PORN websites could be shut down and forced to reopen under a new Internet domain name if a controversial US bill is approved.
The idea is to ring-fence websites with adult content to make the Internet safer for children. By placing them under the same top-level domain name, such as .prn or .xxx, website filters could exclude sites more effectively and people would be able to click on links to .com or .org sites safe in the knowledge that they won鈥檛 be bombarded with pornographic images. Sites that may incite hatred, and anything deemed harmful to children, could also be included.
The new bill, which is being proposed by Louisiana senator Mary Landrieu, would affect any website content, such as images, audio recordings or text that 鈥減anders to the prurient interest鈥� or could be seen to be 鈥減atently offensive with respect to minors鈥�.
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The proposed legislation is likely to prove unpopular with many Internet users and civil libertarians who have fought to keep the Web unregulated. It is also unclear whether the US would be able to enforce the new rules on websites created or maintained abroad.
鈥淚t鈥檚 insane. How would you implement this on a worldwide scale,鈥� says Mary Hewitt of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigning Names and Numbers), the international body that regulates domain names. ICANN would have to hold an international referendum before such a domain could be introduced, she says. But many people would fight it, not least the porn industry which profits from innocuous Web addresses.
But the bill does come with a sweetener. To entice Internet service providers to comply, the measures would grant them immunity from liability for the content of such websites. Many countries have yet to agree whether ISPs can be held responsible for the content of websites they support.