The debate, which took place this morning, was moderated by Piya Chattopadhyay for Canada's national public broadcasting show The Current. The debate explored .XXX from three angles: that of ICM as the sTLD applicant, the adult entertainment industry as the targeted sponsorship community, and from a feminist perspective on the societal impact.
In the interview, Lawley said .XXX would be a TLD for the “responsible” adult community and insisted that the top-level domain would result in its prosperity. Nevertheless, Lawley also noted that through the venture, ICM would rake in between $30 million and $150 million a year.
Duke responded by voicing the concerns of the adult entertainment community, including making them an easy target for anti-adult extremists and forcing adult companies to register domain names in order to protect their brand and traffic.
Duke acknowledged an option to pay a one-time fee to park a domain and thus, protect a brand, however expressed concern over fluctuating prices.
“In our initial discussions Stuart talked about a price of $25," she said. "Monday, I read somewhere that the price was between $50 and $250. And by Tuesday, a reporter I spoke with said that it was up to $275.”
When asked her opinion on mandated .XXX TLDs, Cole sided with ICM with the belief that Internet surfers should be protected from stumbling upon adult content.
The interview podcast can be heard on the CBC website.