Like I said...plenty to talk about today.
Alongside the potential shoe drop of the condom mandate, the other shoe threatening to drop on the porn industry actually did so this weekend.
The .XXX level domain, so loved by those wanting to screen adult content into its own ghetto to be exploited for their own profits, so hated by both sides of the porn debate (it's something when Morality in Media AND the Free Speech Coalition are on the same side on an issue); and so despised by many Internet geeks....was cleared for takeoff by the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the board that supervises and approves top level domain (TLD) suffixes like [dot]com, [dot]net, and others.
Never mind that both pro- and antiporn organizations had virulently opposed adding the domain, for their own reasons. (The FSC, backed by many of porn's biggest honchos, due to the implied threat of regulation forcing adult websites into the .XXX ghetto and the costs of acquiring a .XXX domain name; the antiporn groups because it would "legitimize" content that they would much rather wipe out via obscenity laws.)
Never mind that even the ACLU had gone on record against .XXX, citing the potential abuse by cybersquatters seeking to blackmail legitimate owners of .COM and .NET sites, not to mention the windfall for illegal "tube" sites wanting to use .XXX as a license to steal.
And, never mind the fact that the proposal had been reccommended for rejection by ICANN's own Government Advisory Committee, made up of representatives from several companies, and that a similar effort in 2007 was handily defeated.
What was the difference this time around? Well, the .XXX proponents sold the proposal this time around as a means of protecting both the adult content from censorship AND as a means of protecting children from unwanted access by herding all adult content into the .XXX domain and making it easier for censorware and filters to block access to such material.
Mostly, however, they simply flooded the board with lots of money.
Because a .XXX domain will cost plenty more compared to a .COM or a .NET ($70 for a year sub as compared to $10 for other domains), the process of forcing adult websites into .XXX will produce a virtual money forest for ICM Registry, the group which owns the .XXX domain. According to ICM head Stuart Lawley, he's already secured enough presubscriptions from scared adult webmasters fearing piracy or censorship to rake in nearly $26 million...and that was before it was even passed. Lawley has even boasted that the potential killing from .XXX could reach as high as $200 million...not too bad in a recession.
Of course, all this means nothing unless current adult webmasters are forced into .XXX...which brings me to the one political force that may be open to imposing .XXX: Third Way Democrats and "Moderate" Republicans.
Already, US Senator Max Baucus (he of the Big Insura Forced Mandate/Bailout, aka "Health Care Reform") has introduced legislation forcing ISP's to require sites to move all adult content into the .XXX domain or face criminal penalties; and I'm sure that others will follow suit. Though most on the Right (especially the TeaPublicans) tend to be closer to the "just ban 'em" position of MiM and Porn Harms, they might be persuaded to support ghettoizing adult sites into .XXX as a stopgap measure to hold them out until they get enough power for outright censorship. As for the Left...well, suffice it to say that their stance has been somewhat incoherent, but I'd say that the 'protect children while maintaining a space for adult sites" logic will probably prevail over them enough to get their support as well.
Unfortunately, merely slapping a .XXX domain on a site brings forth some real issues.
Like....what about blogs like this one (or The Sexademic, or Julie Meadows, or Tiny Nibbles) who are not necessarily sexually explicit in imagery, but who report on issues regarding porn and include linkage to actual sites?? Would Blogger or WordPress be forced to impose a .XXX domain on popular porn blogs, or sex-education sites, or even sex bloggers?? Or..would they simply relent and just purge adult content from their platforms like Facebook and MySpace have already done?? And...would antiporn activist sites like StopPornCulture.com get exemptions based on their ideology alone??
And...who would be the arbeteurs of what constitutes "sexually explict" and whether a site would meet the criteria of being forced into the .XXX domain and enriching the back pockets of ICM?? The Miller Standards?? A local censor board?? Congress??
Remember, Lawley and ICM can't make their killing if current sites can continue to remain in .COM or .NET and pay the much less yearly sub fees for renewing their current domains. But..if such a law was passed, couldn't the case be made that it constituted content-based discrimination to force legal adult websites to pay more simply to exist for the benefit of a private organization??
Oh, who the hell am I kidding....this is Max Baucus I'm talking about!! Same Max Baucus known for taking corporate money under the table from the health care companies...so why wouldn't he do the same with ICM and ICANN??
Either way, the issue is far from resolved, even if ICANN and ICM is already accelerating the process for .XXX domain applications. The FSC has promised full action to review and repeal the decision, and I'm guessing that the antiporn folks are already blasting the ears of their reps in Congress to stop this.
We'll see soon if this really does become a bustout...or simply a bust.
Violet Blue (of Tiny Nibbles) has an excellent overview of the entire sitch over at the ZDNet site...feel free to go there and read up. Also...see Julie Meadows.
A sanctuary for supporters of sexual free expression and the adult sexual media.
This is an odd one to be sure. Nobody seems to want this thing outside of those who stand to profit from it directly, the ISPs. The porn industry doesn't want it. The anti-porn crowd doesn't want it.
ReplyDeleteSo who does? Those who will make money by selling more expensive domain names (undoubtedly with all kinds of obnoxious restrictions, service charges, high billing fees, etc. attached).
If anyone still wonders what rules policy-making worldwide, the answer is as clear here as it is in the oil market: money.
This has got to be one of the most rediculous things I have heard of in a while. The XXX domain will do little to live up to the promises made and will, indeed, be nothing more than a money racket for those who pushed it through.
ReplyDeletePorn is in for a very difficult upcoming five years. Between issues like this, piracy, and many of the older stars who made porn what it is today retiring and no one to really take their place, what is to become of porn?
Drar
Ernest and DRAR:
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm with both of you...this is nothing more than a Ponzi scheme to use adult sites to create the Stuart Lawley Money Tree. He's already made somewhat of a profit by forcing adult content providers to buy up .XXX domains as a preventative measure against cybersquatters and content thieves.
However, if more countries and ISP's follow the lead of India and force filtering of .XXX, then their profits will get instantly cut down. And remember, unless Lawley and his followers can persuade governments to push adult .CON and .NET sites to the .XXX domains by force, the entire Ponzi scheme falls apart. And, there still is that problem with "content-based" discrimination.
To DRAR's point about the future of porn: I'm sure that it will be difficult during the current recession...but let's remember that the economy will probably improve ultimately, and people with money to spend will still find the porn they crave. Plus, while the new crop of performers may not have the glamour or the legacy of, say, Nina Hartley or Ginger Lynn or Jenna Jameson, they do have a much stronger social media to connect with their fans (Facebook at their not-so-censorius moments. Twitter, Tumblr). Not to mention, most porn is now produced through websites rather than production companies, and less centered on California, with Las Vegas and Miami becoming alternative centers of production.
As long as men can get hardons and women have clits, there will be porn available and people to perform it. Whether they can make a decent living making it, is probably up to them.
Oh...and long time no wrap, DRAR...haven't seen you since the old Nina forums. Life treating you well??
Anthony
Hello Drar!
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you after so long. I add my best wishes to Anthony's and hope things are going well for you.
You're right, porn is in for a difficult time. In fact, it's already having it. While there may be some economic recovery elsewhere, we're not seeing it.
Instead, we're beset on all sides when our resources are lowest. Revenues are down across the board from DVD sales to site memberships. We're fighting an endless battle with the AHF gang and the various government officials they have in their pocket. Production cutbacks and a general misunderstanding of the importance of high-profile performers in any entertainment medium make it unlikely that new bankable names will emerge from the performing ranks to help boost sales as they so often have in the past.
And the .XXX domain is already showing how much of a problem it will be with the India ban. It's all too easy to just shut off one corner of the Internet where much of our remaining business is still to be had.
I agree with Anthony that there will always be porn, as there pretty much always has been. But the quality will certainly decline and the conditions under which it is made will deteriorate inevitably the in the face of this perfect storm of catastrophic circumstances.
Hope everybody likes amateur porn because before long that may be all that's left. The industry as we've known it, for all its faults, at least had the means to make some quality products over the years and I fear those means, and with them the industry itself, are fading out.
Life has been very busy but very well, thank you for asking. Ironically, the recession has been a good thing for our business.
ReplyDeleteHow about yourself?
Drar
Drar,
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear that you've been doing well in spite of everything, proving that there's always need for qualified, hard-working people even in the worst of times.
We're struggling along. Nothing in video for me. Some work for Nina, although her looming health issues discussed on this site further down signal an involuntary hiatus to come.
Magazines still holding up with considerable struggle.
Thanks for asking.
Ernest
Earnest,
ReplyDeleteI was just reading the post about Nina. That involuntary hiatus is going to hurt.
How about her book? I was really hoping it sold well.
Drar
Hi Drar,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the concern. Unfortunately, sales of Nina's book have been pretty slim, owing to the publisher's decision not to promote it.
And yes, that hiatus will hurt for an indeterminate period at a time when business in general is pretty much at a standstill.
What that's true is the subject of a whole other thread and when I can get the time, I might just start it.
In the meantime, we're scrambling like so many others.
Ernest
Earnest,
ReplyDeleteI look forward to that thread.
Hang in there and best of luck to yourself and Nina.
Drar