Comments on .xxx tld

[patti@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

When I first heard about .xxx, I sent ICM Registry some questions.  Stuart
Lawley and Jason Hendeles were kind enough to respond to my questions on
how .xxx would work.  After hearing from them several times, it was clear
that the only way using .xxx would have any effect at all is by the use of
parental filtering software.

Since effective filtering software already exists to keep children away
from adult sites, we do not need a new TLD.  All that is needed to block
adult sites from kids is to educate parents on the use of those filtering
softwares.  Having a new TLD will not change parents' filtering habits so
creating .xxx will not affect children's ability to access any sites.
Parents have the power to keep their children away from objectionable
material - let's teach them how.

Another useful idea would be to create a .kids TLD.  This would be more
effective as even removing adult sites from .com, .net and other TLDs would
not protect children from extremely violent or political material that is
in no way appropriate for children.  This could also make it easier to keep
children away from many child predators.

Forcing any one kind of site to a particular domain could harm our freedom
of expression and is unlikely to have any other effect that I can see.  I
am concerned that forcing sexual sites to a particular TLD will affect
certain kinds of medical sites, artists' sites, personal sites and
entertainment sites as well. 

Thank you,

Patti