Porn sites get their own domain: '.xxx'

[jua]

It's a big day for the porn industry.

Today, ICANN, the not-for-profit corporation that coordinates the internet's naming system, voted to allow the application of the controversial ".xxx" top-level domain name for sites that display adult content.

The domain, which would need further approval before going live on the internet, would be applied to adult entertainment sites just as ".com" is now.

The .xxx internet suffix, which was first proposed six years ago by ICM Registry, a group that sells domain names, "will provide a place online for adult entertainment providers and their service providers who want to be part of our voluntary self regulatory community," according to that company's news release.

Adopting .xxx will be optional. However, some tech blogs speculate a push to make the domain mandatory for adult-only sites.

ICM Registry has already taken 110,000 pre-reservations for the domain, which could be available in early 2011, if not sooner, its news release states.

While the company says labeling adult content online "will allow for simple and effective filtering for those who wish to do so," not everyone is pleased with ICANN's decision to approve the domain.

Some people involved in the industry are hesitant to accept the domain, "fearing it will lead to censorship, as it would be very easy to block the entire domain instead of individual sites," Rick Johnson of Portfolio.com wrote Thursday.

On the other hand, "some religious groups are against the creation of the domain, as it would lend more legitimacy to the adult entertainment industry," he wrote.