Opposition Delays Approval for Proposed Internet Porn Domain
Thursday, Aug. 18, 2005
Posted: 1:19:57AM EST

Approval for establishing a ".xxx" Internet domain name for pornography has been delayed for a month due to "unprecedented" opposition, a spokesman for the U.S. Commerce Department said.

Assistant secretary for communications and information Michael D. Gallagher stated that the department had received almost 6,000 letters and e-mail messages expressing concern over the effects the new domain would have on families and children.

"The volume of correspondence opposed to creation of a ‘.xxx’ TLD (Top Level Domain) is unprecedented," Gallagher said in a letter to the chairman of key Internet oversight agency, ICANN.

According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Commerce Department has power to veto ICANN decisions because of its involvement in funding early internet development and selecting the Internet agency to oversee domain name registration.

The Family Research Council, a conservative Christian pro-family group, issued a statement expressing "thanks" to the Bush administration for opposing the new domain.

The rest