.xxx tag ignores porno problems

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Bill Daul <bdaul () pacbell net>
Date: March 20, 2006 11:36:59 AM EST
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: .xxx tag ignores porno problems

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/xxx-tag-ignores-porno-problems/ 
2006/03/20/1142703275024.html


.xxx tag ignores porno problems


INTERNET domain name regulation is a clandestine world. The modern- 
day equivalents of money trees, not-for-profit regulators largely  
operate free from government intervention and accountability.

In Australia, domain name registration gives the appearance of a  
masked highwayman on the only train line into town. More than $30 per  
registration goes to the Australian policy body AuDA and the  
wholesale provider AusRegistry.

More puzzling is how registered domain names cannot be traded. Apart  
from buying the company outright, there is no mechanism for you to  
obtain a registered domain name, even if the owner is prepared to  
give it to you.

This does preclude enterprising people registering names for the hope  
of future profits but it runs against the principles of free trade  
and commerce. You can buy a business name and products with  
trademarks and patents, yet once registered a domain name cannot by  
consent move from one party to another. You wonder why the ACCC and  
federal Information Technology Minister Helen Coonan haven't had a  
peek into this world.

At the top of the global domain name pyramid is ICANN (Internet  
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which was selected by  
the US government in 1998 to oversee Internet addressing policies.  
Usually low-profile, it finds itself in a more public position over  
the proposal for an adult domain, .xxx, which is hot stuff. Away from  
mounting pressures in the US, the proposal is back on the agenda for  
its next international meeting in Wellington, New Zealand, on Saturday.

Before search engines became prevalent, it was decided to create  
various domains to group like subjects. Governments were given  
the .gov domain, non-profit organisations .org, businesses .com,  
education .edu and network operators .net. In addition, a two-letter  
suffix was added for countries wanting to localise their domain  
addresses, so Australia was granted .au.

Every office had a whiz who was an expert at guessing web addresses  
and people marvelled at how they knew it would be found with a .net  
rather than .com.au. Geeks still talk about IP (Internet Protocol)  
addresses. Names typed in browsers are converted into an IP address  
via a domain name server (DNS), which acts as a large address book.  
So when you type in http://www.google.com, it will be converted to  
66.249.89.99. Type that IP address in and Google will pop up. We sure  
have progressed quickly.

Today, search engines are making IP addresses and domain names  
irrelevant. By entering a near-enough match to an organisation's  
name, a good search engine will bring up its web address.


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