.xxx
Encyclopedia
.xxx is a sponsored top-level domain
(sTLD) intended as a voluntary option for pornographic
sites on the Internet
. The sponsoring organization is the International Foundation for Online Responsibility (IFFOR). The registry is operated by ICM Registry LLC. The ICANN
Board voted to approve the sTLD on March 18, 2011. It went into operation on April 15, 2011.
The TLD entered its sunrise phase
on 7 September 2011 at 16:00 GMT; the sunrise period ended 28 October 2011. Landrush
will be 8 November through 25 November, and General Availability commences on 6 December 2011.
, now commonly applied to pornographic
movies as "XXX".
A gTLD (generic top-level domain) for sexually explicit material was proposed as one tool for dealing with the conflict between those who wish to provide and access such material through the Internet, and those who wish to prevent access to it, either by child
ren and adolescents
, or by employees at their workplaces.
Advocates of the idea argue that it will be easier for parents and employers to block the entire TLD, rather than using more complex and error-prone content-based filtering, without imposing any restrictions on those who wish to access it. Editors of explicit content sites are also afraid that the use of a single gTLD like .xxx would also make it easier for search engines to block all of their content.
Critics of the idea argue that because there is no requirement for providers of explicit content to use the TLD, sexually explicit material will still be commonplace in other domains, making it ineffectual at restricting access, and simply creating a new "landrush" as registrants of .com domains hosting explicit material attempt to duplicate their registrations in the
ICANN announced on June 1, 2005 a preliminary approval of
On June 6, 2008, in accordance with ICANN bylaws, ICM filed an application for an independent review challenging ICANN's decision, and in September 2009, a live hearing was held in Washington DC, where both sides submitted documentary evidence and witness testimony. on February 19, 2010 ICANN's Independent Review Panel (IRP) issued its findings. The Panel found that the application for the ".XXX sTLD met the required sponsorship criteria," and that "the Board’s reconsideration of that finding was not consistent with the application of neutral, objective and fair documented policy". At the ICANN meeting in Nairobi in March 2010 the board resolved to consider "process options". A 45 day public comment was opened on March 26, 2010. At the Brussels ICANN meeting in June 2010, the ICANN board resolved to restart the process, including renewed due diligence and GAC consultations.
On March 18, 2011, ICANN's board approved the execution of the registry agreement with ICM for the
ICM is expected to make over $200 million a year, with 3 to 5 million domain registrations, as companies are anticipated to defensively register their domains.
, filed a request for a 2nd ICANN Independent Review Proceeding. In the request Manwin asks that the .xxx delegation be voided, or, if not, put up to competition on renewal.
On the same day Manwin, together with adult film studio Digital Playground
, filed a suit in the Central District of California against ICM alleging Antitrust
and Competition
violations.. Amongst the claims in the suit are that that ICANN provided "no competitive process for the award of the .XXX registry contract" and that ICM CEO Stuart Lawley "has announced that he expects to be able (and intends) to prevent the establishment of any other (potentially competing) adult-content TLDs, including through a contractual promise by ICANN not to approve such TLDs".
, a private domain registration service unaffiliated with ICANN, via an alternative DNS root
. New.net no longer offers domain names under this unofficial TLD.
Another unofficial
.
Sponsored top-level domain
A sponsored top-level domain is one of the categories of top-level domains maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet....
(sTLD) intended as a voluntary option for pornographic
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
sites on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. The sponsoring organization is the International Foundation for Online Responsibility (IFFOR). The registry is operated by ICM Registry LLC. The ICANN
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
Board voted to approve the sTLD on March 18, 2011. It went into operation on April 15, 2011.
The TLD entered its sunrise phase
Sunrise Period
A sunrise period is a period of time after the launch of a new top-level domain or second-level domain during which owners of trademarks may register a domain name containing the owned mark....
on 7 September 2011 at 16:00 GMT; the sunrise period ended 28 October 2011. Landrush
Landrush Period
A landrush period is the time during which domain names are available for registration, usually to a closed group, to entities that do not own a trademark in the name they wish to register, for example generic terms like loan or car, and thus would not qualify for registration during the sunrise...
will be 8 November through 25 November, and General Availability commences on 6 December 2011.
Background
The .xxx name is inspired by the former MPAA and BBFC "X" ratingX-rated
In some countries, X is or has been a motion picture rating reserved for the most explicit films. Films rated X are intended only for viewing by adults, usually legally defined as people over the age of 17.-United Kingdom:...
, now commonly applied to pornographic
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
movies as "XXX".
A gTLD (generic top-level domain) for sexually explicit material was proposed as one tool for dealing with the conflict between those who wish to provide and access such material through the Internet, and those who wish to prevent access to it, either by child
Child
Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
ren and adolescents
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
, or by employees at their workplaces.
Advocates of the idea argue that it will be easier for parents and employers to block the entire TLD, rather than using more complex and error-prone content-based filtering, without imposing any restrictions on those who wish to access it. Editors of explicit content sites are also afraid that the use of a single gTLD like .xxx would also make it easier for search engines to block all of their content.
Critics of the idea argue that because there is no requirement for providers of explicit content to use the TLD, sexually explicit material will still be commonplace in other domains, making it ineffectual at restricting access, and simply creating a new "landrush" as registrants of .com domains hosting explicit material attempt to duplicate their registrations in the
.xxx domain, competing with operators who hope to register desirable names unavailable in other TLDs. There is also concern that the existence of .xxx will lead to legislation making its use mandatory for sexually explicit material, leading to legal conflicts over the definition of "sexually explicit", free speech rights, and jurisdiction.ICANN / ICM
The .XXX TLD was first proposed in 2000 by ICM Registry and resubmitted in 2004, but it faced strong opposition from politicians and conservative groups.ICANN announced on June 1, 2005 a preliminary approval of
.xxx as an sTLD similar to .aero.aero.aero is a generic top-level domain used in the Domain Name System of the Internet. It is the first sponsored top-level domain based on a single industrial theme. The aero domain is reserved for companies, organizations, associations, government agencies, and individuals in aviation-related...
, .travel.travelThe domain name travel is a top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. Its name suggests the intended and restricted use by travel agents, airlines, bed and breakfast operators, tourism bureaus, and others in the travel industry....
, etc. ICM said it would charge $60/year for domains. In December 2005, discussions about the implementation of .xxx were taken off the agenda of ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), placing its future in doubt. In its March 2006 meeting, the GAC formulated a letter of concern to the ICANN board about .xxx. On May 10, 2006, ICANN reversed the approval. On January 6, 2007, ICANN put up for public comment a revised proposal following changes to the policy of the ICM registry including the policing of any site that signs up to use the .xxx registry. On March 30, 2007, the ICANN board again rejected the .xxx proposal for the third time.On June 6, 2008, in accordance with ICANN bylaws, ICM filed an application for an independent review challenging ICANN's decision, and in September 2009, a live hearing was held in Washington DC, where both sides submitted documentary evidence and witness testimony. on February 19, 2010 ICANN's Independent Review Panel (IRP) issued its findings. The Panel found that the application for the ".XXX sTLD met the required sponsorship criteria," and that "the Board’s reconsideration of that finding was not consistent with the application of neutral, objective and fair documented policy". At the ICANN meeting in Nairobi in March 2010 the board resolved to consider "process options". A 45 day public comment was opened on March 26, 2010. At the Brussels ICANN meeting in June 2010, the ICANN board resolved to restart the process, including renewed due diligence and GAC consultations.
On March 18, 2011, ICANN's board approved the execution of the registry agreement with ICM for the
.xxx sponsored top level domain. The vote was 9 in favor, 4 against, with 3 abstentions.ICM is expected to make over $200 million a year, with 3 to 5 million domain registrations, as companies are anticipated to defensively register their domains.
Manwin suits
On November 16 2011 Manwin Licensing International, a company that operates several popular adult websites including YouPornYouPorn
YouPorn is a free pornographic video sharing website. Since starting in August 2006, it has become the most popular pornographic website. In November 2007, it was reported to be the largest free pornographic website on the Internet...
, filed a request for a 2nd ICANN Independent Review Proceeding. In the request Manwin asks that the .xxx delegation be voided, or, if not, put up to competition on renewal.
On the same day Manwin, together with adult film studio Digital Playground
Digital Playground
thumb|right|250px|Digital Playground's 2010 Contract Girls at the [[AVN Adult Entertainment Expo]] at the [[Sands Expo]], [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] on January 7, 2010...
, filed a suit in the Central District of California against ICM alleging Antitrust
Sherman Antitrust Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act requires the United States federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of violating the Act. It was the first Federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies, and today still forms the basis for most antitrust litigation by...
and Competition
Competition law
Competition law, known in the United States as antitrust law, is law that promotes or maintains market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies....
violations.. Amongst the claims in the suit are that that ICANN provided "no competitive process for the award of the .XXX registry contract" and that ICM CEO Stuart Lawley "has announced that he expects to be able (and intends) to prevent the establishment of any other (potentially competing) adult-content TLDs, including through a contractual promise by ICANN not to approve such TLDs".
Alternative implementations
Starting in 2005, there was an alternative implementation of.xxx by New.netNew.net
New.net is an alternate DNS root system which is enabled via NewDotNet, a DNS hijacker application, which is usually bundled with legitimate software...
, a private domain registration service unaffiliated with ICANN, via an alternative DNS root
Alternative DNS root
The Internet uses the Domain Name System to associate the names of computers with their numeric IP addresses and with other information. The top level of the domain name hierarchy, the DNS root, contains the top-level domains that appear as the suffixes of all Internet domain names. The official...
. New.net no longer offers domain names under this unofficial TLD.
Another unofficial
.xxx TLD was previously available through the alternative DNS root system administered by the now-defunct AlterNICAlterNIC
AlterNIC was an unofficial, controversial Internet domain name registry that relied on an alternative DNS root. The primary purpose of the project was to challenge the monopoly of InterNIC, the official governing body for generic top-level domains until the creation of the ICANN in 1998...
.
Further reading
- ICANN Board rationale for approval March 18, 2011 (pdf)
- "Chronological History of ICM’s Involvement with ICANN". ICANN website. (nds with Independent Review Panel declaration of February 19, 2010)
- W3C: Why Using TLDs for Filtering is Ineffective, Harmful, and Unnecessary
- RFC 3675 .sex Considered Dangerous
External links
- IANA .xxx whois information
- http://about.xxx
- http://iffor.org