Just Google "xxx"

[Zen Curmudgeon]

So, a group representing online porn sites pushes an idea to add a new Internet domain name, "xxx", so that porn sites would be easier to identify. This would make it easier to set parental controls on web browsers, and easier for those seeking this material to locate it. After years of discussion and consideration, the change was about to be made. But now the US government has raised objections to the idea.

Feds Urge Delay for '.xxx' Domain
Associated Press

Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,68545,00.html

03:18 PM Aug. 16, 2005 PT

NEW YORK -- Acknowledging "unprecedented" opposition, the U.S. government has asked the internet's key oversight agency to delay approval of a new ".xxx" domain name designed as a virtual red-light district.

...The (Commerce) department received nearly 6,000 letters and e-mails expressing concerns about the impact of pornography on families and children and objecting to setting aside a domain suffix for it, said the assistant secretary for communications and information...

...A Florida company, ICM Registry, proposed .xxx as a mechanism for the $12 billion online porn industry to clean up its act. All sites using .xxx would be required to follow yet-to-be-written "best practices" guidelines, such as prohibitions against trickery through spamming and malicious scripts...

...Skeptics note that porn sites are likely to keep their existing ".com" storefronts, even as they set up shop in the new .xxx domain name, reducing the effectiveness of any software filters set up to simply block all .xxx names.

...(Christian) conservative groups such as the Family Research Council also expressed worries that creating a .xxx suffix would legitimize pornographers...

I'd guess that a "$12 billion dollar online porn industry" has a "legitimacy" all its own :).

I confess to confusion over the objections. Many of these same folks, like the Family Research Council, are on record criticizing the availability of porn on the 'Net, over cable, through DVD purchases, and in motel rooms all across the country. Offering pornographers a place of their own on the 'Net probably won't create the end of Western Civilization, but it will make porn easier to find or ignore. I just don't see how that's any worse than the ways things are right now.

Take Care -

ZC

[large]

Yeah, one would think that the triple x would let you know what you had before you opened it . .

And as far as availability is concerned, whether you desire a porn site or not, if you surf th' web much, you'll end up with far more of 'em than you ever wanted! I don't ever "Surf" just because of that . . as a matter of fact, I don't even use Yahoo because of it. While I'm not a prude, I just don't need the other stuff having a "Cookie" from a porn site brings . . .

One would've thought . . . .

[DMad]

I must agree. It can't be thought that in our current circumstances, it is any more difficult to find porn on the internet then it would be with a .xxx domain.

[Digger Dan]

Addictions begin in the brain, but the source is always out there trying to get in--take the cash out and the source may not die out, but at least it gets out of our face. As long as sell--sell--sell at any cost is our philosophy the brain will buy--buy--buy. What say we eliminate, as much as possible, the ability to grab the cash that feeds the source.

[large]

Probably the greatest problem with controlling anything on the Internet, is as far as I know or at least can guess at, is, there is no one controlling entity . . actually . .

But then it's also the internet's greatest asset . . again, because no one entity can dictate anything that is said or done . . kinda the "Ultimate" in Freedom of Speech . . Nothing wrong with that . . unless . . . the "Speech" is offensive to some.

It's going to require the wisdom of Soloman to figure out how to "Regulate" pornography on th' net . . it's really ingrained . . go to Yahoo and type in "music" . . . over half the site found will be porn sites with a musical linked name . . and if you want almost 90% porn sites . . type in "Rap Music" or just "Rap" . . and I find Yahoo is the worst offender, perhaps because, I have read, they own a group of online porn sites . . . dunno if that's actually true . . .

And several of the news sources I have explored and sometimes use, seem to have their Video sites pretty well dedicated to porn . . not to mention a couple of file sharing sites . . so if your kid wants to see porn, of any kind, all he has to do is get online . . from there on, whether he wants to see it or not, chances are, it'll be there for him!

And due to the misleading names and the .com, I don't know if the "Security settings" built into the browsers we use would work very well in the end . . never really tried it . . But I have to assume that the industry would fight the .xxx as a control, if for no other reason, they couldn't intrude on a legitimate search. I have no idea of how many people are attracted or "Hooked" by those "Pop Ups" they use or the misleading titles, but it must work . . or they'd quit doing it!

As for the "Bible Thumpers" objections to the idea . . their reasoning is clueless . . .

[DMad]

My thoughts on the "bible thumpers" is this. In everyday life, in numerous aspects, there are things objectionable to christian citizens. Now, within this citizenry, there are the "fanatic" sect, just as in any religion. These are the people who not only dictate what happens within their own universe and the universe of their family, but who try to dicate what happens in EVERYBODY'S universe. It is this group of religious idealogues who I believe view the "acceptance" of something they have deemed to be immoral as demonstrating the "deterioration of family values" within our society. Has pornography been on the internet? Heck, you could say pornography is the backbone of the internet. The most recent statisitics I have discovered indicate that as much as 75% of the content on the internet could be viewed as "adult" in nature. And have these "christians" been against pornography on the internet from the start? I'm sure they have. But now with the possible "acceptance" of internet pornography through the promotion of .xxx websites, the call can be made again for a "banding of power against this plague that threatens the core social values of family and morality". My point is this, pornography is on the internet. It's there today, it's going to be there tomorrow, it'll probably be there forever. The solution to monitoring and regulating this trend will not be found, NOR DESTROYED, by one change in practice, in this case the addition of .xxx sites. In reality, a person who deals in the pornography business will tell you that the industry does not need to "sneak" advertisements into those who don't actively view the material to support their livelihood. There are "sellers and buyers" aplenty. Let's focus on something in this society that is a little more substantial than the addition of the .xxx domain, please!!