ICANN,the group responsible for top level domain (TLD) registration, finally approved “.xxx” for adult oriented web sites after almost a decade of waiting, according to CNN. This is the first approval in quite some time that actually makes any sense for both businesses and consumers. The TLD-controlling group had been approving frivolous domains (.me, .mobi, .biz, .pro, .info and .name) for the sake of bilking consumers and companies out of a few bucks just to protect their namesakes and copyrights.
While the domain was approved, don’t expect to see if popping up in a search anytime soon.
“There is a potential that this is a prolonged process,” said ICANN board member Bruce Tonkin.
Even so, the board didn’t vote unanimously for the approval of the new TLD. ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom and fellow board member Jean-Jacques Subrenat both abstained from voting. The domain had been hotly contested by conservatives and some within the porn industry claiming it would be easy to block access to all adult sites by segregating their sites from the rest of the internet and that they’re being fleeced to register a domain that costs $60 as opposed to the 8 bucks dot com domains costs (or less when coupled with web hosting). Either way, it’s a revenue stream that finally makes sense and should allow parents control over what sites their kids land on (remember that whole Whitehouse.com thing?).