I Oppose the .XXX Domain

[edaubin@xxxxxxx]

Dear Members of the Board of ICANN: 

I am writing to urge you to kill the proposal of the .XXX domain. In addition 
to strong opposition from both sides of the argument, this new domain would 
only increase the amount of pornography available on the Web, easing 
accessibility to hard core pornography to minors and adults alike. Pornography 
is a widespread, ever-growing crisis, polluting the minds of its viewers and 
negatively changing attitudes towards women and children. Please do NOT 
participate in the destruction of marriages, the abuse of children, and the 
demise of our culture.

Here are some thoughts regarding the .XXX domain:

The creation of the .XXX domain will NOT clean up the .COM domain and require 
all pornographers to move to .XXX. The .COM domain is a cash cow for 
pornographers and they won't leave it. ICANN has no enforcement powers to make 
pornographers leave and thus clean up .COM. Pornographers will simply expand to 
.XXX and maintain their current .COM sites, perhaps doubling the number of porn 
sites and doubling their menace to society.
 The .XXX domain will NOT make it easier to filter porn, even if all 
pornographers 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 kids who 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 - provides overwhelming evidence of harm from pornography 
and thus the need for protection from it.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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. The 
Department of Justice should not 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 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.

A more appropriate goal should be to STOP the distribution of this destructive 
material by prosecuting those responsible for it, not to protect pornography on 
the .XXX domain.Again, please kill the proposal of the .XXX domain.

Respectfully submitted,

Enrique Daubin
Greensboro, NC