The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has finally approved the .xxx top level domain name — which will allow for the creation of a set of websites dedicated to the adult entertainment industry.
ICANN’s decision was ten years in the making and the organization has come up against a huge number of barriers — not least from governments and representatives of the pornography industry itself.
ICM Registry, which has been vying to run the .xxx top level domain name, is expected to sign an agreement with ICANN in the near future.
The decision was made at ICANN’s Silicon Valley meeting in San Francisco on Friday, March 18.
In a statement on its website, ICANN said: “The Board supported entering into a Registry Agreement with ICM, approving .xxx as a new top-level domain.”
ICANN’s president and chief executive officer, Rod Beckstrom, delayed the introduction of .xxx at the organization’s 39th meeting in Cartagena last year until a suitable registry-level agreement had been created.