Re: Functional SLDs (was Re: Registration of Common Names)

[werner@axone.ch (Werner Staub)]

Hank,

> Is that a recommendation for a name for one of the 7 new gTLDs?
> Do people agree with the reasoning?
> > (...) This reminds me that, IMO, one of the intial TLDs definitely 
> > ought to be something like .sex, .adult or .porn.  (...)

I 100% agree. Please note, however, that the time factor is crucial: 
there is no point in creating .sex a year from now. It is already very
late. Providers of adult material will be more reluctant to change the
longer they build up "goodwill" under their current names.

I strongly urge the IAHC to consult sociologists and linguists
to be sure that the best solution is used from the start. Btw, this
is a an exellent field for functional SLDs!

You might also want to look at the European experiences with Videotex
and Minitel. It turned out that clear-cut categories for questionable
content are an advantage for both the respective providers and the
users who do not want to see that content. When the "sex" category
was removed from the German Vidoetex (alias BTX, now part of T-Online),
the _normal_ users ended up complaining: they would stumble over
pornographic content in the previously "innocent" areas.
You will find similar examples in the NNTP news groups. 


Regards,


Werner
-- 
Email: werner@axone.ch 
Tel +41 22 8200074 Fax +41 22 8200073
http://www.axone.ch http://Finance.Wat.ch

-- 
Email: werner@axone.ch 
Tel +41 22 8200074 Fax +41 22 8200073
http://www.axone.ch http://Finance.Wat.ch