.xxx domain discussion
Dear Forum Members, I was appalled to read that Michael Gallagher, assistant secretary for communications at the Commerce Department, wrote ICANN chairman Vinton Cerf to infer that designating the .xxx domain suffix for pornographers wouldn't serve the public interest based on the "unprecedented correspondence opposed" to doing so. Six thousand people had submitted correspondence opposed. Mr. Gallagher should be aware of the fact that over 2,000,000 Americans wrote letters in opposition to the FCC authorizing media companies to further consolidate, but that Bush administration officials ignored those views and the White House surreptitiously made a deal giving the media giants everything they wanted. (Surreptitiously because it undermined a deal the Senate had already cut, which would have restricted consolidation to 28% max, which was in line with what the two million writers, truly an unprecedented show of public interest, thought reasonable.) Now 6,000 letters is suddenly enough public expression to drive policy recommendations!? Get real! One mega-church could have spun that in an afternoon! Designating a domain for porn will reduce the chances of children inadvertently finding a porn site while doing normal searches. It serves the public interest to allow pornographers to segregate themselves voluntarily. One would think that the economic incentives of being locating where porn consumers are likely to look for vendors would have that effect. Not surprisingly, it is the Bush-camp darling Family Research Council represented the conservative position that providing a .xxx domain would legitimize pornographers. Sorry folks, but $12billion in revenues gives pornographers all the legitimacy they care about, now what other "less government" solution is there? Let's be clear here; none. That $12,000,000,000 is (equal to about $400 for every single breathing American), is being spent by more than the puny 6,000 conservative letter-writers. The purchases made by online porn consumers reflect, in fact, active support for the industry, and an implied consent to make those vendors easily identifiable. Designating the .xxx domain for pornographers would therefore serve the interests of all parties. What does the forum think? Sincerely, Rob Ferguson Chicago |