WASHINGTON, June 28 /
Christian Newswire/ -- The Internet Corporation for assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the entity responsible for Internet domain names and categories worldwide, has given conditional approval for a domain exclusively devoted to pornography; the .xxx joins .com, .org, .edu, and .net (among others) to give the pornography industry an exclusive outlet. CWA objects to ICANN giving so-called "adult entertainment" respectability in the Internet world.
ICM Registry, the overseeing body that lobbied for the new domain name, claims to have 110,000 pre-sales of sites for the new Internet address and argues that the new domain will enable opponents to more easily filter out objectionable materials. ICM stands to earn $30 million a year with the new classification.
Penny Young Nance, CEO of Concerned Women for America (CWA) said, "Since the new .xxx domain is voluntary, it will not isolate all pornography in one area, but it will cause parents and others to think that the Internet is safe for children. Worse, it continues to ease the seepage of pornography into the popular culture, making it an acceptable aspect of daily life. Any initiative that mainstreams pornography is harmful to children and society."
Janice Shaw Crouse, CWA's spokesperson on the pornography issue, said, "Today's pornography is beyond crude and offensive; it is degrading to women and its themes are so extremely violent and debased that decent people recoil in outrage. We know that such pornography is used to "groom" trafficking victims by desensitizing the girls and instructing them in their new way of life. It is untenable that we would allow rape, bestiality and other hardcore pornography into our homes via commercial labeling that clearly benefits only those involved in the production and distribution of pornography, such as organized crime and the baser elements of commercialism."
Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.
