Oppose the .xxx domain

["Scott Coffman" <scoffman@xxxxxxxx>]

Members of the board of ICANN:

I am the owner of AEBN.com one of the larger adult sites on the
Internet. I oppose the .xxx domain on many business levels. First is the
fact that no other Industry has a domain exclusively for their Industry
unless you count the government. The Adult Industry is should not be the
first to be granted this option. Combine this with the fact that the
majority of companies in our Industry oppose having their own domain.

Although most companies in the Industry do not want the .xxx domain they
will be forced to buy these domains at a price of $60 to protect their
current .com properties. This will not only put a financial strain on
businesses in this current economic times but will also hurt small
business that may not be in the position to protect all their
properties. 

As an Industry we have funded and supported our own groups to battle
under aged porn such as ASACP and the RTA label, and by creating a .xxx
domain will be judged by anyone who puts up a site with a .xxx domain.
Many of us feel that this could be the first step in requiring all Adult
companies to be hosted on .xxx domains and for the first time an entire
Industry could be regulated based on a domain class. 

Finally from my own business experience and other leaders of the Adult
Industry, we prefer to be treated as every other business on the net and
run our brands through the top level domain .com. The consumer always
looks for the .com and that shows the business is probably the leader in
its Industry. Adult business has always wanted to just be treated as any
other Industry, we don't need our own domain, we don't want our own
domain, when all other Industries have their own domain then will look
at having our own domain but for now treat us like every other business.

Scott Coffman
President, AEBN