I think you underestimate what Comcast et al are trying to do to the Internet, with the help of various convenient politicians.
Things like the .xxx proposal and opposition to net neutrality are steps towards the same kind of 'clean, curated experience' you get on the iPhone today.
Thankfully they seem to be getting knocked back every time they try, but only with great expense and effort from groups like the EFF. And they keep on trying new ways to ruin the Internet all the time.
Exactly. And when they are nicely concentrated under the .xxx TLD, they will be easier to filter, no pesky URL lists that are difficult (=expensive) to maintain.
Yeah, that's good. A lot of people want to filter them. There'd be no way to keep pornographic or sexual content constrained to a .xxx domain even if regulations were implemented to try to make it so. I see it as a convenience for consumers, not governments; if we get to the point where the government is censoring the internet, I don't think the fact that there's an .xxx TLD is going to be that big of a deal. They'd all just bleed over into .com space again surreptitiously.
See how well they're doing stopping piracy of normal media? They'll do even worse stopping pornography. There's nothing to fear from a .xxx domain.
How certain are you of this? Would you be able to successfully defend every photograph or email you have ever produced against obscenity charges? I think, if it came down to it, the courts could find a hell of a lot of inadvertent pornographers out there.
Note I said 'could': Selective enforcement of over-broad laws is a boon and a horrible threat, because it implies everyone is guilty of something, so the government could pound anyone who bothers them if it chose to.
What goes in the .xxx domain? Who decides? One man's pornography is another man's art, unless you have a burning conviction that you should decide what other people get to look at. One woman's abortion advice is another woman's gross obscenity.
At first glance, it seems like a great idea, but as soon as you get into the details it's a nightmare. What .xxx and similar proposals mean is that someone, somewhere, possibly in another country and with values wildly at variance with yours, gets to censor the Internet for you. It's not a service I consider worth having.
Wait, is the proposal for all pornographic sites to be necessarily limited to .xxx? If it is, then I agree that it's a matter of concern. If it isn't, then I don't see your point.
What's the point, then, of a walled garden if it doesn't have a wall around it? cookiecaper says "There's nothing to fear from a .xxx domain" but if that's the case then, de facto, there's nothing to be gained from it either except a bit of marketing edge. If the argument is for "safety", then it has to be compulsory. And even if it doesn't start as compulsory, the "Think of the children!" brigade will soon start lobbying for it to be made so.
Things like the .xxx proposal and opposition to net neutrality are steps towards the same kind of 'clean, curated experience' you get on the iPhone today.
Thankfully they seem to be getting knocked back every time they try, but only with great expense and effort from groups like the EFF. And they keep on trying new ways to ruin the Internet all the time.