Adult Entertainment .XXX Domains Get ICANN Approval

ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, today officially approved the .XXX top level domains (TLD) to be enforced on pornographic websites. This controversial topic has been debated back and forth since it was first proposed in 2000 and then approved in 2005 only to be overturned in 2006 and once again reconsidered in 2007.

Opposition to the decision surprisingly came from both the Family Research Council (FRC) as well as the porn industry. The FRC believed that the TLD would help pornographers "expand their evil empires on the internet" while pornographers believed that it would lead to more censorship.

Companies, such as ICM Registry, which plans to sell the .XXX web addresses obviously welcome the decision but believe its for the good of minors and general online security. ICM Chief Executive Stuart Lawley stated that, "For the first time, there will be a clearly defined Web address for adult entertainment, out of the reach of minors and as free as possible from fraud or malicious computer viruses."

[via LA Times]