"2257 is an issue that clearly has to be reconciled," industry attorney Eric Bernstein told XBiz, adding that he is "cautiously optimistic" the FSC will succeed in getting its injunction. "The adult business is strong and will get stronger, and it is clear that the government is trying to regulate an industry that it does not understand."
With noted appearances by industry figures such as Robert Zacari, a.k.a. Rob Black, and Bill Margold, Cybernet Expo seminars touched on many other pressing topics facing the industry, including security issues, webmaster psychology and ICANN's recent green light on the .XXX sponsored Top-Level Domain.
One of the highlights of the event was the Hot Issues and Problems in the Adult Internet panel, a standing-room-only debate over what effect .XXX could have on the online adult world, as well as the involvement of the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection and its agreement to use its child pornography hotline to help monitor adults-only domains.
And while ASACP was asked by one member of the audience to rescind its involvement with the controversial domain, panelist Joan Irvine, executive director of ASACP, explained that while her organization does not necessarily support .XXX, the ASACP advisory council agreed to enter negotiations with ICM Registry to provide the same type of support it offers peer-to-peer groups.
However, Connor Young, editor-in-chief of YNot.com, expressed strong beliefs that the .XXX domain and its non profit technical overseer, the International Foundation for Online Responsibility, would do little to curb the presence of child pornography online.
".XXX was pushed through under the auspice of protecting children," Young said. "But it will not stop child porn and it is not the great savior it is being marketed as."
Panelist and FSC Communications Director Tom Hymes expressed similar doubts about .XXX.
"Officially, the FSC does not support .XXX," Hymes said. "It sets a horrible precedent for the ghettoization of free speech and it’s a really, really bad idea."
Echoing Hymes' sentiment, industry attorney Eric Bernstein noted that the new domain name system could dangerously empower Internet service providers to wield control over access to adult sites.
Additional concerns touched on by panelists and audience members involved the potential for Visa/Mastercard to require that all adult companies register as .XXX or lose processing privileges, and the flurry of domain name squabbles that will inevitably ensue as adult companies compete against each other and mainstream buyers to secure .XXX domains associated with their current companies.
"Why would this industry want this to happen?" Young asked the crowd. "Follow the money and those people who will be making a lot off this industry by compelling us to buy domain names for .XXX."
Hymes encouraged the crowd to submit letters to ICANN expressing concerns over the final approval of .XXX, and for those who were once in favor of the adults-only domain to explain that they felt "duped and coerced" into believing it was a good thing for the industry.
"We need to band together," Bernstein said. "We need to tell ICANN we won't do it. We simply need to say 'no.'"
Other Cybernet highlights included parties like the White Trash Bash, The Player's Ball, a Porn Poker Tour Party and a poolside Corridor Cruisin' event sponsored by ChargeMeLater, Homegrown, Bondage.com, HoDough, NichePay, BlazingBucks, Meatcash, SplitInfinity, YanksCash, Shakespeare Cigars, SunnyDollars, SpaCash, HotMovies.com, the FSC and Paycom.
Corporate sponsors for Cybernet Expo included Eric Bernstein, AdamEveCash, Camz.com and Netbilling, with Adult.com as the event's registration sponsor.
Cybernet Expo was founded in the 1990s by Fay Sharp and Dave Gould, who both told XBiz they were pleased with this year's turnout, despite the overcast weather and fears of rain.
"The people at Cybernet Expo come here to actually do business," Gould told XBiz. "Sure we provide them with some entertainment to keep them interested, but business is being done in every nook and cranny of the hotel at all times."
