Dot Ex Ex Ex the TLD that said NO

It was about the same time I started working for Microsoft (back in the Windows 95 ORS2 and Windows 98 days) that I started testing the Blocking capabilities of the Browser known as IE. It was then that I realized that the built-in blocking and filtering capabilities just DIDN'T work.
I was able to retrieve all kinds of things that I shouldn't have been able to. But that was my job, to test if this thing was ready for consumer use.
The answer to that question was "NO", but that never stops Microsoft from shipping their software.

This helped formulate an idea in my head...one that was punctuated by the failure of other blocking and filtering software, or at least, their failure to block most of the stuff that they claim to block.

I came up with the idea of adding a ".xxx" Top Level Domain. I figured that ".com" was for commercial use (businesses, etc), and ".net" was supposed to be for networks (ISPs, etc), that ".org" was supposed to be for organizations, ".gov" for Government, and ".edu" for educational institutions...
This would require a small change in how things were done, but www.playboy.com would have been converted to www.palyboy.xxx, and even if Playboy kept ownership of playboy.com, it would either be directed at their "corporate" site, or redirected to playboy.xxx...
There would have to be some kind of User Agreement to keep COM for Commercial and XXX for Porn, and penalties for violating that...but it would be regulated by ICANN or INTERNIC, or whomever was responsible for the Regulation of the TLD structure.

I contacted InterNic and ICANN and other regulating bodies as well as my CongressCritters and other Government types. I outlined the idea and the few changes it would require and the benefits it would provide, like that it would be easy to block ALL .xxx traffic via a simple browser setting...

I never received a reply. Not one. Not from ANY of the letters that I sent out. They simply went into that Great Black Hole of Nothingness...

Then, a few years ago, I saw an article that someone was proposing a ".XXX" TLD...guess I should have patented that idea, or at least gotten a copyright on it...

Porn-friendly '.xxx' domains approved

By Declan McCullagh, CNET News.com
Published on ZDNet News: June 1, 2005, 8:10 PM PT

Pornographers and their customers soon will have a virtual red light district reserved just for them.

The nonprofit organization responsible for Internet addresses on Wednesday approved ".xxx" domains, a move that reverses the group's earlier position and heads off a potential political spat with conservative U.S. politicians.

...

Bush administration objects to .xxx domains

By Declan McCullagh, CNET News.com
Published on ZDNet News: August 15, 2005, 4:15 PM PT

The Bush administration is objecting to the creation of a .xxx domain, saying it has concerns about a virtual red-light district reserved exclusively for Internet pornography.

...

Other governments also have been applying pressure to ICANN in a last-minute bid to head off .xxx. A letter from ICANN's government advisory group sent Friday asks for a halt to "allow time for additional governmental and public policy concerns to be expressed before reaching a final decision."

After ICANN's vote to approve .xxx, conservative groups in the United States called on their supporters to ask the Commerce Department to block the new suffix. The Family Research Council, for instance, warned that "pornographers will be given even more opportunities to flood our homes, libraries and society with pornography through the .xxx domain."

...

I started to ask myself, WHY would they object? Sure, it would make it easier for the Mrs. to see if her husband was surfing porn, because the pornsite "www.whitehouse.com" would then become "www.whitehouse.xxx" and the Mrs. would know .xxx = porn...
But the real answer hit me, and I am not sure how it is affected adversely, but it really is all about money...

Senator Carper Wants Tax on Internet Porn

WASHINGTON(AP)- Senator Tom Carper is calling for a tax on all Internet pornography.
The Delaware Democrat is proposing a 25 percent tax on the purchase of pornographic material online.

The collected tax money would go to a fund to help police prosecute online child pornographers.

The provision is part of the Internet Safety and Child Protection Act.

In addition to the fund, the bill would require online pornographers to use age-verification software to block children's access.

Carper says the bill will keep kids away from X-rated material.

...

While I understand the money portion of this, it would actually be easier to collect a tax on the .XXX domains - it would be easier to block .XXX domains, thus "block children's access" (even if they don't use age-verification, parents can block .xxx completely)

So, why do they fight the .XXX domains?

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