Updates to this story
The proposed ".xxx" top level domain (TLD) name has at last been given the go-ahead by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
The domain name has had its share of support and detractors but will definitely sit alongside the ICM Registry's other staples such as .net. However, .xxx names will only be given to the "adult entertainment industry" - so that's porn.
.XXX will be regulated by the International Foundation for Online Resposibility (IFFOR) which is a non-profit though it will receive heavy funding should the domain take off, $10 from every website registered. It states on its website that the .XXX TLD will be managed "in accordance with the provisions" of the IFFOR Charter, holding the porn industry accountable for keeping it clean.
That's virus-free and upholding the United Nations' Declaration of Human Rights related to free expression.
The suffix will come with weighty responsibilities, including to promote open and transparent policy development and taking a line on best practice to safeguard kids from viewing the stuff and to combat illegal pornography, such as child pornography.
Domain names are being doled out by the ICM Registry to let smut peddlers protect their brands and intellectual property before the open market goes nuts. We can't confirm Castlemaine's interested.
All ICANN has done is to re-affirm that Alternative DNS is the way forward whilst encouraging more people to vote with their feet looking for new ways to use the World Wide Web . As a direct result, Internet users now can create an unlimited range of (previously unavailable) personalised Non-ICANN domains and TLDs, completely free.
Sites such as Dashworlds.com already provide brand new Dashcom (not Dotcom) domain names. Dashcoms are addresses in format "business-com", "paris-fashion", "social-network" and of course any "xxx" extension you might desire. Totally outside the realm and control of ICANN, Internet users can create any domain in any language, instantly and at no cost.
With users and members in over 90 countries worldwide, resolution is via an APP; although new ISP Links are available to make this unnecessary (ISP Links that are also available to ICANN).
Having just one Internet floating in infinite cyberspace is like saying you can go anywhere in the USA as long as you only use route 66. So now, just as in the USA (and everywhere else in the world) the Internet has more than one option.