and prevent Internet and e-mail scams. Abiding by such guidelines might give adult sites better relationships with online payment and credit card companies, which sometimes charge high fees or refuse to do business with pornographers, she said.

But the domain could do more harm than good, said Patrick Trueman, senior legal counsel for the Family Research Council and former chief of the Justice Department's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.

"It's a very bad idea," Trueman said. "Pornographers will go to the '.xxx' domain, but they won't leave the '.com' domain."

Trueman said a virtual "red light district" also could discourage police from bringing obscenity cases.

"You don't want to send a signal to law enforcement that the problem is solved," he said.

There are about 400 million pornographic Web pages on the Internet, published on about 2 million adult sites, according to Secure Computing Corp., which provides online filtering and security services. The company cataloged 14 million pages in 1998.

While some involved with adult entertainment are working with ICM, much of the industry opposes the new domain, said Mark Kernes, senior editor for Adult Video News and a board member of the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association whose members include adult performers, producers and webmasters.

Kernes compared ".xxx" to local laws that restrict the locations of adult shops.

"The establishment of '.xxx' is the first step in zoning adult material out of existence on the Internet," Kernes said. He said the next step might be the government requiring adult sites to move to the domain, which could be blocked by Internet services.

Such actions could lead to adult site owners moving their businesses to Web sites and domains based in countries beyond U.S. authority, Kernes said.

ICM Registry, which is run by British Internet entrepreneur Stuart Lawley, says on its Web site that it has no affiliation with the adult entertainment industry.

The sponsor of the adult domain is the International Foundation for Online Responsibility, a Canadian group with members representing child advocacy, free speech and adult entertainment groups. The sponsor group says it will develop the domain's policies with a focus on preventing child pornography and supporting free expression.

It typically takes six to nine months for new domain names to go on sale after approval, meaning ".xxx" addressees could be available by the end of the year, said Kieran Baker, spokesman for ICANN, the regulatory group.

ICANN approves applications for top-level Internet names based on technical and business considerations and does not deal with online content, Baker said.

The group in April approved ".jobs" for human resources use and ".travel" for the travel industry. Other names under consideration include ".asia," ".mail" and ".mobi" for the mobile technology industry.