May 15, 2006 | Sex & Society

Dot-xxx is dead

If you want to easily locate Internet pornography -- or hope to segregate and avoid it -- a dot-xxx domain for adult websites probably seems like a good idea. That idea, however, has officially been squashed thanks to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which voted last week to reject it once and for all.

ICANN's board voted 9 to 5 against the domain proposal last Wednesday, according to CNET News. The proposal's defeat was not a surprise, experts say, due to the poltical energy surrounding it.

Conservative groups that oppose dot-xxx have said the controversial domain would legitimize pornography, while supporters have argued that it would make it easier for consumers to avoid it. The industry itself, meanwhile, has said that a dot-xxx domain would unfairly segregate it online, and has pushed instead for a dot-kids domain to house family-friendly content.

ICANN insists that the decision to reject dot-xxx was not political. But The European Union  is not so sure, according to Reuters. It reports EU officials as saying that the decision further underscores the need to make ICANN independent, as the organization controls all Internet domain names but cannot make changes to the system without approval of the U.S. Commerce Department.

"We see here a first clear case of political interference in ICANN," said Martin Selmayr, spokesman for EU Information Society and Media Commissioner, Viviane Reding.

The defeat of dot-xxx is a victory both for conservatives and for the adult entertainment industry, though for very different reasons. Porno politics does make for strange bedfellows!

• ICANN rejects .xxx domain [CNET News]
• EU slams interference in sex site vote [CNET News]