more on dot "ex-ex-ex" domain ...

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: January 7, 2007 12:22:33 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Cc: lauren () vortex com
Subject: Re: [IP] more on dot "ex-ex-ex" domain ...


Dave,

We really need to put a final stake through the heart of the
dot-ex-ex-ex top level domain proposal.

As far back as early 2001, I wrote about the inherent problems with
such TLDs ("PFIR Statement on Top-Level Domain 'Ghettoization'
Proposals" - http://www.pfir.org/statements/ghetto-domains ) and
that essay's arguments are still sound, as are the comments in my
"open letter to the porn industry" regarding dot-ex-ex-ex from September
2005 ("Why "Dot-Ex-Ex-Ex" is for Chumps" -
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000152.html ).

Given the amount of work that ICANN, et al. have put in on the
dot-ex-ex-ex project, I can understand why there is a reluctance to
burn it once and for all.  But dot-ex-ex-ex serves to significantly
benefit nobody except the anointed organization that would collect
the registration fees.  The proposal has been roundly criticized
from all parts of the political and technical spectrum, on an array
of different grounds ("it promotes porn" - "it will lead to massive
censorship" - and so on.)  It also seems likely that if dot-ex-ex-ex
is implemented, it will be a probable source of litigation for ICANN
that they could assuredly live without.

I'm not as much of a nemesis of the DNS system in general as
Frankston tends to be, but I strongly agree that the DNS is the
wrong place to attempt the implementation of what amounts to highly
controversial social policies.  It is too coarse a tool, it is the
wrong approach, and the potential for serious collateral damage is
simply too high.

It's time to bury dot-ex-ex-ex -- permanently.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, IOIC
   - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
Founder, CIFIP
   - California Initiative For Internet Privacy - http://www.cifip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com





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