Greetings. As predicted in ICANN Likely to Approve "Dot-Ex-Ex-Ex" Domain for Chumps!, it is now reported by AP that ICANN is moving ahead towards final approval of the dot-ex-ex-ex TLD (Top Level Domain).

Note in the AP piece how the fellow behind ICM Registry -- the proposed operator of dot-ex-ex-ex -- is already crowing about the bundles of money he believes he'll make, and claiming that he'll require registrants to include meta labeling on their Web pages, presumably so that they can be widely blocked. Wow, such an attractive deal for adult sites! Why not just pour nitric acid into your servers? The ultimate effect would likely be very similar.

I believe that if dot-ex-ex-ex is "finally" approved, we can expect that:

(a) Dot-ex-ex-ex blocking will become essentially a default condition for much of the Internet, enforced by governments, organizations, and many ISPs in various ways.

(b) Various governments will attempt to mandate that "adult entertainment" sites sign up in and/or move totally to dot-ex-ex-ex (likely what ICM is actually hoping for).

(c) A flurry of lawsuits on all sides will be forthcoming.

(d) Dot-ex-ex-ex will embolden legislative efforts to force other categories of inconvenient or "undesirable" Internet speech and materials into their own more easily blocked TLDs and labeling regimes.

The DNS (Domain Name System) has become a means to extort protective name registrations from sites who really have no desire to be involved in new TLDs, a mechanism for further confusing consumers (and incidentally, enhancing the value of dot-com), and now, an enabling mechanism for Internet censorship and "thought control."

By the way, why do I keep referring to the TLD under discussion as "dot-ex-ex-ex"? Because if I use its real label, e-mail filters will automatically reject my associated mailings at many sites -- which helps to demonstrate how utterly insane this entire situation has become.

--Lauren--