Here is a sudden turn of events: porn stars are siding with those who are against the addition of the proposed .xxx top-level domain. In an effort to show their stance, the stars will be rallying outside of a public meeting next week in San Francisco by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
The organization behind the rally is the Free Speech Coalition, a pornography trade group who has "called a press conference and rally outside the Westin St Francis Hotel in Union Square at 12.30pm, 17 March," according to The Register. Those in the industry who are opposed to this new domain fear that collecting all sites of adult nature into one top-level domain is an invitation for censorship, claiming that the registry operator for .xxx, ICM Registry, is not thinking for the industry but instead for itself.
ICM has stated that they don't think the Free Speech Coalition speaks for the common interest of porn webmasters worldwide, especially when thousands have already applied for over 200,000 .xxx domains. ICM Registry, who has been pushing the .xxx domain, sent the application for the new domain through ICANN where it now is still in the process of being approved.
Both Christian groups and the porn business are opposed to this new domain, causing ICANN to have to create new appeal and review methods to appease all sides. While the rally is nice, it may just become another display that aids the Governmental Advisory Committee, who already disapproves of the proposed domain, in denying the ability for it to become official. That group will also be at the ICANN meeting next week consulting with ICANN over this addition.
Rarely will both Christians and porn stars agree on something, but the vast amount of people opposed to the move from all sides, including the Governmental Advisory Committee that represents many international governments, may be enough to prevent .xxx domains from being approved by ICANN.
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