It’s been a long time in coming, but the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) which is responsible for creation, approval, and overseeing of Internet domains (primarily the TLD space) has set in motion the final approval of the .XXX domain (also being referred to, at least in email, as the “dot-ex-ex-ex” domain, so as to avoid spam filters). Only adult entertainment industry sites, with adult-themed content, may use .XXX domains. But not everybody loves it – in fact that free speech foundation, The Free Speech Coalition, lead by Executive Director Diane Duke, is boycotting the .XXX domain, even though, as Dianne Duke seems to overlook, there is no suggestion that anybody will be required to use the .XXX domain.

You’ve probably already heard of the .xxx domain that has been proposed, rejected, re-rejected, and reconsidered, but did you know that there are also a .god domain and a .gay domain being considered? The .xxx domain was first proposed – and provisionally approved – back in 2005, and then was rejected in 2006 and 2007, primarily as a result of lobbying by conservative and religious groups; now it’s being reconsidered. Interestingly, the .god domain, which has had considerably less press, was first proposed as far back as 1995, and has been in the public awareness since at least 2000. The .gay domain is among the newest of proposed TLD (Top Level Domain) offerings (actually “gTLD”, which stands for generic Top Level Domain), although not the only new one (consider New York City’s request for a .nyc domain) – all of which are being considered this week as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) meets in Nairobi.