The Adult Industry’s fears concerning ICANN’s recent approval of the top level “.XXX” domain seem to be coming true. The Indian government has boldly stated their plans to block all access to “.XXX” web addresses. According to The Indian Technology Act of 2001, “Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in the electronic form any material which contains sexually explicit act or conduct shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees [approx. US$20,833] and in the event of second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years and also with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees.”

Extended fears include Adult websites being forced to give up their “.com” or “.net” addresses for exclusive “.xxx” properties. Of course, such a thing would make censoring all adult materials much easier for more sexually conservative governments. None the less, not everyone is convinced India’s bark has much bite included. Opinions of The Indian Technology Act’s section 67 vary greatly from firmly believing in the negative hype, to thinking it’s rulings are nothing more than a mockery.

“India along with many other countries from the Middle East and Indonesia opposed the grant of the domain in the first place, and we would proceed to block the whole domain, as it goes against the IT Act and Indian laws,” an unidentified “senior official” at the Indian Ministry of Internet Technology told the Economic Times. “Though some people have said that segregation is better, and some countries allow it, for other nations transmission and direct distribution of such content goes against their morals and culture.” – AVN