Oh, we beg to differ. Stuart Lawley is very much involved, and you can read about it today at www.adultcybermart.com
from www.chatsworth.patch.com – After more than 10 years of discussion, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has finally approved a separate Top Level Domain for adult materials, effectively creating a red light district for the digital world. Several of the largest companies that stand to be affected by this ruling are based in Chatsworth.
Proponents of the new internet domain point to strong support from the adult entertainment community, noting that more than 200,000 .XXX domain names have been pre-reserved in anticipation of this decision. Other internet domains include .com, .net and .org.
“ICANN’s decision to give .XXX final approval is a landmark moment for the internet,” Stuart Lawley, CEO of ICM Registry said in a statement. “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.”
However, not everyone is pleased with the new decision. First Amendment lawyers, including the Free Speech Coalition, which is largely funded and run by adult entertainment companies, warns that this decision was made without proper input from actual government bodies and threatens digital free speech by creating a two tiered system for access.
In an interview with tech site CNET, Lawley dismissed these concerns.
“Apart from child pornography, which is completely illegal, we’re really not in the content-monitoring business.”
And indeed there is no history of ICANN working to censor any type of content. And although Lawley, who previously made millions as an internet entrepreneur, is not involved directly in the adult industry, their interests would seem to align.
ICM, which Lawely runs, would sell domain names for $60 with resellers charging companies approximately $70 to $75 dollars per domain name. And while this might seem like a small amount, when one considers that approximately a third of all internet searches involve pornography, this new revenue stream is sure to bring in tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars with very limited startup costs.
The missing piece in all of this is the real world ramifications of such a delineation. It is almost a foregone conclusion that as soon as a .XXX domain name is established politicians on both sides of the aisle would clamor to control it differently from other speech, if not for legitimate concerns, then for the added notoriety and easy reelection campaign issue.
This is an important issue because laws forcing any site with explicit sexual content to retain an .XXX domain would very likely curtail access to important health information, especially to adolescents who are more likely to look online for information regarding sexual health than they are to seek advice from parents or teachers.
And these concerns are not hypothetical. In 2000, when .XXX was first under consideration by ICM, several legislators, including former Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph Lieberman, vocally complained when the concept was not approved. They argued on moral grounds that such an internet domain was needed in order to protect children.
Outside the U.S., in countries without strong free speech laws, .XXX domain names would likely be banned outright and blocked by government regulated ISPs entirely. A likely result of which would be a greatly diminished access to important information on AIDS for much of the developing world.
Furthermore, it remains unclear how a .XXX domain name would protect consumers from fraud and computer viruses in any way.
Is this a First Amendment, free speech issue? Tell us in the comments.