New .xxx Domain Extension

Some porn site owners are hailing ICANN’s decision to release a .xxx domain extension but who will really benefit?

Editor’s note: I debated publishing this article due to the nature of the content, but in the end I decided we should publish it, as I believe many are not aware of the full ramifications of how this will affect a parent’s ability to monitor and control what their children view on the internet.

ICANN’s recent decision to adopt a .xxx domain extension is being called a big win for the pornography industry. But is it really? and how will affect you as a parent?

First, critics are saying that the industry will be able duplicate it’s content across the .xxx and .com extension as Donna Hughes, President of Enough is Enough, told WESB news radio. She said, “The creation of a .xxx domain sounds good in theory but is a very bad idea. It will allow Internet pornographers to co-locate their content on both their existing .com domains and the new .xxx domain, thus dramatically increasing pornography’s pollution of the Internet. Internet pornography is taking a significant toxic toll on our Nation’s children and families; harms are widespread and addictions are skyrocketing-impacting productivity, relational, social and psychological health.”

While I may not personally disagree with Hughes on the affect that pornography has had, I do disagree with her opinion that pornographers will be able to readily duplicate their content across both extensions.

Search engines such as Google penalize websites for duplicate content. If such a .com website duplicated itself on another .xxx domain, it would likely suffer search engine ranking penalties and would decrease the site’s position within search results. It likely would not increase the site’s visibility as Hughes suggests.

As of now porn sites would not be required to register as a .xxx domain, but that could change. The porn industry is extremely profitable, and like any other big industry it wields a powerful and influential arm of black-tied attorneys waiting to stifle any litigation that could restrict the industry. The opposition however, comprised of groups such as Donna Hughes’ Enough is Enough, may have more leverage in pushing for legislation that would ban porn sites from using the .com extension.

If advocacy groups could push such a measure into law, it would make it much easier for parents to restrict their children from viewing such sites by simply blocking any domain with a .xxx extension.

What appears to be a big win for the porn industry may end up being a double-edged sword, and an opening for tighter restrictions on the industry.

The industry itself is divided over the issue, and some porn site owners fear that once the .xxx extension is implemented, governments will begin requiring them to move to that extension, blocking out their .coms.

Personally, I believe this is a step in the right direction towards giving parents more control over what their children view on the internet. As it stands, there is no way porn sites will ever be banned from the internet entirely. This very well could be the first step in at least separating adult content from the rest of the web.