![]() .xxx TLD Logo from ICM Registry | |
Introduced | 15 April 2011 |
---|---|
TLD type | Sponsored top-level domain |
Status | Generally available |
Registry | ICM Registry, LLC |
Sponsor | International Foundation for Online Responsibility |
Intended use | Internet pornography |
Actual use | Mainly as secondary domains for pornographic websites |
Registration restrictions | Applicants are pre-screened and their existing Web sites checked to ascertain they are part of the adult entertainment community; a post-registration challenge process exists also; standards such as not marketing to minors must be adhered to |
Structure | Direct second-level registrations allowed |
Documents | RFC 3675, ICANN New sTLD RFP Application |
Dispute policies | UDRP, Charter Eligibility Dispute Resolution Procedure (CEDRP), Start-Up Trademark Opposition Procedure (STOP) |
DNSSEC | No |
Registry website | ICM Registry |
.xxx (pronounced "dot triple-ecks" or "dot ecks ecks ecks") is a sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) intended as a voluntary option for pornographic sites on the Internet. The sponsoring organization is the International Foundation for Online Responsibility (IFFOR). [1] The registry is operated by ICM Registry LLC. The ICANN Board voted to approve the sTLD on 18 March 2011. [2] It went into operation on 15 April 2011. [3]
The TLD entered its sunrise period on 7 September 2011 at 16:00 UTC; [4] the sunrise period ended 28 October 2011. Landrush period lasted from 8 November through 25 November, and general availability commenced on 6 December 2011. [5]
A gTLD (generic top-level domain) for sexually explicit material was proposed as one tool for dealing with the conflict between those who wish to provide and access such material through the Internet, and those who wish to prevent access to it, either by children and adolescents, or by employees at their workplaces.
Advocates of the idea argue that it will be easier for parents and employers to block the entire TLD, rather than using more complex and error-prone content-based filtering, without imposing any restrictions on those who wish to access it. [6] Editors of explicit content sites, however, were afraid that the use of a single TLD like .xxx
would also make it easier for search engines to block all of their content. [7]
Critics of the idea argue that because there is no requirement for providers of explicit content to use the TLD, sexually explicit material will still be commonplace in other domains, making it ineffectual at restricting access, and simply creating a new "landrush" as registrants of .com domains hosting explicit material attempt to duplicate their registrations in the .xxx
domain, competing with operators who hope to register desirable names unavailable in other TLDs. There is also concern that the existence of .xxx
will lead to legislation making its use mandatory for sexually explicit material, leading to legal conflicts over the definition of "sexually explicit", free speech rights, and jurisdiction. [6] [8]
There were also early indications that .xxx
domain names will be registered not with the intent to focus on pornographic content, but to use the adult connotations as a benefit to a marketing strategy. [9] An example is the registration of kite.xxx
, which is aimed at the extreme sport of kitesurfing, thus benefiting from sexual connotations and innuendo for humor and promotional purposes. Another example of a .xxx
domain name being registered without a focus on pornographic content was the registration of popebenedict.xxx
, which contained pro-Islamic content despite being named after Pope Benedict XVI. [10]
The .XXX TLD was first proposed in 2000 by ICM Registry and resubmitted in 2004, but it faced strong opposition from politicians and conservative groups. [11]
ICANN announced on 1 June 2005 a preliminary approval of .xxx
as an sTLD similar to .aero
, .travel
, etc. ICM said it would charge $60/year for domains. In December 2005, discussions about the implementation of .xxx
were taken off the agenda of ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), placing its future in doubt. In its March 2006 meeting, the GAC formulated a letter of concern to the ICANN board about .xxx
. On 10 May 2006, ICANN reversed the approval. [12] On 6 January 2007, ICANN put up for public comment a revised proposal [13] following changes to the policy of the ICM registry including the policing of any site that signs up to use the .xxx
registry. [14] On 30 March 2007, the ICANN board again rejected the .xxx
proposal for the third time. [15]
On 6 June 2008, in accordance with ICANN bylaws, ICM filed an application with the International Centre for Dispute Resolution for an independent review challenging ICANN's decision. The filing became ICDR Case No. 50 117 T 00224 08, and in September 2009, a live hearing was held in Washington, DC, where both sides submitted documentary evidence and witness testimony. On 19 February 2010, the ICDR's independent review panel – consisting of Stephen M. Schwebel, Jan Paulsson and Dickran Tevrizian – issued its declaration. [16] The panel found that the application for the ".XXX sTLD met the required sponsorship criteria," and that "the Board’s reconsideration of that finding was not consistent with the application of neutral, objective and fair documented policy". [17] At the ICANN meeting in Nairobi in March 2010 the board resolved to consider "process options". A 45-day public comment was opened on 26 March 2010. [18] At the Brussels ICANN meeting in June 2010, the ICANN board resolved to restart the process, including renewed due diligence and GAC consultations. [19]
On 18 March 2011, ICANN's board approved the execution of the registry agreement with ICM for the .xxx
sponsored top level domain. The vote was nine in favor, four against, with three abstentions. [20]
ICM is expected to make over $200 million a year, with 3 to 5 million domain registrations, as companies are anticipated to defensively register their domains. [21]
On 16 November 2011, Manwin International, a pornography company that operates a large number of popular adult websites including YouPorn, filed a request for a second ICANN Independent Review Proceeding. In the request, Manwin asks that the .xxx delegation be voided, or, if not, put up to competition on renewal. [22]
On the same day Manwin, together with adult film studio Digital Playground, filed a suit in the Central District of California against ICM alleging antitrust and competition violations. [23] [24] Among the claims in the suit are that ICANN provided "no competitive process for the award of the .XXX registry contract" and that ICM CEO Stuart Lawley "has announced that he expects to be able (and intends) to prevent the establishment of any other (potentially competing) adult-content TLDs, including through a contractual promise by ICANN not to approve such TLDs". [25]
On 14 August 2012, Judge Philip S. Gutierrez granted in part and denied in part ICANN's motion to dismiss Manwin's claims and allowed the case against ICANN to move forward. [26] On 10 May 2013, the case was voluntarily dismissed by the parties, likely due to private settlement. [24]
The Free Speech Coalition opposed the domain, arguing it would "harm the adult entertainment business" by inviting censorship and blocking, while raising money for ICM without considering the "best interests of the industry". [27]
Starting in 2005, there was an alternative implementation of .xxx
by New.net, a private domain registration service unaffiliated with ICANN, via an alternative DNS root. [28] [29] [30] New.net no longer offers domain names under this unofficial TLD.[ original research? ]
Another unofficial .xxx
TLD was previously available through the alternative DNS root system administered by the now-defunct AlterNIC. [31]
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a global multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to the namespaces and numerical spaces of the Internet, ensuring the Internet's stable and secure operation. ICANN performs the actual technical maintenance work of the Central Internet Address pools and DNS root zone registries pursuant to the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) function contract. The contract regarding the IANA stewardship functions between ICANN and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the United States Department of Commerce ended on October 1, 2016, formally transitioning the functions to the global multistakeholder community.
A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in lower levels, it is the last part of the domain name, that is, the last non-empty label of a fully qualified domain name. For example, in the domain name www.example.com, the top-level domain is .com. Responsibility for management of most top-level domains is delegated to specific organizations by the ICANN, an Internet multi-stakeholder community, which operates the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), and is in charge of maintaining the DNS root zone.
In the Internet, a domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services and more. Domain names are used in various networking contexts and for application-specific naming and addressing purposes. In general, a domain name identifies a network domain or an Internet Protocol (IP) resource, such as a personal computer used to access the Internet, or a server computer.
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An internationalized domain name (IDN) is an Internet domain name that contains at least one label displayed in software applications, in whole or in part, in non-Latin script or alphabet or in the Latin alphabet-based characters with diacritics or ligatures. These writing systems are encoded by computers in multibyte Unicode. Internationalized domain names are stored in the Domain Name System (DNS) as ASCII strings using Punycode transcription.
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An internationalized country code top-level domain is a top-level domain in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. IDN ccTLDs are specially encoded domain names that are displayed in an end user application, such as a web browser, in their language-native script or alphabet, such as the Arabic alphabet, or a non-alphabetic writing system, such as Chinese characters. IDN ccTLDs are an application of the internationalized domain name system to top-level Internet domains assigned to countries, or independent geographic regions.
DotConnectAfrica Trust (DCA) is an independent non-profit, non-partisan organization founded in 2006. The organization was incorporated in Mauritius with its main charitable objectives to: (a) for the advancement of education in information technology to the African society and access to internet resources; and (b) in connection with (a) to provide the African society with a continental Internet domain name by sponsoring, establishing, and operating a new Top Level Domain (TLD) ".africa" for purposes of branding Africa on the Internet.
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