I don’t understand the administration position on this issue:
The Bush administration is objecting to the creation of a .xxx domain, saying it has concerns about a virtual red-light district reserved exclusively for Internet pornography.
Michael Gallagher, assistant secretary at the Commerce Department, has asked for a hold to be placed on the contract to run the new top-level domain until the .xxx suffix can receive further scrutiny. The domain was scheduled to receive final approval Tuesday.
“The Department of Commerce has received nearly 6,000 letters and e-mails from individuals expressing concern about the impact of pornography on families and children,” Gallagher said in a letter that was made public on Monday.
The sudden high-level interest in what has historically been an obscure process has placed the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in an uncomfortable position. ICANN approved the concept of an .xxx domain in June and approval of ICM Registry’s contract to run the suffix was expected this week.
It seems to me this is precisely the sort of thing the governmentr would favor, as it would provide a relatively easy way to create filtering software and prevent children from viewing objectionable material. Unless of course, this is just moral posturing and that the real problem isn’t that pornographic materials exist and can be obtained by minors, but that pornographic materials exist at all. That wouldn’t be surprising, as this administration has show itself willing to treat adults like the government’s children on more than one occasion.
Demdude
There are sooooo many dirty things I could do with the name of this administration and this subject.
God, the high road really sucks……….
Steve
I don’t understand either. The only objection I see is that this wouldn’t be perfect in terms of centralizing the porn sites, because porn operators would still keep their .com names to get around filters. But so what? It would definitely be an improvement, in terms of blocking software and so forth. The only conceivable reason to oppose this is that someone in government wants to make it look like they are keeping porn off the Internet – ha!
cd6
Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa….whoa
There’s porn on the internet?? Nobody told me
linda
just another nod to their base. who cares that it’s idiotic policy, must keep the american mullahs happy at all costs.
sex is dirrrrrrrrty.
Otto Man
I think you may be right, John — their agenda isn’t about isolating and controlling porn sites, it’s about eliminating them.
Or maybe they don’t like the .xxx idea because it reminds people that this sort of stuff exists out there on the internets, and the .xxx would become a glaring neon XXX sign in their eyes.
AWJ
Didn’t Bush say, shortly before the last election, that (paraphrasing) he saw the country as a small child in need of a parent’s loving discipline?
Kimmitt
Sex is bad. Anything to do with sex is bad. Ergo, the current policy.
jg
Gotta agree considering the way they went after Clinton for being unfaithful (as though they gave a shit about Hilary).
Must suck to be Bush, the first president who can’t get some on the side.
Mason
A .xxx domain will have absolutely zero impact on the prevalence of net porn. The only thing it will do is pad the wallets of registrars, who will charge more for the domains.
My take on your quote is that the administration is wary of “endorsing” online porn, which is understandable.
DougJ
A domain RESERVED for pornography? Why not have a domain reserved for Islamic terrorist groups while we’re at it? How about .alq?
I swear if you RINOs and libruls cared half as much about the rights of families as you do about the rights of pornographers, we’d be living in a very different society.
The.oopla
I would have to say, that this would be perfect for cleaning up the .com side of things, ie move all pr0n sites over to .xxx equilvelents. I wouldn’t consider moving all the pay porn sites to be censorship, since they still get to say everything they want to. It’s like not allowing the KKK to rally infront of an elementry school. Or just organizing a library better. I think that all pr0n should be moved to the internet, that way the “local standards” issue never even comes up.
Pr0n isn’t going away. Studies suggest that over 25% of the internet’s bandwidth are used by pr0n. I would expect that that number is the lowball estimate, with massive pr0n piracy via IRC, Bittorrent and other p2p programs. I know that I will peruse it upon occasion. And I expect most who say they don’t are either lying to save presumed face or Mormon.
Jim Caputo
Of course you do. You figured it out right here…
Remember, this is the same administration whose Attorney General covered up the Tits of Justice.
Andrew J. Lazarus
The White House will be forced to install filter software and there goes Bush’s afternoons.
tBone
Let me guess – it would involve burkhas, right?
DougJ
Would the left-wing blogs have to use the .xxx domain? They’ve got enough f-bombs in them to be considered pornography.
Gee, maybe this .xxx thing doesn’t so bad after all…
Deoxy
Actually, the whole point of .xxx would be to help with filtering…
…but, since the system is “opt in”, it would be, largely, a waste. It would basically be a form of cheap advrtising for “legitimate” sites, while providing (false) peace of mind for parents.
It’s a nice idea, but to be effective, it would require teeth, which would run into first ammendment (not to mention international) problems.
So, even though I dislike porn, and I would consider the death penalty for people intentionally exposing small children to it, I still don’t support the .xxx proposal.
SeesThroughIt
C’mon, DougJ, I thought you right-wingers worhsipped at the altar of the Free Market. Isn’t that what consevatism is all about? Letting things succeed or die in the marketplace of ideas? After all, that’s how Ann Coulter attempts to justify her existence, and that seems to suffice for you.
Well, guess what not only survives but thrives in the marketplace? Porn. Porn is one of the very few constants. Even when the economy is slow, porn is making money hand over, erm, fist. That is called succeeding in the marketplace. Don’t like it? Tough. That’s your philosophy at work. Don’tcha hate it when it bites you in the ass and forces you to either accept what you don’t like (i.e. be an American) or be a total hypocrite (i.e. be a Bushie American)?
Also, equating porn with Al Qaida? Bravo. Yes, the religious extremist group that believes no part of a woman should ever be seen in public is definitely the equivalent of consenting adults getting naked for the camera.
Mason
How do you suggest moving it all? A polite request?
Cyrus
I swear if you RINOs and libruls cared half as much about the rights of families as you do about the rights of pornographers, we’d be living in a very different society.
As hard to believe as it is, DougJ, porn is for families. Not the kids, of course. But I’m sure you would be just amazed to learn that happily married couples occasionally might use and enjoy pornography.
Some people like sex. Deal with it.
I suppose we can take comfort in the fact that if they ever try to impose prohibition on pornography, it probably wouldn’t go as badly as prohibition on alcohol did. (Which also means that it wouldn’t get lifted as quickly, if at all, but…) I’m no expert on alcohol production, but the materials used to create porn are the same as for lots of other activities, which I don’t think is true of beer or liquor. So porn could be a cottage industry (hell, if you believe some of the Web sites, it already is) much more easily than alcohol was. So the mob wouldn’t be nearly as involved.
I’m seriously considering the reprecussions of the federal government outlawing pornography. Does this say more about me, or about the times? I hope it’s me. Me being paranoid and nuts is much preferable to the country being the way it actually looks to me.
MIhail
Police have been checking vehicles in a zone around the site of the discovery, where poultry movements are restricted.