Group decries dot-xxx suffix for porn

SAN FRANCISCO, March 19 (UPI) -- A plan to give Internet adult content sites an xxx suffix on domain names would play into the hands of censors, a U.S. pornography trade group said.

Diane Duke, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition in San Francisco said, "Our industry is unanimously opposed" to the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers plan to coral pornography on the Internet into digital red-light district, The New York Times reported Saturday.

Duke said the trade group, which represents 1,000 companies, including Hustler and Adam & Eve, was considering a legal challenge to the plan, which ICANN adopted Friday.

One company, ICM Registry, which holds the rights to the dot.xxx domain, would become the gatekeeper for Internet pornography and said it would scan sites for viruses, guard against child pornography and promote fair payment practices.

"Everybody wins. The customers of adult sites win. The providers benefit because more people will become paying customers. And those who don't want to go there will win as well, because the sites will become easier to filter," said Stuart Lawley, chief executive officer of ICM.

The plan, however, created an unlikely alliance between the Commerce Department and the pornography industry, both of which fear blocking sites will become easier in conservative countries.

"This decision goes against the global public interest, and it will open the door to more Internet blocking by governments and undermine the stability and security of the Internet," said Lawrence Strickling, assistant Commerce secretary.