Red light net district no-go zone

A decision to allow the Internet its own red light district has been put off due to international pressure.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has bowed down to international pressure and put the decision to allow the creation of an '.XXX' domain on hold - again.

International reports have placed pressure from the US Government on ICANN to delay its decision during the Government Advisory Committee (GAC) meeting, held in New Zealand this week, as the root cause.

US Internet registrar, ICM Registry, put an application into ICANN for a sponsored top-level domain (sTLD), in March 2004.

Australian representatives also asked ICANN to delay its decision on .xxx until it has provided clearer evidence of its benefits to the ICANN board. ICT Minister, Senator Helen Coonan, also raised serious concerns about plans by the international Internet domain name body - ICANN - to establish a new adult content domain.

“I am yet to be convinced that there are any real benefits from the creation of this domain that would outweigh the risk of legitimising this offensive material,” Coonan said. “At this stage the idea that all offensive websites on the Internet would voluntarily quarantine themselves to a new domain is difficult to believe.”

Australian adult industry lobby group, the Eros Association, backed ICANN’s decision. Spokesperson Fiona Patten, said the lobby group had serious concerns with the idea of an .XXX domain and did not believe that its creation would hold any benefits for the public.

“A specific domain will not stop unscrupulous operators and it will not stop children from accessing adult content," she said. "It’s impossible to regulate the adult entertainment industry on a global scale. What’s legal in Japan may not be legal in America."

Patten also raised concerns over which organisation would regulate content for the proposed domain.

“You can’t have a US-based company regulating the global adult industry," she said. "I don’t think it’s appropriate for one company to look after it all –ICM also has no experience with pornography."