.XXX Domains Back on the Table

The prospect of a .xxx domain will return yet again on March 12, when ICANN reconsiders the universal sign for smut as a legitimate ending for new Web addresses.

After dying a fiery death before the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) not once but twice, the prospect of a .xxx domain has risen from the grave once again. And the third time might the charm. According to the BBC, the .xxx domain will be back on the table when ICANN meets in Nairobi, Kenya on March 12.

Although ICANN originally accepted plans for the .xxx domain to put adult content behind a virtual curtain back in 2005, protest from conservative groups led the group to eventually veto the suggestion in 2007. Because adult sites would be able to keep their existing domains under the plan, critics argued that it opened up an easy way for kids to find inappropriate content, without blocking off access to any of the old routes. Proponents insist the universal ending would actually make it easier to filter adult content from kids.

A panel of retired judges at the International Centre for Dispute Resolution ruled that the 2007 overturning should be revisited, because it wasn’t based on “neutral, objective and fair documented policy.”

The March 12 meeting will only determine where ICANN should formally reconsider the .xxx domain, not produce an enforceable ruling to move forward with it or not.