Opposition to .xxx TLD
Gentleones: I am writing in opposition to the .xxx domain. There are several reasons for my opposition. 1. The .xxx domain will facilitate the restriction of speech. If (as has already been contemplated) various governmental and quasi-governmental agencies force all adult entertainment entities to acquire and host all adult content on a .xxx domain, it will have a chilling effect on the US Constitution, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and numerous other free speech protections in other countries. While I realize that ICM swears up and down that .xxx will not be a *requirement* per se for sites containing adult content, numerous legislators, legislative bodies, and others have already stated their desire to do exactly that. 2. Additionally, the .xxx domain will create confusion, since some content that is in a "grey area" may or may not fall within the .xxx domain criteria. This is a legal nightmare, wasting the court system's time in various countries to determine what sort of speech, content, discussion, etc does or does not fall within the confines of the .xxx domain. 3. The .xxx domain goes against the fundamental principles of the internet, which include a minimum of regulation, an open and neutral network that allows all of those with an opinion or voice to voice it, and for anyone with access to the Net to be able to access any website on the Net (China, of course, excluded...) I do not understand why ICANN seeks to promote a proposal that will, in all likelihood, have the effect of limiting speech. 4. Among those in the adult industry with full understanding of what the .xxx initiative represents, a very high percentage are against the creation of the .xxx registry. Since ICANN has already publicly stated that it will only move forward with the .xxx domain if there is widespread support from the industry, this reason alone should be enough to kill the proposal. 5. It is clear that after the .eu debacle, ICANN is not capable of adequate oversight of the rollout of a new domain to prevent those with money, technical resources, or connections from corrupting the process of registering .xxx domains, even after having been warned in advance of the corruption of the process. This problem started with the .info domain, in which tens of thousands of domains were fraudulently registered with fake trademark registrations, yet nothing was done about it. The .eu process cleaned up the trademark process, but did not do anything to prevent fraudulent registrars from registering hundreds of thousands of names for themselves. The .xxx landrush will make the .eu one look like child's play. Unless ICANN wants to be embroiled in lawsuits it can ill afford to defend from thousands of deep-pocketed defendants, it would be wise to simply vote down this proposal. 6. The proposal has already come up numerous times and been shot down. The US government is opposed, the industry is opposed, and most other people -- except those who stand to cash in -- are opposed. Clearly ICM wants to cash in, and their interest in doing so is for no other reason than greed -- why else would they propose setting the .xxx domain registration prices so exhorbitantly high? It should be obvious that greed is not a valid reason to approve ICM's request. ICANN is supposed to work for the good of the Net community, not to work for the enrichment of a particular registrar. I hope that you will actually listen to the voices of those in the industry and in government, and kill this proposal once and for all. Thank you for your consideration. Chip White Media Resource Communications, Inc |