Reuters: "Porn sites to get their own Internet domain"

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers said late Wednesday it would move ahead with plans to set up a separate .xxx Internet domain for sexually explicit material.

Sex sites won't be required to sign up for .xxx addresses. But the new domain will enable porn sites to label themselves clearly and help filtering software keep underage users away, according to ICM Registry Inc., the company that will oversee the domain.

This is a good start. I've been in favor of a .xxx or .red top-level domain for a long time, now. It's good to see ICANN, the body that sets up these domains, moving in this direction.

Now that the technical issue of establishing the domain will be resolved, it seems to me that the government would have a very legitimate way of regulating sexually explicit material online... at least that material which originates within the US. Just as it's constitutionally appropriate to regulate adult shops through city zoning laws, it should pass muster to legislate that all US adult businesses use the new .xxx domain. They could be allowed to keep their .com domains, but only to forward visitors automatically to the new .xxx site, and not for any content. Violators could be subject to heavy fines.

This would both preserve the First Amendment rights of businesses to produce and sell pornography and individuals to purchase and view it, while protecting young or unsuspecting viewers from accessing such materials by means of a very simple menu option. Browsers could automatically block sites at domains ending in .xxx, giving parents greater control without requiring costly (and often inaccurate) web filter.

Other nations could follow suit, putting pressure on pornographers to bear their share of responsibility for cleaning up the web. Although there would certainly still be "safe" nations from which adult sites could launch .com addresses, each nation to come onboard with strong legislation backed up by action would be a great improvement.

I believe strongly in civil rights, and this solution seems to be the best way to protect the rights of those who support the adult website industry, as well as to ensure that the rest of us need not be unwillingly exposed to material we deem objectionable.

ICANN has made the first move toward making it happen. Now it is up to congress to do its part. Let's hope for a speedy delivery.