http://www.icmregistry.com/

Try not to laugh during that video, bet you you can't.

I didn't laugh during that video. It's optimistic, but it isn't necessarily wrong. The .xxx sTLD is a fantastic idea, and it looks like they've come up with some interesting hooks to get sites and users onto it.

But what happens when trolls start using it? And we start seeing "www.doratheexplorer.xxx" or "www.hannahmontanna.xxx" and parents start sh!tting collective bricks?

So? Didn't you listen to the video? The websites will be easily blockable, not individually, but the sTLD entirely. Also, it sounds like this sTLD isn't for some bloke who wants a website, but rather for those who are making money off subscriptions and already have, or are entering this, business.

If some aspiring adult model wants the stage name Dora, they can do so under .xxx.

Back on subject, it's not going to stop trolls from registering domains, but who cares if they do? It's not like you, or some NickToons Cartoon is going to need it. I'm positive Google/Bing/Yahoo! will hide results to the .xxx sTLD unless you check a preference option or choose to explicitly include those domains.

You know as well as I do that the b!tchiest parents are also the worst at using the tools available to them to block explicit content. I'm not saying it's right, but they would rather make the objectionable content not exist in the first place than to take action on their own to avoid seeing it.

Personally, I don't think the new sTLD is a bad idea, I just think it's over-optimistic to assume there won't be a huge fight by people on their moral high-horses. I am looking forward to watching that fight however.

It costs like $200 to get a .xxx domain.

While it's true most trolls don't have money, or aren't willing to spend it, I think a few would be willing to pay that price. Hell, one guy spent thousands of dollars on a homemade projector/camera rig just so he could project his junk onto the walls of buildings. We also shouldn't underestimate the power of people pulling their resources together to do something, like anonymous does when DDoS'ing people.

What that price will do is put off lower-budget niche porn sites. If I may venture a prediction, high-budget producers like Hustler, Playboy, and Girls Gone Wild will move to the new domain because it looks more professional and may attract new customers, while the lesser-known and more niche free sites like Paheal and the numerous youtube clones won't find that extra security and professionalism worth the cost, and will continue to wreck our childhoods with .com/.net/etc. domains.

As stated earlier, I think we'll also see a media war between people who promote, use, and defend the new domain extension, vs. mothers on their periods b!tching about the continued proliferation of porn on the internet.

Who gives a shit what those idiots think? And, FYI, searches for things like "blah" already returns plenty of results. A new sTLD won't change that. Similarly, nothing is stopping you from registering blahxxx.com, if you so desire.

This looks like an interesting idea, and it's been a long time coming, but I seriously doubt that .com domains related to sex are going to remain in prominence.

They will for lower-budget niche porn sites who don't make enough from ads to afford the new domain. Sites, which shall remain nameless, that host particularly offensive forms of pornography will continue to use .com or .net because they either can't afford the new domain, or because their content is so far out of the mainstream that the proprietors of .xxx won't associate with them.

I don't think that's the case. You don't need to fill out an approval form for the sTLD. You just pay to use it. The "proprietors" of .net don't have any association with Cemetech, as Cemetech as no association with them.

The .xxx sTLD was created specifically for adult content, out of the main stream or not.

When that adult content begins to cross legal barriers in many countries, it may no longer be prudent for those who regulate .xxx to continue doing business with them.

.xxx is still a TLD, just like .com/etc.

This. Many times this.

Top Level Domain sellers and resellers don't look at the equivalent of a Drivers Record to see if you qualify to register. They don't even ask for any proof of identification (aside for country/region specific domains, I believe.)

Well, in Australia you need an ABN (Australian Business Number) to get a .au domain.

So if someone's website hosts the cartoon equivalent of child porn, the proprietor of the TLD isn't going to ban them from using it? They'd be seen by the media as providing material for pedophiles if they didn't take any action.

Uh, no? It isn't the TLD's job to enforce the law - that's the government's job. This isn't something new, this is how the internet already works.

But it isn't against the law everywhere, just some places. It's just that even where it's legal, a large majority of people find it very, very unsavory, and might expect a more regulated domain, like .xxx, to not want to deal with those people. It's also not the best business practice to deal with particularly unsavory and hated individuals when trying to attract larger, wealthier, and more legitimate corporate entities.

.xxx isn't regulated, it's not a business, it's a TLD which is sponsored by a company.

Does that company not regulate it? And here the video told me every .xxx site gets scanned by McAfee, and that they get special status in search engines and filters and such.