.XXX Rejection Gets Replayed by Australia News Site

SYDNEY — It’s been about a year since ICANN rejected ICM Registry’s .XXX proposal, but the story surrounding its defeat was resurrected and took on a life of its own Monday.

ICANN spokesman Jason Keenan told XBIZ that Monday’s news report on Australia’s ITNews website claiming .XXX was rejected for a third time was bogus. He said the news posting was simply the case of a journalist not doing his homework.

“Apparently one of the reporters saw old footage from a BBC video and wrote a story about the defeat of .XXX,” Keenan said. “As we all know, that was last year’s news.”

ICM Registry’s proposal was shot down 9-5 last March in Lisbon as the Internet policy-making board put the brakes on a virtual red light district. ICANN rejected .XXX proposals also in 2004 and 2006.

Jupiter, Fla.-based ICM Registry set out to demonstrate the support of the sponsored community by stating 76,723 .XXX adult website were pre-reserved. It also claimed that 1,217 adult webmasters from more than 70 countries registered on ICM’s site saying that they supported .XXX and wished to register a name.

It pledged to donate $10 of the proposed annual fee of $60 for a .XXX domain name to child-protection groups and to require users of .XXX to label their content.

Debates, including one at last year’s XBIZ Hollywood Conference that focused on the measure, were heated, with the majority in the online adult community firmly opposed to it.

Efforts to reach ITNews editors on the matter went unsuccessful Tuesday, but ICM Registry President Stuart Lawley said he too was perplexed by Monday’s report, which was picked up by other news sites and numerous blogs.

“Bizarre,” Lawley told XBIZ “I think the doxy Australian journalist was reporting on last year's news.”

ICANN’s Keenan said that so far there have been no efforts to resurrect .XXX.

“It’s pretty much dead,” he said.

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Arcom to Expand AV Enforcement to Smaller Adult Sites

The president of French media regulator Arcom revealed on Thursday that the agency plans to escalate its enforcement of age verification rules to include smaller adult sites, starting in late 2025 or early 2026.

AEBN Publishes Report on MILF, Cougar Trends

AEBN has published a report on MILF and Cougar categories from its straight theaters.

Pornhub to Shut Down Access in Arizona Over Age Verification

Aylo will geoblock Pornhub across Arizona starting Sept. 26, when the state’s age verification law, HB 2112, goes into effect.

Flirtback Launches Zcash Crypto Payment Solution

Creator platform Flirtback has launched its Zcash (ZEC) crypto payment solution.

Vixen Media Group Appoints Samuel Spencer as President, COO

Vixen Media Group (VMG) has named industry veteran Samuel Spencer as its new president and chief operating officer.

French Telecoms Mogul Ignites AV Firestorm With Free VPN, Sarcastic Tweet

French billionaire Xavier Niel, founder of telecommunications giant Iliad, sparked a heated debate this week when he appeared to admit that the company's Free Mobile wireless carrier integrated no-cost VPN into its service specifically to circumvent age verification restrictions on adult content.

UPDATED: Michigan Legislators Propose Online Porn Ban

Michigan lawmakers have introduced a bill that would make it illegal to distribute pornography via the internet in the state.

Taliban Restricts Access to Adult Content by Shutting Down Internet

The Taliban has shut down internet access across a large portion of Afghanistan in a move to prevent what it deems "immoral activities."

Go.cam Adds Video Spoofing Protection for AV

Go.cam has announced that its verification solution now features security against video spoofing.

SexLikeReal Releases 'VR Self-Care' Guide

SexLikeReal (SLR) has published a blog post spotlighting “VR Self-Care.”

Show More