SPONSORS: Please consider a mailing to your affiliates to oppose .xxx,
The .xxx proposal is heating up, and ICANN is very carefully looking at how much industry support there is. It is VITAL that we as an industry show our opposition.
We at gaybucks have just sent an email to all of our affiliates asking them to email ICANN in opposition to .xxx. While there are many industry people who read the boards, there are a lot of other affiliates who never do so and may not be aware of the seriousness of the .xxx proposal and the urgent timeframe for responses.
I would encourage every sponsor to email their affiliates and ask them to write to ICANN in opposition. ICANN is very carefully looking at what percentage of the adult community is opposed vs supporting, so our letters will be important in the battle.
Here's the text of what we sent. Please feel free to use it, modify it, change it as needed if you decide to mail to your affiliates.
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For those of you who are unaware, the .xxx domain proposal is coming up for a vote on March 9th. PLEASE, if you value your business, take 5 or 10 minutes NOW and send a short note opposing .xxx to ICANN at xxx-tld-agreement@icann.org. ICANN cannot approve a request if there is not support from the industry, so hearing from those of us in the industry is absolutely vital to the defeat of this proposal.
We must, as an industry, voice our opposition to .xxx NOW. While ICM, who would run the registry and make millions on it, says it will be voluntary, they are also telling those opposed to porn that .xxx will prevent kids from accessing adult content and help to regulate it. Obviously, those two statements are in opposition to each other.
If passed, .xxx will likely have the effect of creating an adult "ghetto" that would make it easy for cities, states, or countries to restrict or ban access to adult content. Additionally, .xxx domains will cost more than $60 PER YEAR. It is also conceivable that, even if laws do not pass limiting porn to .xxx, Visa could demand that all adult content be served from a .xxx domain.
As for protecting kids from porn, .xxx will do no such thing. Even if adult content is restricted to .xxx, there will still be numerous small, off brand domains from tiny countries that allow adult content, thereby completely defeating the purpose.
The positive goals of .xxx (preventing access by children and those who don't wish to view adult content) can be achieved by a combination of a .kids domain, voluntary listing of adult sites with existing content filters, and parental involvement.
PLEASE, if you care about the future of your business, take 5 minutes and send the email (Once sent, you must also look for the confirmation email and respond to that as well.)
Thanks very much for taking the time to read and respond.
