.xxx is an unofficial Top Level Domain intended for sexually explicit sites on the Internet. It has not been authorized as a standard by ICANN, and most DNS servers do not resolve domains that use this TLD. It has been discussed and unsuccessfully proposed as a standard generic TLD similar to .com, .net, .org, .info, etc. There is also a proprietary implementation of .xxx by New.net, a private domain registration service unaffiliated with ICANN. There was a .xxx TLD offered by the now-defunct AlterNIC.
Formal Proposals for .xxx
The creation of a TLD specifically for sexually explicit material has been promoted as a tool for dealing with the conflict between those who wish to provide and access such material through the Internet, and those who wish to prevent children and adolescents — or employees using company-provided internet access in the workplace — from accessing it. Advocates of the idea argue that it would be easy for parents and employers to block the entire TLD, rather than using more complex and error-prone list-based or content-based filtering, without imposing any restrictions on those who wish to access it. Critics of the idea argue that there are inadequately clear standards for what would be considered "sexually-explicit", and because there is no legal authority capable of enforcing such standards on an international basis sexually-explicit material would still be commonplace in .com, .net, etc. ICANN has declined to approve any such proposal. Proposals for .kids and .sex TLDs have produced similar arguments and similar results.
New.net's .xxx Domains
Accessing web sites which use .xxx domains registered with New.net (and several other unofficial TLDs they manage) requires special client software or the use of a DNS server specifically configured to resolve these domains. These domains can only be registered through New.net or its affiliates. These factors have limited the popularity of the TLD in current practise. New.net offers two methods to enable the use of their .xxx TLD.
- A plug-in for Internet Explorer for Windows, which can be downloaded and installed from their web site, and which is also bundled with various freeware packages. This program is classified as spyware by the developers of Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy, two popular spyware-detection utilities.
- Instructions for ISPs to reconfigure their DNS servers (running BIND or Microsoft's DNS service) to query New.net's DNS to resolve their .xxx domains. [1]
