.XXX domain

["Foubert, John" <john.foubert@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Members of the Board of ICANN:

I am an endowed professor at Oklahoma State University and have conducted 
research on sexual assault prevention for two decades.  I write to strong 
oppose the establishment of the .XXX domain.  The establishment of a .XXX 
domain would increase, not decrease the spread of pornography on the Internet 
and thus cause even more harm and make ICANN complicit in that harm.  That 
would be a tragic development and thus I urge you to kill the .XXX proposal 
once and for all.  There is no evidence that the public wants or needs this 
domain.  In fact, each time this idea has been proposed it has been 
overwhelmingly opposed by the public and governments throughout the world.  
There is also absolutely no evidence that any good would come of it.  Instead 
it appears that the company proposing it is merely seeking enrichment at the 
expense of the public.  Pornography addiction is skyrocketing among adult males 
and is even affecting many women and children in the same way.  Countless 
marriages are breaking up because of pornography use and sexual promiscuity is 
more widespread than ever before because of pornography.  Pornography is 
destroying lives and relationships and ICANN should not be using its authority 
to promote more of it.  Here are some specific arguments against the .XXX 
proposal:

1.)   Neither ICANN nor the company urging the establishment of this new domain 
are arguing that the .XXX domain would clean up the .COM domain and require all 
pornographers to move to .XXX.  The .COM domain is a cash cow for pornographers 
and they are not leaving it.  ICANN has no enforcement powers to make them 
leave and thus clean up .COM.  Pornographers would simply expand to .XXX and 
maintain their current .COM sites, perhaps doubling the number of porn sites 
and doubling their menace to society.
2.)   The .XXX domain will NOT make it easier to filter porn, even if all 
pornographers would voluntarily move there (and that will NOT happen).  The 
problem with filtering is not that it is difficult but rather that too few 
parents care enough to employ filters for the home or laptop computers used by 
their children.  Even if most parents did use filters on home computers, kids 
have access to the Internet outside the home.  And it isn't just the kids that 
need filtering.  Addiction to pornography by adults is rampant so everyone 
needs filtering but, sadly, few bother.  The new website Pornography Harms, 
http://pornharms.com<http://pornharms.com/>, provides overwhelming evidence of 
harm from pornography and thus the need for protection from it.
3.)   Since most families do not use effective filtering services, the .XXX 
domain would merely make hardcore pornography even easier to find for children 
seeking such material.  Thus the argument that .XXX would benefit children by 
"cleaning up the Internet" is without any basis in fact.
4.)   U.S. citizens should not believe claims by some that the U.S. Congress 
could merely pass a law requiring all porn companies to leave the .Com for the 
.XXX.  Any law attempting to force pornographers to relocate to .XXX would 
likely be declared unconstitutional because under the First Amendment, all 
pornography is "presumptively protected" by the U.S. Constitution until it has 
been determined to be "obscene" or "child pornography."  Just as the Department 
of Justice cannot force porn stores to move or go out of business because it 
believes that such stores are operating illegally, the Department cannot force 
pornographers on the .COM domain to move or go out of business without first 
charging them with a crime and having a court make a determination of 
illegality.
5.)   Hardcore pornography (or "obscene material" as it is called in U.S. law) 
on the Internet is ALREADY a violation of U.S law.  It is just not being 
prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice because those in charge are 
letting the public down.  So for those who argue that by establishing a new 
.XXX domain AND then passing by a new law requiring porn companies to move (IF 
such a law was upheld after years of litigation) we can solve our Internet porn 
problem, we must ask why these two events will suddenly compel the Department 
to begin prosecuting porn companies.  If the Department of Justice is not 
prosecuting Internet porn companies now for violating U.S. obscenity laws, it 
is not going to prosecute such companies for merely locating in the wrong 
address.
6.)   If somehow all porn sites providing obscene material would actually leave 
the .COM Domain for the .XXX Domain, they would STILL be violating U.S. 
obscenity law which prohibits such material on the Internet regardless of 
location. We don't want the Department of Justice to say to illegal porn 
companies, in effect, that it is okay to violate U.S. law as long as you do it 
on .XXX.  Men, women, and children are becoming addicted to pornography and I 
believe the rates of addiction are skyrocketing - this is a virtually untreated 
pandemic.  Many who begin by viewing adult pornography deviate down to harder 
and harder material as they continue a steady consumption of material and many 
of these will deviate down to the point that they only become excited by child 
pornography.  This is a significant factor in the growth of child pornography 
on the Internet.  Countless marriages are breaking up because of pornography 
use.  Violence against women, which is depicted in most porn films, is changing 
male attitudes toward girls and women in a very negative way.  A more 
appropriate goal should be to STOP the distribution of this destructive 
material by prosecuting those responsible for it, NOT protect pornography on 
the .XXX domain.

Sincerely,

John D. Foubert, Ph.D.

**************************************
John D. Foubert, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of College Student Development
Anderson, Farris, and Halligan Professor of Educational Studies
Program Coordinator, College Student Development Master's Degree Program
Oklahoma State University School of Educational Studies
314 Willard Hall
Stillwater, OK 74078
(405) 744-1480
(405) 744-7758 fax
john.foubert@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://okstate.academia.edu/JohnFoubert
http://www.okstate.edu/education/ses/edle/csd/csd.html