短篇阅读：网络情色

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转贴理由：写作很好的参考

短篇阅读之社会篇： 网络情色
Internet governance

Pornographic

Jun 9th 2005
From The Economist print edition


The .xxx web domain raises questions about internet rules
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IT IS the fantasy of every purveyor of porn—and every censor of cyberspace: a way to tag web content to find it easily, or just as easily to block it. On June 1st, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the private-sector group that manages the domain-name system, approved .xxx as a web suffix. After ICANN agrees on contract terms with ICM Registry, an American company that will handle the back-end registrations, .xxx sites will sprout on the global internet.

The idea is controversial. It was made with little public discussion, leaving some to wonder about the way ICANN doles out names. Though the domain is voluntary, there will be a temptation for governments to make it mandatory. It creates a virtual red-light district, and is another step towards zoning of the web. But what constitutes adult material in Saudi Arabia differs from that in Sweden. Some countries may object to it as an example of libertine western values imposed on the global web, justifying their complaints that they lack influence over how internet policies develop—at a time when they are using a United Nations initiative to gain more say.

ICANN argues it is only a technical body, and must set aside value judgments. ICM believes it is a way for the online porn industry, worth some $5 billion annually, to identify their content to help users to find or block it. The firm expects to register 100,000 domains in its first year. Yet .xxx may not be as useful as its backers hope. Lots of porn merchants are likely to stick with their existing domain names, even if they buy .xxx in addition, to avoid blocking by some nations and most schools, libraries and offices. Meanwhile, the move has already inflamed the passions of many social conservatives.

lucy_zq2002UID: 177408

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imongUID: 140258

有需求就有市场。

无非是个手段上的差异。