Personally, I feel that any steps that the industry can voluntarily take that will help keep our wares out of the hands of children or of those legally prohibited from accessing adult materials is a good thing. While I am opposed to a "forced migration" of adult properties to this virtual "Red Light District," such a step might be required in order for .XXX to be effective – rather than becoming simply another branding vehicle for adult websites.
To be honest, I would rather see the adoption of a more inclusive and less stigmatic ".adult" TLD that would encompass gaming, alcohol, tobacco and other adult-oriented sites offering content that is potentially harmful to minors. Dot-XXX is what's on the plate however – all that remains to be seen is if we'll have to, or want to, eat it.
Recently, XBiz World asked a group of industry leaders "What Do You Think About the Adoption of the .XXX Sponsored Top Level Domain?"
Here's what they had to say:
"The new .XXX TLD will do little to keep online adult content out of sight for children. It will only benefit registrars, cyber squatters and scammers, trademark attorneys and politicians looking to 'carry a torch' on the issue. The real result will be that parents and children
receive little benefit, and adult consumers are simply confused and confounded."
– Andrew Conru, Founder, CEO, FriendFinder Inc.
"I do believe the intentions for .XXX are good; however, there are many questions that still need to be answered. What if companies lose their .com to .XXX? Will .com names not be allowed for adult, and will you then need .XXX? Why is the price for .XXX so much more than .com? Overall, it is too soon to tell for sure if it is a good or bad thing."
– Vanderweb, AdultWebmasterHost.com
"The .XXX domain is a good idea, but right now it's all in bad timing with a very ambitious and hostile administration in power. Ultimately, many will benefit and many won't. Each webmaster will have to decide as the cards are laid out on the table. You can work with it or just miss out since Pandora's box has already opened."
– Alienq
"What I see as potentially positive in .XXX is that it provides an opportunity to leverage voluntary business practice standards in exchange for concessions we would not otherwise get. Ours is essentially a political battle, and the essence of politics is compromise. In response to the prospect of living on .XXX Island, I would say 'Maybe, but what do I get if I say yes?' "
– Jack Mardack, President, profitLABINC.com
"Hopefully those of you who understand this is a kind of modern day McCarthyism (that is if you are educated enough to know who he was) will finally realize the graveness of this issue and write to the liberal politicians in your respective states. .XXX is the equivalent of wearing Hester Prynne's 'Scarlet Letter.'"
– Kevin "KB" Blatt, KB Consults
".XXX would bring together in one room all sexually protected speech and it would create an incredible opportunity for government and non government institutions to censor and discriminate against the adult industry. It would be so easy for Google or Visa to simply say 'we're going to make sure our computers don't go to .XXX.'"
– Michelle L. Freridge, Executive Director, Free Speech Coalition
"If this goes into effect it will just add to the stress, pressure and extra workload that we as an industry are currently facing, and I doubt it will do much to deter underage people from visiting adult content. In fact, the publicity will probably draw more attention to adult content."
– Rainey Stricklin, Vice President of Marketing and Webmaster Relations, Pridebucks
"XPays' concern is that it won't be the government that uses .XXX to affect adult businesses, but that it will be the private companies such as Visa and Mastercard that present the biggest risk factor. For example, if they mandate that all adult companies must use the .XXX extension, then that would be, in our opinion, a negative consequence. It's the credit card companies that can do whatever they want."
– Evan Horowitz, XPays
The comments above represent the opinions of a cross-section of adult industry operatives. Use the message thread below to share your opinions on the proposed .XXX TLD.
