ICANN Rejects Creation Of .XXX Domain For Porn Site

The body responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers on Friday rejected plans to establish a new ".XXX" domain for racy or sexually explicit websites.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said an ".XXX domain" would not resolve the issue of how to protect "vulnerable members of the community".

ICANN would also be obligated "to acquire a responsibility related to content and conduct," it said in a statement after a board meeting.

"This decision was the result of very careful scrutiny and consideration of all the arguments," ICANN Chairman Vint Cerf said, adding: "That consideration has led a majority of the Board to believe that the proposal should be rejected."

ICANN is an internationally organized, public benefit non-profit body responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers. These include domain names (like .org, .museum and country codes like .UK), as well as the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols.

Computers use these identifiers to reach each other over the Internet.

Two US senators last year proposed US legislation that would establish the new ".XXX" domain.

The bill proposed by senators Mark Pryor and Max Baucus, both Democrats, called upon the US Department of Commerce to exclude sexually charged content from established website domain names such as .gov, .com, .org, .net, and .edu.

Baucus said that a .XXX domain would help parents use filtering software to keep children from accessing pornographic sites, and would help prevent hapless Internet users from inadvertently stumbling onto sexually-explicit websites that they would prefer not to see.

ICANN was created in 1998 and is based in California.

According to the corporation's website more than 830 people from 81 countries gathered in Lisbon for what chairman Cerf called "one of ICANN's busiest and issue-intensive meetings ... which helped ICANN make substantial progress on numerous fronts" including the launch of a new website "with better navigation and new features to increase ICANN's transparency and accountability."

The 29th ICANN public meeting will be held June 25-29 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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Why Your Cell Phone Is For You Alone

My cell phone is the most important piece of technology I carry around. In it I store the numbers of my closest friends, family members, co-workers, and other important contacts. I personally never give out my cell phone number to complete strangers, but instead use call forwarding services that send calls to my real phone number. There're plenty of companies that offer these services for a small monthly fee.

I'm still amazed by how many people publicize their home number in places like Craigslist or eBay, even with the rise of reverse phone lookup directories, which help anyone find out where you live just by typing in your phone number, not to mention phone phishing scams.

So what can you do?

Virtually Safer

If you list an item online, instead of listing your number with it, I suggest you get a free online voicemail account. A service like Private Phone sets you up with a local number and voicemail box anyone can call. You can then check your messages online or over the phone. This solution will work for anyone who needs to publish a phone number online, on a resume, or dating site.

Even business owners fail to protect their privacy by handing out their home number to complete strangers.

My brother-in-law is a real estate appraiser, and when people weren't too happy with his appraisal reports, they left threatening messages on his answering machine. One caller even threatened him physically. It's just a reminder that exchanging numbers with the wrong person, even in business, could have serious consequences.

For home business owners, I recommend a service like RingCentral (which I've used) or Vonage (which I currently use), because these services not only provide your with a local number, but they also offer a suite of business tools like online faxing, voicemail, and call screening.
Two-Way Anonymity

The issue with some of these private number solutions arises when you have to call people back, and your real number is shown on their caller ID.

Here are some tips to help you keep your anonymity.

1. Private Number Tip: To keep your phone number private when calling from your cellphone use *67+Area Code+Phone Number (*67-1-650-555-5555).

2. Activate your Caller ID Blocker via your call settings. Find out if your phone will hide your caller ID. My RAZR does by going to Call Setup->My Caller ID->Hide ID.

3. Call your service provider to find out how to request a private number. This feature will never display a number when you call others.

These are just small precautions you can take to make your phone calls a lot safer. As technology gets more sophisticated, so do thieves, and withholding personal information is becoming a must.

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