Internet oversight agency rejects xxx domain name

NEW YORK (AP) -- Faced with opposition from conservative groups and some pornography Web sites, the Internet's key oversight agency voted to reject a proposal to create a red-light district on the Internet.

The Wednesday decision from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) reverses its preliminary approval last June to create a ``.xxx'' domain name for voluntary use by the adult entertainment industry.
Paul Twomey, ICANN'S chief executive, said the decision largely came down to whether by creating an ``xxx'' domain ICANN might be put in a position of having to enforce all of the world's laws governing pornography.
He said board members were aware of the controversy but ``the heart of the decision today was not driven by a political consideration.''
ICANN had postponed making a final decision in August after the U.S. government stepped in just days before a scheduled meeting to underscore objections it had received.
ICANN's rejection in a 9-5 vote ends, for now, a 6-year-old effort by ICM Registry Inc. of Jupiter, Florida, to establish a domain for the porn industry. ICANN first tabled its bid in 2000 out of fear it would be getting into content control.