Calling the proposed .XXX TLD “unconstitutional,” “dangerous,” and a direct threat to the health of the Internet, Flynt took a hard line in a letter to ICANN, maintaining his characteristic defense of free speech in the face of government censorship.
Flynt’s letter was released Monday afternoon by the Free Speech Coalition, which was asked to submit it on his behalf to ICANN.
ICANN is close to the conclusion of a commentary period from the adult webmaster community – and anyone else interested in giving feedback – on the controversial campaign to label all adult websites under a .XXX domain.
Speaking on behalf of Flynt Management Group, Flynt stated:
“Only if it becomes a tool of censorship will it achieve its goal of preventing access to adult content by minors, and if it falls short of that goal, what reason for it was there for it in the first place, especially if alternative methods and tools can achieve the same results. This industry is open to all solutions to making the Internet a safer and freer place, but .XXX is not one of them.
Prior to his letter, Flynt’s position on ICANN’s adoption of a .XXX domain has not been clearly stated. Instead of resorting to .XXX, Flynt said he and his company actively support efforts to make the Internet safe for children through education, good business practices and the use of filtering technologies.
“Legislation was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate that will create a mandatory .XXX TLD, and in Australia a law has been proposed that would institute ISP-level filtering of adult content,” Flynt continued. “Even if these individual initiatives fail, they have convinced me that is it inevitable that government will continue to try to impose a regulatory scheme on .XXX that is unnecessary and unconstitutional…Because of these concerns and others, I respectfully request that ICANN reject the current ICM Registry application.”
Flynt was not available for comment at press time; however his letter, addressed to ICANN representatives, is presently posted on the FSC website with his permission.