Bill Would Require ICANN To Create '.Kids' Domain

 

By David McGuire, Newsbytes WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 29 Jun 2001, 2:54 PM CST

A pair of lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation that would force Internet addressing authorities to create a ".kids" domain that would be designed to serve as a safe online haven for children.

Under the terms of the legislation - which was introduced by Reps. John Shimkus, R-Ill. and Edward Markey, D-Mass. - the U.S. Department of Commerce would impel the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to include .kids alongside .com, .net and .org in the Internet's worldwide addressing system.

Although the not-for-profit ICANN autonomously manages the global Domain Name System (DNS) the Commerce Department retains veto power over major ICANN decisions.

Markey aide Colin Crowell today acknowledged that the legislation could interfere with ICANN's existing process for choosing new Internet domains, but he argued that ICANN had brought the legislation on itself.

Crowell said that the ICANN domain-selection process has not responded adequately to the needs of Internet users. "Classifying it as a process is quite generous," Crowell said.

"They have been so unresponsive to the general public interest that this is where it inevitably goes," Crowell said.

In November 2000, ICANN approved the creation of seven new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) - .aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, .name and .pro. Two of those domains - .biz and .info - were officially ensconced in the DNS earlier this month, becoming the first new gTLDs created since the advent of .com, .net and .org more than a decade ago.

Although the creation of a .kids domain was proposed in advance of the November 2000 ICANN meeting, ICANN officials eventually scuttled the idea - selecting a handful of less risky domains.

While ICANN board members lauded the notion of aiding the protection of children on the Internet, many argued that .kids could not create a reasonable standard of protection that could be applied on a uniform international basis.

Now ICANN may not have a choice about whether .kids becomes an official worldwide domain.

Under the text of the proposed legislation, Commerce would be barred from signing off on any other domains approved by ICANN until the "kid-friendly domain" is created.

The bill also outlines some rules that the operators of .kids would be required to follow in order to ensure that only child-friendly content is allowed in the domain.

The legislation would leave up to ICANN the task of finding an operator for the .kids domain.

ICANN officials declined to comment on this story.

Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com .

14:54 CST
Reposted 15:47 CST