No .xxx domain name: Net regulator

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Keywords: Pornography, Adult Domain

New Delhi: An Internet domain name regulator announced on Wednesday that it has rejected a proposal to create .xxx domain suffix for adult websites.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted 9 to 5 to dismiss the application to register the domain name, which would have been like the ".com" or ".net" at the end of an Internet address.

Peter Dengate-Thrush, a New Zealand representative on the ICANN board, said the majority believed the proposal would not meet enforcement and compliance conditions.

The decision commences a debate if creation of separate domain for adult sites is good or not.

ICANN did absolutely right job, said Charmaine Yoest, a vice president of the Family Research Council, a Washington-based activist group. If permitted, it would have been "land grab for pornographers", he said.

Many adult-oriented sites also agreed with ICANN's decision, while a trade group, the Free Speech Coalition, said a domain for child-friendly sites would be more appropriate.

On the other hand supporters of the special domain felt a ".xxx" domain would have made it easier to confine sex sites or filter them out.

The idea for the xxx domain was first put forward five years ago and a final decision has been delayed several times.

Separately, ICANN approved the creation of a .tel domain to help people manage their contact information online. The domain could be in use as early as this year.

The first clear case of political interference in Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has come into limelight with the rejection of the domain creation by 9-to-5 vote.

ICANN, a nonprofit group based in California, cannot make changes to the domain-name system without the approval of the US Commerce Department.

The US government's control of the domain-name system had become a sticking point for countries like Iran and Brazil, which argued that it should be managed by the United Nations or another global body.