.XXX domains hit the net
Online red light district goes live
The internet overlords at ICANN have seen fit to tidy all the online porn away into one handy, easy to find corner of the web with the .XXX domain which has finally gone live.
Over the coming weeks, more and more of the 200,000 adult entertainment sites which pre-registered for the sexy new domain will be going live.
Previously, porn was strewn willy nilly (ahem) around the information superhighway, with nary a thought for the children.
.xoxo
Now, the curious little kittens need only try out a few likely web addresses ending in .XXX to find all the salacious, questionable and NSFW web content their little hearts might desire.
They may be disappointed to learn that only premium adult sites are able to register a .XXX domain, so they'll need to lift a parent's credit card while they're at it.
.XXXbox
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Actually, not all porn will be swept into the dodgy .XXX back alley, with the traditional online adult industry being less than thrilled about the launch of the domain.
The Free Speech Coalition, an adult industry lobbying group, promised to boycott the domains, saying that segregating and pigeon-holing adult content is not the way to go.
Diane Duke, executive director of the coalition, previously blogged, "Remember, more of these domain names have failed than succeeded, and without the support of the industry it is purported to serve .XXX is history!"
Displaying an astounding lack of imagination, the first .xxx domains to go live include xxx.xxx, sex.xxx and porn.xxx; we'd visit and report back on the content but we're pretty sure that's more than our jobs are worth.
Via T3.com
Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.