Hi members of ICANN, and ICM,I find this idea - that .xxx and .kids should be
operated by the same organisation, extremely odd - to say the least.
Supposedly,
the idea is that by creating these two categories, we will prevent young people accessing
'adult content'. And perhaps, just perhaps there is some kind of perverse logic to
it, in theory.
However, in reality, I think it's more like Philip Morris sponsoring
lung-cancer research, McDonalds providing educational materials on healthy eating
to schools, or a casino setting the guidelines for programs to protect poor 'problem-gamblers'.
It seems me that the vast majority of ICM's focus is on the .xxx area. The business
plan, the key partners, the backers, and critically the source of revenue to sustain
its operation, -- all seem linked to the adult entertainment industry.
Two different
perspectives on this might be:
1. It is undoutedly true that it is in the interests
of this industry to indeed *promote* their product to younger people, or at least
create an awareness of it's existence. As with any industry, young people are the
future 'adult' consumers. Will .kids just be an online incarnation of Joe Camel?
2.
Are people whose primary financial backers the sex entertainment industry appropriate
people and significantly independent enough, to lead the way with such an emotionally
charged issue as Internet filtering, determining what is right and what is wrong
(morally) for young people to see?
There are probably other issues here, and these
are only two that occured to me just now -- looking forward to hearing other ideas,
and also a rationale from ICM.
best wishes all,
Nick