Yes on Triple X
To the ICANN Board of Trustees-- As you know, I have been a longtime supporter of the creation of the triple X TLD in part because -- more TLDs foster competition in the marketplace, and so far ICANN has not created much more than a handful. -- ICM Registry fulfills ICANN's technical requirements. -- It's "another tool in the box" for parents to block that TLD on the way into the house, through both hardware and software means. --Best practices in triple X will, I believe, help "clean up" the adult sites in .com, since no one will bother creating two different sites: one adhering to the triple x requirements and another in free-for-all .com. Most of the comments received so far are uninformed as to where we are in this process and what ICANN actually does. ICANN, having no technical reason to deny the creation of this TLD, has already approved this TLD to go forward to the negotiation stage. That was back in June 2005 -- now we are just concerned with getting a reasonable contract. Almost a year ago, the GAC raised a series of questions about the first proposed contract and asked that ICM be required to do what it proposed to do: set up IFFOR and create oversight by its advisory board. Now, the agreement has been altered to address the GAC's concerns; in fact it seems to me that ICM is willing to give ICANN unprecedented control http://www.icann.org/tlds/agreements/xxx/gac-policy-enforcement-05jan-07.htm In particular, ICM has agreed to have IFFOR in place before they ever launch the xxx tld. By conservative estimates, due to the $10 contribution carved out of every triple X registration, IFFOR will have millions every year to support the work of "online safety organizations, child pornography hotlines, and to sponsor the development of tools and technology to promote child safety and fight child pornography." That sounds pretty good. Look at the advisory board's makeup (on the iffor site). Looks representative to me. http://iffor.org/images/IFFOR_Org_Chart.gif Make no mistake: Triple X is not a magic bullet for protecting kids. It may make blocking some of them easier. It may create zoning laws for porn in some countries, but this will not be very effective, as these sites will just pop up in other places. It is a slippery slope but out of ICANN's narrow and focused purview. Triple x will not "double" the number of porn sites. I don't believe it will increase the number of porn sites in any different numbers than they are already increasing. In reality porn producers won't have a .com and a xxx, the two domains will resolve to the same physical place. Both addresses will be pointed to the same web site, much as family.org and focusonthefamily.com go to the same place. Does that double the number of sites? No, it doubles the access to the same site. This will be a Good Thing because sites in Triple X have to adhere to quite a few best practices, and that means the .com will have to adhere to them, too, since it's really the same site. These best practices include:(http://www.icann.org/tlds/agreements/xxx/child-safety-05jan07.htm): * Prohibiting child pornography * Requiring clear labeling of registrant sites * Prohibiting misuse of personal information * Requiring accurate meta-tagging * Ensuring clear and accurate consumer disclosures * Protecting IP rights * Prohibiting use of malicious codes and technologies (i.e. spoofing) * Prohibiting fraudulent, anonymous, or unsolicited commercial emails * Prohibiting use of malicious redialers, credit card fraud, and unauthenticated use of credit cards In short, I support the current contract and urge ICANN to go forward in signing it. Jean Armour Polly Netmom.com |
