more on ICANN's "ex-ex-ex" domains and the slippery slope

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Lin, Herb" <HLin () nas edu>
Date: June 2, 2005 10:08:56 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net, Ip ip <ip () v2 listbox com>
Cc: lauren () vortex com
Subject: RE: [IP] ICANN's "ex-ex-ex" domains and the slippery slope


All of the issues that Lauren mentions are discussed, at length, the
report of the National Research Council on "Youth, Pornography, and the
Internet."  (This was a report to Congress, mandated at Congressional
request.)

http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10261.html

Chapter 13, Section 13.1.

Herb Lin
(editor of said volume)



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-ip () v2 listbox com [mailto:owner-ip () v2 listbox com] On Behalf
Of David Farber
Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2005 9:10 AM
To: Ip ip
Subject: [IP] ICANN's "ex-ex-ex" domains and the slippery slope



Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: June 2, 2005 12:39:32 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: lauren () vortex com
Subject: ICANN's "ex-ex-ex" domains and the slippery slope



Dave,

As noted in:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/06/01/internet.porn.ap/index.html

ICANN has reversed its long-standing opposition to a TLD (top-level
domain) "red-light district" and is moving toward creation
of a "dot-ex-ex-ex" domain space (my phonetic spelling is an attempt
to avoid having this message and your list shunted by the usual
simpleminded filters).

This about-face by ICANN demonstrates yet again how major decisions
by the organization are made without significant, broad public
discourse.  Ironically, it also reverses one of the more sensible
arguments that ICANN had previously been making.

Unlike other "topic-specific" TLDs like dot-jobs or dot-travel, the
existence of dot-ex-ex-ex is likely to create a political and
litigious firestorm over time, as various government entities move
to try force "adult" sites into the new domain space, and battles
erupt over what an adult site is defined to be.

While some obviously hardcore sites will likely be enthusiastic
about having an ostensibly "safe" TLD for operations, a vast number
of sites that aren't hardcore, or that have a variety of materials
-- only some of which are adult oriented in nature -- are likely to be
far less willing to be categorized in that manner.

Will there be calls for any site with explicit photographs or texts
(even in classical or health contexts) to be relegated to the new
dot-ex-ex-ex domains?  What about sites selling contraceptives,
sexual aids, or "adult toys" of various kinds?  Given the history of
the religous right, these should not be considered to be far-fetched
possibilities.  Will it be mandated that you must "prove" your adult
status (e.g., by identifying yourself with a credit card) before you
may have access to the new domains?  Certainly many organizations
(and possibly even ISPs) will be pressured to block access, making
"forced" population of the new TLD even more problematic.

And does this set a precedent that will be applied to other areas of
Internet content control, especially if some or all of the
Children's Online Protection Act (COPA) is upheld by the Supreme
Court?

The creation of dot-ex-ex-ex may set the stage for potentially
damaging and disruptive content control and censorship wars that we
can hardly even imagine today.  It's worth thinking through these
issues very carefully before going down that path.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () pfir org or lauren () vortex com or lauren () eepi org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, EEPI
   - Electronic Entertainment Policy Initiative - http://www.eepi.org
Moderator, 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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