Proposed .XXX Internet Domain Will Help Identify Adult-Oriented Web Content
Every parent worries about their child accessing the dark side of the Internet -- the prejudice, the violence, and especially the sex. Even with blocking software installed, sometimes your Web browser can take you to places you really don't want to go. The group that governs the Internet has initiated steps that may help to reduce your concerns a bit.
This week the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) granted preliminary approval for the creation of a new top-level domain for adult-oriented Web sites. The .XXX domain is expected to receive final approval in October, and if it does, Web sites with the new domain could start showing up on the Internet as early as next January.
There are several reasons for adding the new domain. That blocking software mentioned in the first paragraph can be coded to identify and block an entire domain much more easily than individual sites, according to the ICM Registry, which is promoting the new domain. For those without blocking software, it would be much easier to identify adult-oriented sites which have been visited by your Internet browser by having a separate domain. However, companies are not mandated to use the new domain: It is purely optional to adult-oriented businesses.
Over 110,000 pre-applications for the .XXX domain have already been received by the ICM Registry. Customers would pay $60 a year to register their requested domain name.
While the new .XXX domain may help parents identify adult-oriented content on the Internet, it doesn't mean they can let the ball drop completely. There will be plenty of .com and .net and other domains that will continue to produce this type of material. Parents will need to be vigilant if they don't want content of this type available to their children.
Article submitted Saturday, June 26, 2010 & read 637 times.
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