Comments from Charles Jennings -Support for .xxx from founder of TRUSTe, author of 100th Window

["Kelli Emerick" <kemerick@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I am writing to communicate my unambiguous support for the ".xxx"
sponsored top level domain (TLD).  I am writing as the CEO of a software
company specializing in highly secure Internet-based cross-domain
communications; as the recently retired chairman of the board of
trustees of a high school; as a founder of TRUSTe, the Internet's
largest privacy self-regulation initiative, and as a parent and a
grandparent.

 

At TRUSTe I worked to establish a contract-based system of disclosure
and assertion that has played a significant role in helping raise the
bar for online privacy-and for trust and confidence in the Web
generally.  I think the .xxx proposal-with its emphasis on
self-regulatory standards for online adult content-has the potential to
do the same thing.

 

If there is going to be an "adult" TLD, then the ICM  Registry and the
proposed foundation [IFFOR] proposal is clearly the best way to do it.
The proposal demonstrates a comprehensive, well thought out, responsible
approach, delegating the policy making to an independent non-profit
organization (IFFOR).

 

As the Internet is a global medium, national (local) legislation will
have little, if any, effect.  The new .xxx TLD will have the benefit of
having global reach and be able to maintain the self-regulatory
guidelines and ensure those that come into its tent  abide by those
guidelines through enforceable contractual agreements. This would not
work if a government tries to mandate entities into a .xxx space.  

 

In my book The Hundredth Window: Protecting Your Privacy and Security on
the Internet (Simon & Schuster; 2000; pp 86-88), I reported on a
remarkable consequence of the Children's Online Protection Act, or COPA,
passed by Congress and enacted into law in 1998.  The surprising result:
a marked increase in online identity theft.  It seems that the only "age
verification system" meeting the requirements of the legislation was the
international credit card system.  This fact gave unscrupulous website
operators with a bit of lurid content an excuse to ask for credit card
and personal identifying information for users (who frequently turned
out to be adolescent boys, using their father's card-since the age
verification did not result in a bill or notice).  Porn sites starting
popping up that were nothing more than credit card and personal identify
collection schemes...leading to massive, organized identity theft.  And
helping to launch a new criminal industry, which continues undeterred
today.

 

The .xxx approach, instead of relying on new laws, puts the forces of
the free market to work in order to manage the inevitably huge flows of
adult content, while preserving or enhancing the overall integrity of
the Web.  The .xxx approach helps build trust and confidence in the
public network, generally, by categorizing responsible adult content
into one domain, and excluding those with anti-social, deceptive
practices of any kind.  Once established, I believe this domain would
quickly obtain the marketplace clout of a powerful brand-and one that
many would have a great self interest in protecting!  The dynamics of
strict brand-protection, managed through contractually enforceable
agreements with .xxx site operators, will bring higher standards to the
adult industry much faster than any regulation.  And, it will make the
parental job of screening out large blocks of adult content much easier
as well.

 

Rarely does one get a clear chance to do great good in one small step.
This is the right thing to do.  Your decision to approve the proposed
.xxx domain contract is one such chance.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

 

 

Charles Jennings

CEO, Swan Island Networks, Inc.