To protect kids online Sen. Mary Landrieu has proposed the creation of "dot-sex," while on May 21, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the
creation of a "dot-kids.us." The House version has a number of advantages.
The
targeted content providers under these domain names are on opposite sides of the
spectrum. Adult content providers would use the dot-sex domains, while providers
of safe content would use "dot-kids.us."
Personal
computers at home and at schools can be programmed to allow surfers access only
to "dot-kids.us" sites. Moreover, if search engines can be designed to provide
dot-kid filtered results only, kids-safe content providers have an incentive to
use the "dot-kids.us" domain name as a signaling instrument. On the other hand,
the "dot-sex" proposition does not require adult content providers to publish
all their material under the restricted domain name. Thus, it becomes much harder
to design filters to restrict access to kids-safe material based on "adult keywords."
Moreover, a private company is already offering "dot-xxx" top-level domain names.
The
private sector domain registry working closely with the Department of Justice
and other government agencies will effectively monitor "dot-kids.us" sites. Thus,
the House's approach has another implicit advantage, giving the Justice Department
the authority and the power to go after content violators. On the other hand,
under a non-restricted dot-kids top-level domain name, a Web site could be operating
anywhere in the world, making it hard to prosecute violators.
Sen. Mary Landrieu has not specified
the top level domain name, with the usual suspects being "dot-sex,"
dot-prn," and "dot-xxx." Landrieu's bill orders the Department of
Commerce and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) to decide which domain name suffix would be best for the
job.
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