.XXX Domain Delayed Even Further

The future of .xxx became uncertain Thursday after ICANN chairman Vint Cerf announced that plans to approve a proposal for the domain were removed from the agenda for a board meeting in British Columbia.

Approval had already been delayed once before in September. That delay came at the request of the Bush Administration, who said it had received 6,000 complaints over the proposed addition. According to ICANN, more time is needed to review a 350-page report concerning the creation of the domain.

Several conservative-leaning interest groups have spearheaded much of the public resistance in the United States. A few, like the Family Research Council, advised members to write to the Department of Commerce in order to get the domain blocked.

"Some naively suggest that passing a new law to force pornographers to move to .XXX will solve the problem but that will not work either. Law means nothing to hardcore pornographers," the group wrote in a June press release.

"There already is a law prohibiting them from selling hardcore porn on the Internet-anywhere on the Internet - yet they have been doing if for years."

The Bush Administration may also be helping to stir up opposition among foreign governments as well. However, some press reports indicate that it may not be the US, but rather the European Union that is holding up approval of the new virtual Red Light District.