India First Nation To Block New .XXX Domain

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), recently approved the creation of a ".xxx" domain for pornographic websites. Religious groups and even pornographers have taken issue with the assignation, and nations are now taking a stand, as well.

India has become the first country to block URLs ending in .xxx. The distribution of pornography is illegal in India and elsewhere, and other countries may follow India's lead.

"India along with many other countries from the Middle East and Indonesia opposed the grant of the domain in the first place, and we would proceed to block the whole domain, as it goes against the IT Act and Indian laws," said a senior official at the ministry of IT, according to the Economic Times. "Though some people have said that segregation is better, and some countries allow it. But for other nations transmission and direct distribution of such content goes against their moral and culture."

Pornographers and free speech activists have already voiced concerns that the .xxx suffix will allow authorities to winnow out adult content more easily.

The Next Web contacted cyber lawyer and author of "The Fundamental Right to the Internet," Vivek Sood, who pointed out that pornography can still be hosted on .com and .in domains in India.

Indeed, the application process for a .xxx domain is voluntary.

Sites seeking to join will be subjected to a set of standards that prohibit child pornography, among other restrictions, and protect consumers against Malware, TechSpot reports. The new domains will also cost as much as $50 dollars more per year than traditional domains, according to the AP.

[via Gizmodo]

Comments

[nvdesertrat]

08:47 AM on 04/07/2011

Before the xxx domain approval: www.porn.com, www.porn.org www.porn.net
After the xxx domain appoval: www.porn.com www.porn.org www.porn.net www.porn.xxx

Congratulations on doing absolutely nothing.

[Jerry Barry]

09:46 PM on 03/30/2011

Funny, India would ban the xxx.domain first, with millions and millions of people and not enough land to hold them all, the one thing India doesn't need is more people going to sites that show people having sex. Population control!

[Ebby Murphy]

08:41 AM on 03/31/2011

Hey Jerry
Thanks for so much concern. We Indians are very well aware about the population and are working upon it. Blocking such domains is a good step that every country should take.
I am wondering how much time you people spend upon criticizing others.

[mariusvinchi]

09:10 PM on 03/30/2011

The XXX domain is long overdue. Now parents and schools can actually block "objectionable" material. Of course, this only works if it's use is enforced.....
Why any nation would be opposed to this is anathema to me. Do they actually believe that barring XXX will somehow stop its citizens from watching porn?

[ZenSufi]

07:40 PM on 03/30/2011

I guess .cum was taken.

[sandalwood]

03:27 PM on 03/30/2011

I think parents would generally be happy with this.

[Eagleman]

02:55 PM on 03/30/2011

The country that gave Kama Sutra to the world is blocking it.

How ironic...

[Ebby Murphy]

08:44 AM on 03/31/2011

Correct Knowledge at the right time is the answer.

[iPrayWallStreetCrash]

09:49 AM on 03/30/2011

Go India... i have wasted a lot of time watching porn, i could have been feeding the poor or helping the sick with that time.. My fault, but still, Death To porn and the creeps who produce it....

[Keyop]

06:40 AM on 03/30/2011

India blows

[pierre F Lherisson]

06:35 AM on 03/30/2011

The .xxx domain should be enforced worldwide and anything that is defined as pornography through a consensus by the ICANN, United Nations and the INTERPOL should migrate to the .xxx domain as a way to enforce parental control but if the degenerates want to watch the porno on the .xxx domain the countries should not interfere with their rights but such activities should be passively monitored by the police vice squad.

[FredDerf]

10:24 PM on 03/30/2011

Please define pornography. Know that to some the Sistine Chapel contains pornography. The same can be said about many passages in the Judeo Christian Bible.

[pierre F Lherisson]

07:18 AM on 03/31/2011

“Please define pornograph­y. Know that to some the Sistine Chapel contains pornograph­y. The same can be said about many passages in the Judeo Christian Bible."

You are right. That is why the world needs an unambitious working definition of pornography that will be cross-culturally acceptable to prevent people from getting away with prosecution through vice de forme or on technicality during trials.
The world organization will establish a hierarchy of definition to categorize those graphic representations ranging from acceptable as number one to the least acceptable such as degrading, depraved, decadent, perversion and abhorrent which will be assigned to higher numbers.
for example # 1-Symbolic representation, 2-nude sketches as used by artistes such as the cave men, Picasso, etc.., 3-semi-nude pictures by artists and photographers, 4-nude pictures by artists and photographers, 5-indecent nudity by photographers and video recordings, 6-pornography, 7-sexual intercourse pornography, 8-sodomy, 9-bestiality, 10- and above for other unknown practices

[speedntktz]

02:29 AM on 03/30/2011

So they wanted to beat China on this one?

[katatonic]

01:47 AM on 03/30/2011

no one can stop porn on the internets

[robmclaughjr]

11:06 PM on 03/29/2011

So moral of India. Maybe now they can get around to eliminating the crippling of low-caste children for begging.

[Tenjikuronin]

01:26 AM on 03/30/2011

Um...."low caste" children aren't crippled for begging...

[jetscan]

01:30 PM on 03/30/2011

Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's true. I have seen a documentary on tv a couple of years ago where criminals crippled children for begging. I saw this little girl who had been injected with something poisonous, IN HER KNEES! Although she was little and had just one dress, she had the decency of straitening her dress once in a while.

I cried that day.....

[WoodsideCraig]

10:50 PM on 03/29/2011

In a perfect, world, the xxx domain is a good thing. Porn is easily divided from other sites yet still available. It's easy to prevent children from snooping and keep it away from public use computers where it might offend someone. Everyone wins.

Once conservatives anywhere in the world get a hold of it and seek to ban it, all bets are off and the cat and mouse game begins, making things more difficult than they were before.

[jetscan]

01:31 PM on 03/30/2011

Well said.

F & F.

[ArmyMedic]

09:13 PM on 03/29/2011

I don't understand the importance of .com, .org, .net. .in, .xxx.. is defining a porn site w/ .xxx a bad thing? Maybe someone could explain.

[NC4Obama]

11:31 PM on 03/29/2011

There are different endings that are supposed to be for different things.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_top-level_domain
Some are very unrestricted like .com and some are restricted like .gov
.xxx is likely to be unrestricted but of course is meant for pornographic sites, thats not to say that pornographic sites have to use .xxx and for places that are banning .xxx pornographic sites will just continue using things like .net and .com and other unrestricted endings.

Is it a bad thing? Well if people use the ending for pornographic sites only then it will make it easier to find porn or to avoid it, which can be a bad or good thing.