As of 6th December 2011, web addresses ending in .xxx went on general sale. 100000 domains had already been sold restrictively since September. But what does this mean? What change will this make to how the internet is run?
Two of the world’s biggest pornography sites have already accused the ICM registry of being “anti-competitive” and trying to create a “monopoly”. This follows after years of discussions as to whether to adapt to the .xxx method. The ICM registry is charging annual fees of $60 per domain, 10 times the amount of other top domain names.
So why are the ICM registry doing this? They claim that using the .xxx domain name for pornography sites will be safer than traditional pornography sites as they will benefit from daily malware scans by the firm MacAfee. It will also make it easier for parents to adjust internet security settings to stop children from viewing the pages.
In simpler way, using .xxx will allow for safer pornography websites, improving safety for children and making the sites a lot safer to use as they will be monitored by MacAfee. However, ICM registry will be taking advantage of this by charging higher prices, which puts pornography companies at a disadvantage. This seems quite similar to the idea of net neutrality, where a company tries to create a monopoly in the market based on paying for internet services, so is this really a good idea? Will changing the domain names of pornography websites to .xxx really improve security for children and general internet security, or is it just a way for ICM registry to increase their revenues?
The Robert Morris University has already purchased domain names ending in .xxx in order to stop people creating pornography websites based on its university. Should Brunel adopt a similar approach? We wouldn’t want to hear of a website called Babylon’s in St Johns!
Should Brunel adopt a similar approach? We wouldn’t want to hear of a website called Babylon’s in St Johns!
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I think it's a great idea! Parental control (and any kind of control in general) would be far easier to use with the .xxx domain. Also, it feels natural to have a different kind of domain for porn sites.
ReplyDeleteThe issue with this is that pornographic websites will not be compelled to move to the .xxx domain, only supplement their existing .com homepage. Does anyone honestly believe that Playboy is going to surrender their .com address for the convenience of net filtering?
ReplyDeleteIt's not for lack of a .xxx domain that sex.com has been changing hands for over $10 million for sometime now (http://bit.ly/cpd7AY), no it is the prestige of having the .com. You can see this not only in the titillation industry; for instance, why do UK companies like play.com, hotels.com, ft.com and more choose .com over, say, .co.uk?
While it might be convenient to think that separating pornographic imagery off from the internet as a whole will protect us, it simply doesn't work in reality and is nothing more than a safety blanket offering no real protection for our youngsters. If anything, it will simply increase the number of domains hosting pornographic content as organisations like the aforementioned Playboy will be forced to hold two, rather than just one, illicit domain to protect their own trademark from competing peddlers of flesh.
As to whether Brunel (or any other organisation, including illicit websites) should be essentially blackmailed into buying domains they do not want nor need, the answer is a resounding "No". ICANN, the organisation who oversees domain names, already has a comprehensive policy to allow trademark owners to take back their domain name from squatters (http://bit.ly/17pkn2). ICM, the organisation that is operating the new .xxx domain has extended these procedures to allow trademark owners to fast-track any infringing domain names - for the tidy sum of $1300 (http://bit.ly/pFYgvr). Once suspended the domain is reserved which both ensures that no further infractions take place and the trademark owner is not saddle with expensive reoccurring registration fees.
The real question, is the .xxx domain a good idea is also doubtful. The realities of it's implementation is flawed and the idea that blocking content would be easier is questionable at best - so much for free speech - why is it unacceptable for China to block "tienaman square", but reasonable for Australia to block pornographic websites (http://bit.ly/148fhr)?
Finally, one must recognise the .xxx domain for what it is: nothing more than a savvy private company set to make upwards of $200 million (http://bit.ly/fS1iih) selling nothing but thin air through fear.
Bobby I will agree with you with the fact that it would definitely improve safety for children and deny them from accessing pornographic websites which will also satisfy parents and they will be able to allow their children to use the internet on their own without having to worry about such things. The idea of charging however is just a way of earning revenue for ICM.
ReplyDelete