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In March 2007 ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers once again voted down a request to create a top-level .xxx domain for adult-oriented content on the web. The proposal was rejected largely on technical and jurisdictional grounds rather than morality, but in the future this may be one possible way to more effectively control how pornography and other discretionary content is distributed on the internet.

The open nature of the internet is what gives it its value: anyone can do anything, and the best/most desireable people and things rise to the top. When censorship is imposed the natural order of the internet is disrupted, and because everything on the net is linked to everything else, the security, effectiveness and credibility of every user is affected.

When Google allowed the Chinese Government to censor its queries, it artificially altered the search results for Google users on the rest of the planet, as China's surfers would only be able to click on and build Page Rank to content they could actually see. Censorship is every bit as dangerous online as it is in the bricks and mortar world, and it affects us all. Thus, censoring pornography on the internet must be done with the greatest care. It must not be done in a manner that imposes a set of moral, political or religious standards on a platform that, by definition, must make room for everyone's individuality in order to work effectively.

I think creating a .xxx domain would be a great way for the porn industry to censor itself. In order for this to happen porn would have to abandon all hope of ever becoming a mainstream recreational activitiy, completely accepted by society as much as movies, television and social media. Given that pornography appeals to a relatively small sector of humanity, the hopes of it ever becoming the next Facebook seem slim, and it's more likely the industry would be better served by creating a unique home for itself on the internet. Material in the .xxx domain could be strictly controlled to root out illegal content, and ISP's could simply ban all pornography on the non-xxx websites on their servers. Best of all, porn could be made available exclusively to those who want it - everyone else could be left alone.

Yes, there would be challenges (how do you police it, for example, and how do you deal with the varying anti-pornography laws in different countries) but assuming these could be overcome I think it would make a lot of sense, as it's more about discernment than censorship, and it doesn't trample on anyone's individual rights.

Personally, I'm not as worried as most other people about censoring pornography on the internet, because I think that focusing all our energy on banning depictions of sexual acts between consenting adults blinds us to the need to control the far more dangerous content that covers the web.

Things like hate crime, identity theft and child exploitation are illegal activities that are doing real, physical harm to people around the world. Putting a stop to these activities is a far more difficult task than reigning in internet porn, but in my view a far more important use of time and resources.

Learn more about this author, Eric Goudie.
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