Do not approve .xxx TLD

[Brion Vibber <brion@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear ICANN --

I'd like to register my opposition to the proposed .xxx TLD both in theory
and in practice. The proposed domain is widely opposed both by
pro-free-speech groups and by many anti-pornography groups.

It's well-documented that there's no way to create any sort of unified
definition of "adult" content, particularly when cultural and legal
traditions are hugely variant between different parts of the world. There
have been widespread abuses (both deliberately and by accident) by
governments and private businesses operating internet censorship systems
blocking informational, health, and political-oriented sites as well as
those actually designed to distribute images of nudity or sexual activity.

The notion that this can be solved by "adult content" moving to a separate
domain is at best wishful thinking, requiring either massive
government-driven censorship (leading directly to massive abuses) or simply
not happening, thus leaving censorship just as much in place on the
"mainstream" .com, .net, etc domains.

I would further argue that nearly all proposed top-level domains should be
rejected unless they can be proved useful by very serious investigation;
their primary business purpose in practice is simply getting companies to
purchase the same name in multiple domains. Instead of relieving the
perceived problem of trademarks and names being squatted in 'primary'
domains, it simply exacerbates the problem by adding new domains where
squatting can take place, costing time and money to legitimate businesses
and organizations.

In the case of the .xxx domain, neither business reasons nor political or
moral reasoning supports the proposal as beneficial to anyone other than the
pockets of the would-be registrars.

Thank you for your time.

-- brion vibber
Web applications developer, San Francisco