‘.xxx’ domain approved for porn sites

Following a 10-year struggle to approve an alternate web domain for sites with sexually explicit content, the board of directors for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers — or ICANN — recently approved the use of “.xxx” domain names for adult entertainment websites.

This move has aroused some concern that institutions may now more easily block pornography. Experts, however, believe the government — and Penn — are unlikely to do so.

ICM Registry, the nonprofit organization that has been pushing for ICANN to approve the domain, claims on their website that the .xxx domain will benefit the adult entertainment industry as it will enable them to reach a “global audience.”

However, pornographers fear that the new suffix will lead to the government mandating its use, making it easier for users and institutions to block or blacklist websites.

Assistant professor of Law David Abrams speculated that such a government mandate would be unlikely to occur, as there is already blocking software readily available.

Abrams also noted that should the new domain catch on among pornographic websites, entities like Penn probably won’t use it as an opportunity to block porn sites as it is “antithetical” to the ideal of open dialogue within academic institutions.

Rogers Smith, a professor of Political Science, concurred.

“Universities seek to be havens for unbridled free inquiry,” he wrote in an email. “I would be surprised if Penn did that, though it would be within its rights to do so.”

College senior Daniella Wexler, a former Daily Pennsylvanian staff writer, said that because most students are of age, they should have “free reign” to pursue sites with adult content.

“It’s unrealistic to expect college-age males not to look at porn,” she wrote in an email. “They’ll find another way, and then the University will have to deal with that.”

The most obvious “mechanism” of this new web domain, Abrams said, will be that web users who aren’t looking for pornography “will be less likely to stumble upon it.”

Abrams cited the controversy in the 1990s involving the X-rated “whitehouse.com” website, which led users to inadvertently stumble upon sexually explicit content.

This incident is tied to the issue of “cyber squatting.” Thanks to progress in this field, however, Penn will probably not have to deal with a similar incident.

Cyber squatting occurs when an entity exploits a trademarked name through the use of an alternate domain name.

According to its website, ICM Registry is launching a program called Sunrise B, which will allow trademark holders outside of the adult entertainment industry — like Penn — to register with the site in order to block their name from “live use.”

College sophomore Noah Kaswell said it might be advantageous for the University to register with ICM Registry in order to prevent exploitation.

Judging by the recent hacking incident, he said, which involved a fake email sent to students and faculty in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Penn students have an aptitude for practical jokes and can be “creatively cruel.”

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.