Society: An Internet 'Red Light District'?

12.2.05 - Some people and organizations are proposing the addition of ".xxx" domain to the names of pornographic Websites. They envision an Internet where adult sites are relegated to a "Red Light District", which will make it both easier to find and easier to block from underage surfers.

Of course, there are those who oppose it, citing the prolifiration of porn on the Web and warning that such a move will promote illicit material—as if porn needs any help being promoted.

The proposal is being made by Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization entrusted by the U.S. government with managing Internet domain names. The opposition is, of course, from the conservative camp—the one that has already made our world a much safer place to live by dictating to us what is good for us and what is not.

As cnn.com reports, "Critics such as the Family Research Council, a conservative U.S.-based religious group, complain that creating the .xxx domain would only legitimize the porn industry, and not make it easier to avoid sexual content on the Web."

Does it not make sense to group all sex sites under one domain in order to turn the Internet into a safer place for all? With porn lurking everywhere on the Web and bombarding our children with explicit images—often through misleading links and relentless pop-up windows—segregating hardcore from the mainstream Internet is an intelligent decision.

We must stop bowing to the religious right and allowing them to delve into our lives, censoring everything they do not like and determining what we can or cannot watch, read and listen to. The freedom of speech guaranteed us by the U.S. Founding Fathers must be preserved at all cost.
Conservatives must not be allowed to hinder our technological and social progress.

We must do whatever is necessary to maintain a "Live and Let Live" lifestyle and philosophy. Anything less would undermine the essence of the American Way.