[ NNSquad ] ICANN Chairman touts .XXX making porn more accessible and easier to filter

[Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>]

ICANN Chairman touts .XXX making porn more accessible and easier to filter

http://j.mp/dJOo1Q  (Washington Post)

    "We are disappointed that ICANN ignored the clear advice of
     governments worldwide, including the U.S.," said Lawrence Strickling,
     assistant Commerce secretary. "This decision goes against the global
     public interest, and it will open the door to more Internet blocking
     by governments and undermine the stability and security of the
     Internet."
     ...
     A spokesman for the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, which already bans
     pornography, said in an interview that the country would
     "absolutely" shut off access to .xxx.  "This would actually make
     our life much easier. If you can say that only pornography goes
     into this portal, it's much easier to block it," Nail al-Jubeir,
     the spokesman, said. "Most of the problems we face in Saudia
     Arabia are that porn sites tend to be under various Web site
     names, and it's a cat and mouse game ... 
     ...
     Peter Dengate Thrush, ICANN board chairman, said in an interview that
     .xxx will not increase the volume of porn on the Internet. "All
     dot-xxx does is make [pornography] more accessible," he said. "It will
     be easier for people to filter it."

 - - -

Reference: ICANN Approves .XXX -- Boycott Urged -- ICM Keeps Blowing Smoke
           ( http://j.mp/hJi7qq  [Lauren's Blog] )

 - - -

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org
Founder:
 - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
 - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
 - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein 
Google Buzz: http://j.mp/laurenbuzz 
Quora: http://www.quora.com/Lauren-Weinstein
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com