March 17, 2011 at 12:20 PM ET
Wouldn't it be convenient if most pornographic websites used the .xxx Internet suffix? There'd be far fewer accidental visits to naughty corners of the Internet and parental controls would be easier to set up.
Turns out that if all goes well this Friday, we might just start seeing that suffix in use soon.
Politico reports that the International Committee on Assigned Numbers and Names (ICANN), the nonprofit group in charge of Internet domain names, is meeting to vote on the addition of the .xxx domain tomorrow.
And from the sounds of things, the domain is very likely to be approved.
Of course, as Mashable reminds us, it was also originally believed that the suffix would see approval last June — so perhaps we shouldn't get our hopes up too high:
Last June, ICANN was poised to approve the domain, according to multiple reports, but it didn’t happen.
The domain name, originally proposed by a company called ICM Registry in 2005, had been held up by the Bush Administration, which had bowed to pressure by religious groups that opposed .xxx. (Somewhat surprisingly, some pornographers have also taken issue with .xxx, declaring it a form of digital segregation.) Some proponents also point out that .xxx would result in fewer accidental landings on .com porn sites, though there’s no indication that the domain would be mandatory for all or any adult websites. The Obama Administration hasn’t taken a stand on the domain name.
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- State of Israel buys '@Israel' from Miami porn site owner
- Is U.S. leading charge to quash .gay Internet domain?
Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. She's a bit obsessed with Twitter and loves to be liked on Facebook.