Domains in the .XXX zone will be more expensive than regular ones.
As a reminder, ICANN recently approved the creation of the .XXX domain extension, which will be used exclusively for pornographic websites. ICM Registry will administer the adult domain extension. Analysts believe that the price of .XXX domains will be higher than in other domain extensions.
Those interested will be able to register a domain in this zone for $60 per year. Currently, the average price for domain registration in various zones is no more than $10 per year. ICM Registry plans to sell nearly 500,000 domains immediately after registration begins, based on pre-orders. To date, ICM Registry has received nearly 300,000 requests for domains in the new zone.
However, some representatives of the pornography industry oppose the creation of such a zone. They believe that moving all porn sites to a single domain extension will significantly reduce traffic to existing erotic content sites. Much of their traffic comes from corporate computers during work hours, and employers cannot currently block employees' access to all such sites. The creation of the .XXX extension will make such filtering possible.
Diane Duke, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, which represents the interests of pornographic content producers, said ICANN had failed to take into account the views of the majority of the adult entertainment industry and had ignored the interests of free speech on the Internet.
She said that the Free Speech Coalition plans to challenge ICANN's decision to create such a domain.
The idea to create such a domain appeared back in 2001, but in 2004 ICANN refused to launch the “adult domain,” and in 2006 the creation of such a zone was suspended at the request of the administration of US President George W. Bush.
ICM Registry representatives say the transition to this domain will not be forced. The company also promised to block access to websites in the .XXX zone for minors and to prevent the appearance of child pornography on these resources.
