Lawley struck it rich in 1999 when he took the ISP Oneview.net public. According to the London Sunday Times, he is one of the top-1,000 richest Britons. He has also invested in a number of multimedia and technology companies.

The already wealthy man wants to make himself wealthier. ICM estimates it can earn $200 million a year selling .xxx names for $60 each. The Internet tycoon also has plans to launch a PayPal-like payment system for .xxx sites, which he thinks could process up to $4 billion in transactions per year.

While I applaud Lawley’s past successes, the Internet has changed quite a bit since 1999. I think his estimates would be more accurate had he embarked on his plans a decade ago. The entrepreneur is being overly optimistic. Adult sites already use a number of established PayPal alternatives and are established on much cheaper .com domains. There is no need for .xxx or a new payment service.

Source | Businessweek
Photo | ICANN Wiki

The .xxx gTLD ICM Registry is fighting so hard for still has some hoops to jump through before it can go live. ICANN will now enter expedited negotiations with ICM.

According to ICM Registry, some 110,000 .xxx domains have been pre-reserved and the extension could go live as soon as the beginning of 2011.

Meanwhile, Pat Trueman, former Chief of the U.S. Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, has voiced criticism over ICANN’s decision. He called the organization’s decision “foolish and unnecessary.” He said .com porn owners would not switch to the name, and emphasized that .xxx would make adult content easier for children to find. All they would have to do is type anything followed by “.xxx” to find a porn site. I think he hit the nail on the head:

So what is the point?. The pornographers didn’t want it. The people who want to protected children and others from internet porn didn’t want it. The only people who want it is ICM Registry, who will make money.

Photo | Flickr

This decision will no doubt make ICM Registry very happy, but cause quite a stir everywhere else. Expect concerned religious and family groups to start protesting the decision immediately. The adult industry isn’t too fond of a .xxx domain, either.

I guess we will find out if Kieren McCarthy is right tomorrow. Be sure to check back later for updates regarding this breaking news. Perhaps the .xxx saga is near its end?

In a statement, FSC Board Vice President Tom Hyme reminded the world that there is no industry support for .xxx. He also commented that it would be “hell on earth for ICANN” if the organization found itself responsible for arbitrating online content policies.

I personally am just waiting for someone to drive the final nail in .xxx’s coffin. It was a dumb idea when it was first proposed several years ago and it’s a dumb idea now. ICM Registry, the investor behind the name, is simply looking for a way to get rich quick. Apparently it has yet to realize that no one likes the idea of .xxx. I think most of us want the company to shut up and get lost.

Source | Domain Name News
Photo | PatriotPro

The .XXX domain mooted for pornographic sites looks like it will never be launched with the list of detractors getting longer. This time it’s New Zealand porn guru Steve Crow who has entered the fray, saying that .XXX gTLDs would be a waste of time. According to Crow, until such time as porn sites are made to adopt .XXX domains, there will be no filters and just a whole lot of confusion.

The main idea behind the .XXX gTLD would be to make porn filters more efficient, but so far it’s been proposed as a voluntary measure; meaning most sites would stay as they are, or would simply move their content onto .XXX domains and not apply filters. A great move of porn material is not exactly what that industry wants, either, but a decision from ICANN is expected some time this month.

Photo | Flickr

Two groups in particular, PornHarms.com and the American Family Association, are flooding ICANN’s open-comment forum with posts protesting .xxx. One post in particular has been posted hundreds of times:

I support Option # 3 of the March 26, 2010 process options submitted by ICANN
for public comment. The .XXX sponsor, ICM, never satisfied the sponsorship
requirements and criteria for a sponsored Top Level Domain. The ICANN Board
denied ICM’s application for the .XXX s TLD on the merits in an open and
transparent forum.

Essentially posters of this message are trying to say that because ICANN denied the extension once, it shouldn’t consider it again.

So far, only a handful of comments have been left. This just reassures me that no one cares about Internet governance and ICANN can get away with whatever it wants.

What stands out, however, is the number of people in the adult industry against .xxx. As one commenter, Victoria French, put it:

This is a clear attempt by the requesting registrar to force the entire adult industry to purchase domains through them to protect our intellectual property rights. Requiring us all to purchase yet another TLD version of our names is outrageous.

The adult industry essentially views ICM Registry, the sponsor of .xxx, as an outsider trying to proft from unwilling adult website owners. Does anyone honestly care about .xxx? ICM seems to be the only one pushing it.

The benefits of having an entire TLD for adult sites is clear if you are in the adult industry, but what some may not have considered is that it can also have advantages for those trying to prevent children from accessing them. It also provides a definite advantage for tech security professionals who are often given the impossible task of trying to limit access.

Make no mistake, it will not solve all problems, and it is doubtful adult and pornographic sites will limit themselves exclusively to .XXX domains, but part of promoting themselves as legitimate businesses involves making a conscious effort to keep children away from their sites. This could work in favor of both sides of the argument if it is used to its full potential. ICANN is again considering it, and time will tell. But it is certainly worth a second thought.

Photo Source: Flickr

As much as we all love the wide array of busts and brawn available online, I really don’t see the point of .xxx. Proponents argue it would make adult content easier to filter, but this would never happen unless all pornographic sites were forced to move to the extension.

ICM Registry seems to be the only one pumping .xxx. Unless the likes of Hugh Hefner get behind, I doubt it willl ever take off. ICANN should just tell ICM to take a hike once and for all.

Fortunately for ICANN, the ruling is not binding. ICM has applied for the extension three times since 2000, only to be rejected each time by the California agency. Though .xxx at one point came very close to approval, ICM feels ICANN’s rejections constitute unfair censorship and is still pushing to have it approved.

It will be interesting to see what effect this ruling has on the new gTLD program currently in planning. Could ICANN face real lawsuits for rejecting extensions? Can it legitimately reject an extension without becoming an instrument of censorship? These are just two questions that will need to be addressed if the “non-profit” plans on moving forward.

Source | The Domains
Photo | PatriotPro