ICANN Can't: Organization Rejects Effort Designed to Protect Children

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) can't agree to the ratification of a proposal to give adult Web sites their own ".xxx" domain. The decision is met with disappointment by the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI). According to the organization, whose mission is to promote best practices, tools and methods for family online safety, the decision by ICANN board members represents a step in the wrong direction and fails to offer the additional protection children need online.

"We are disappointed by ICANN's decision not to approve the .xxx domain. We believe it has missed a great opportunity to increase the use of content labels and thus make filtering and other child protection efforts more effective," said Stephen Balkam, CEO of FOSI. "We also regret that the voluntary funding of the International Foundation for Online Responsibility from the .xxx registrations will not now become a reality. Contrary to the ICANN resolution, which erroneously asserts that the .xxx proposal avoids the protection of vulnerable members of the community, the proposal was actually an important self-regulatory effort in the field of online safety, and passing it up only hurts parents and children."