[IP] .xxx tag ignores porno problems
Begin forwarded message:
From: Bill Daul <bdaul@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: March 20, 2006 11:36:59 AM EST
To: Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: .xxx tag ignores porno problems
http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/xxx-tag-ignores-porno-problems/
2006/03/20/1142703275024.html
.xxx tag ignores porno problems
INTERNET domain name regulation is a clandestine world. The modern-
day equivalents of money trees, not-for-profit regulators largely
operate free from government intervention and accountability.
In Australia, domain name registration gives the appearance of a
masked highwayman on the only train line into town. More than $30 per
registration goes to the Australian policy body AuDA and the
wholesale provider AusRegistry.
More puzzling is how registered domain names cannot be traded. Apart
from buying the company outright, there is no mechanism for you to
obtain a registered domain name, even if the owner is prepared to
give it to you.
This does preclude enterprising people registering names for the hope
of future profits but it runs against the principles of free trade
and commerce. You can buy a business name and products with
trademarks and patents, yet once registered a domain name cannot by
consent move from one party to another. You wonder why the ACCC and
federal Information Technology Minister Helen Coonan haven't had a
peek into this world.
At the top of the global domain name pyramid is ICANN (Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which was selected by
the US government in 1998 to oversee Internet addressing policies.
Usually low-profile, it finds itself in a more public position over
the proposal for an adult domain, .xxx, which is hot stuff. Away from
mounting pressures in the US, the proposal is back on the agenda for
its next international meeting in Wellington, New Zealand, on Saturday.
Before search engines became prevalent, it was decided to create
various domains to group like subjects. Governments were given
the .gov domain, non-profit organisations .org, businesses .com,
education .edu and network operators .net. In addition, a two-letter
suffix was added for countries wanting to localise their domain
addresses, so Australia was granted .au.
Every office had a whiz who was an expert at guessing web addresses
and people marvelled at how they knew it would be found with a .net
rather than .com.au. Geeks still talk about IP (Internet Protocol)
addresses. Names typed in browsers are converted into an IP address
via a domain name server (DNS), which acts as a large address book.
So when you type in http://www.google.com, it will be converted to
66.249.89.99. Type that IP address in and Google will pop up. We sure
have progressed quickly.
Today, search engines are making IP addresses and domain names
irrelevant. By entering a near-enough match to an organisation's
name, a good search engine will bring up its web address.
-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To manage your subscription, go to
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/