Help Others Restore Integrity
Help Others Restore Integrity 3 minute read

.XXX Domain Approved

Last Updated: April 10, 2015

 

The .XXX domain is coming to a computer near you.

In an October editorial, Pure Minds Online addressed the proposed .XXX domain as a virtual “red light district.” This new top-level domain (like .COM or .ORG), though it does not yet exist, already has over a quarter of a million domains pre-reserved for it. Finally after years of discussion, on March 18 the Board of ICANN decided to move forward with the proposal. Negotiations are underway, and the new domain will be available in a matter of months.

To date, this issue has garnered more worldwide public comments than any other issue in ICANN’s history. Ironically, both spokespersons from conservative religious groups and from the adult industry find themselves on the same side of the fence concerning this proposal.

Diane Duke is the executive director of the Free Speech Coalition—the trade association for the adult industry. Last week she said the FSC would encourage porn companies to boycott the the new domains. ICANN, she says, has totally disregarded the overwhelming opposition from the adult entertainment industry. The FSC is concerned .XXX will create a virtual, stigmatized “porn ghetto,” one that is easier for world governments to censor.

This was the same objection raised by ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) back in December. According to ICANN’s Bylaws, the Board is required to consider the opinion of the GAC on public policy concerns. In 2007 the GAC raised serious concerns about the .XXX domain, which effectively delayed the Registry Agreement for years. Last December the GAC said it was concerned that some national governments would likely prohibit access to the triple-x suffix, thereby threatening the domain name system itself.

Patrick Trueman, former Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section for the U.S. Department of Justice, says it would be unconstitutional to force pornography away from the .COM domain and into .XXX. But even if this did happen at some point, Trueman believes the government would likely not enforce the law anyway. “If the Department of Justice is not prosecuting Internet porn companies now for violating U.S. obscenity laws, it is not going to prosecute such companies for merely locating in the wrong address.”

ICANN’s Board responded to this objection, saying, if any blocking of the .XXX domain occurs, there is no evidence that this will be any different than the blocking some governments already do. As far as the lawfulness of blocking whole domains or the effect this will have on the porn industry’s profits are concerned, ICANN has made no comment.

The .XXX domain will be managed by the Florida company, the ICM Registry. Their chief executive, Stuart Lawley, said “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.” This has been the long-standing argument for promoters of .XXX. It creates a win-win situation: adult entertainment lovers have a corner of the Web they can call their own, and it will be something relatively easy to regulate and block from minors.

But not everyone buys this argument. In fact, back in 2007, the GAC was concerned about appropriate measures being put in place to restrict illegal pornographic content, to safeguard children from exposure to pornography, and to assist law enforcement agencies in identifying owners of specific web domains. Now, four years later, the ICANN Board believes these concerns have been adequately addressed by the ICM Registry.

“The establishment of a .xxx domain would increase, not decrease the spread of pornography on the Internet,” says Patrick Trueman, “causing even more harm to children, families and communities, and make ICANN complicit in that harm.”

Dwayne Hastings, vice president at the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission agrees: “The addition of this new domain will just make the Internet even more of a moral minefield.”


The .XXX domain: What do you think?

In a recent online survey, Covenant Eyes asked people their opinions about the .XXX domain issue:

  • 70% said they believed the .XXX domain would make porn easier to find online.
  • 67% said they agreed that the .XXX domain would make porn easier to filter.
  • 50% said they believed the new domain would legitimize porn as mainstream entertainment.
  • 40% said they agreed that the .XXX domain would increase the amount of porn online.
  • 63% said they strongly agreed that all Internet pornography should be forced to use the .XXX domain.
Comments on: .XXX Domain Approved

Related in Help Others Restore Integrity

Editor's Picks

An empty church sanctuary.

Help Others Restore Integrity

How Porn Affects Church Attendance

As time goes on, it seems like more and more Christians are…

6 minute read

Read Post

Editor's Picks

Covenant Eyes podcast team in studio with Allen Parr.

Help Others Restore Integrity

Unmasking Spiritual Deception: A Conversation With Pastor Allen Parr

In a world filled with spiritual complexities and theological debates, finding the…

3 minute read

Read Post

Editor's Picks

Black and white photo of an empty podium.

Help Others Restore Integrity

Porn’s Devastating Impact on Christian Leadership

In 2021, Barna found that 38% of pastors had thought about quitting…

4 minute read

Read Post

Editor's Picks

3 men in therapy discussing porn addiction.

Help Others Restore Integrity

What Is Porn Addiction?

If you’re looking to learn about porn addiction, this article is for…

12 minute read

Read Post

Editor's Picks

The front of a historic Catholic church against a blue sky.

Help Others Restore Integrity

5 Steps to Implement Safe Haven Sunday in Your Parish

Regardless of the size of a parish, the role of the parish…

6 minute read

Read Post

Editor's Picks

A woman sharing about church resources with a group.

Help Others Restore Integrity

5 Resources Your Parish Needs to Be Sharing to Equip Marriages and Families

Addressing pornography in your parish can be a full-time job, and maybe…

6 minute read

Read Post

Related in Help Others Restore Integrity

An empty church sanctuary.

Help Others Restore Integrity

How Porn Affects Church Attendance

As time goes on, it seems like more and more Christians are…

As time goes on, it seems like more and more Christians are watching porn. The average pew-sitter today is likely to have struggled with pornography at some point. And this struggle is also likely to…

6 minute read

0 comments

Covenant Eyes podcast team in studio with Allen Parr.

Help Others Restore Integrity

Unmasking Spiritual Deception: A Conversation With Pastor Allen Parr

In a world filled with spiritual complexities and theological debates, finding the…

In a world filled with spiritual complexities and theological debates, finding the true path to spiritual enlightenment can be daunting. Misleading doctrines and false teachings often lurk in the shadows, leading believers astray. To shed…

3 minute read

0 comments

Black and white photo of an empty podium.

Help Others Restore Integrity

Porn’s Devastating Impact on Christian Leadership

In 2021, Barna found that 38% of pastors had thought about quitting…

In 2021, Barna found that 38% of pastors had thought about quitting the ministry. Certainly, the difficulty of leading a church in the COVID era was a major factor in these results. The overall trends…

4 minute read

0 comments

3 men in therapy discussing porn addiction.

Help Others Restore Integrity

What Is Porn Addiction?

If you’re looking to learn about porn addiction, this article is for…

If you’re looking to learn about porn addiction, this article is for you. In it, we’ll look at some of the controversies about porn addiction, some of the different terminology that’s used to understand it,…

12 minute read

0 comments

The front of a historic Catholic church against a blue sky.

Help Others Restore Integrity

5 Steps to Implement Safe Haven Sunday in Your Parish

Regardless of the size of a parish, the role of the parish…

Regardless of the size of a parish, the role of the parish priest and his leadership team is essentially the same: the salvation of souls. This is the sole reason for the Incarnation, Passion, Death,…

6 minute read

0 comments

A woman sharing about church resources with a group.

Help Others Restore Integrity

5 Resources Your Parish Needs to Be Sharing to Equip Marriages and Families

Addressing pornography in your parish can be a full-time job, and maybe…

Addressing pornography in your parish can be a full-time job, and maybe you have a coordinator who does in fact have it as his or her job description. Whether or not that role exists in…

6 minute read

0 comments