Who Else Opposes .XXX? Would You Believe ...?

JESUSLAND—The following press release was received today from Morality in Media, the religious anti-porn organization whose CEO is retired Justice Department prosecutor Patrick Trueman: Morality in Media Opposes .xxx Internet Domain ICANN to vote Friday on .xxx Domain WASHINGTON, March 17, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Morality in Media announced today its strong opposition to the creation of .xxx domain, which ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) will determine by vote on Friday, March 18. "The establishment of a .xxx domain would increase, not decrease the spread of pornography on the Internet, causing even more harm to children, families and communities, and make ICANN complicit in that harm," said Patrick Trueman, CEO of Morality in Media and former chief of the U.S. Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Criminal Division. "There is no evidence that the public wants or needs this domain. In fact, each time this idea has been proposed it has been overwhelmingly opposed by the public and governments throughout the world," said Trueman. Hardcore obscene pornography on the Internet is already a violation of U.S. law. However, the U.S. Department of Justice under U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is not enforcing the law. Trueman said those who argue that the Internet porn problem can be solved by establishing a new .xxx domain and then passing a federal law requiring pornographers to use that domain are mistaken. "It would not only be unconstitutional to force pornography from the .com domain, but, if the Department of Justice is not prosecuting Internet porn companies now for violating U.S. obscenity laws, it is not going to prosecute such companies for merely locating in the wrong address." Pornography addiction is rampant, leading to grave social costs that are documented at www.pornharms.com. "A more appropriate goal should be to stop the distribution of this destructive material by prosecuting those responsible for it, not protect pornography through the use of an .xxx domain," said Trueman. "We take this opportunity to urge U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to enforce federal obscenity laws." *** AVN comments: Of course, "pornography addiction" is not rampant, and the so-called documentation at pornharms.com is almost entirely anecdotal with no peer-reviewed scientific evidence to support the claims. Nonetheless, it's interesting that Trueman, an attorney, cites correctly that forcing sexually explicit material from the .com (or other existing) domain, which is administered by a government agency, would violate the First Amendment's protections against content discrimination regarding speech with no showing that such a move would further any legitimate governmental interests.