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The .xxx domain has been on the table at ICANN for a number of years. However, the proposal to create the .xxx domain for the sex industry has been a hot potato that ICANN has deferred on a number of occasions leading to speculation that the Republican White House and right wing 'family' groups have been putting pressure on ICANN to refuse the proposal.

Conservatives say that to create the .xxx domain would 'legitimise' the creation of a virtual red light district on the Internet. Supporters of the domain say that such a move would make it easier to filter out 'adult' content and prevent it from being viewed by minors - something the Bush administration

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has been attempting for several years. The conservative lobbying groups counter that the .xxx domain would merely result in a land grab for the pornography industry and there was no indication that the organisations behind Internet porn would give up their .com and .net addresses.

ICANN says that political pressure played no part in the final decision and instead the board focussed on the areas of sponsorship, compliance issues and public policy concerns. However, others see the hand of the Bush administration in the rejection of the proposal.

The US Department of Commerce would have to approve any changes in the top level domain registry. Speaking to Reuters news agency, Martin Selmayr, the spokesman for EU Information Society and Media Commissioner, Viviane Reding said 'We see here a first clear case of political interference in ICANN' and called the development 'worrying'.

Oddly enough this puts the liberal EU on the same side as states such as Saudi Arabia, China and Iran. Last year, these countries argued that the US should relinquish control of ICANN because it was being used a tool of American foreign policy and should put it in the hands of an international body.