Sunday, November 12, 2006

In a bold and industry-leading move, domain name aftermarket Afternic has
decided to stop brokering adult, gambling, violence, and other vice domains.
This is just the latest in series of actions that have limited the value of
adult and gambling domains. Most major advertising feeds don't support these
industries, and last month internet gambling took a hit in the United States
with the arrest of a key player in a prominent British gambling site.
Afternic's decision seems to be a rapid departure from past actions,
including offering a large portfolio of gambling domains on behalf of one
its clients. The company says the goal is to make Afternicand the domain
industry more inviting to small businesses and others that might be offended
by some of the domains listed on its exchange. Afternic wants to further
legitimize the industry. In an email to customers, Afternic president Roger
Collins wrote: We hope that they, and others, will understand that we have
no interest in censorship and that we fully support First Amendment rights
to freedom of speech and expression. And, there is certainly no lack of
other Internet sites where such names are welcomed. The Internet, much like
the early days of television, is still a new frontier. We believe it is up
to the industry leaders-and we include Afternic here-to step up and
determine what constitutes professional standards and practices. We take
this action in the interest of socially responsible corporate behavior and
hope that it leads to further healthy industry dialog and discussion on the
topic. Other major sites, including Sedoand DNForum, still allow the sale of
gambling and adult domains. It will be interesting to see if other companies
follow Afternic's lead, and if domain aftermarkets also start to pull clear
trademark and typo domains from their listings.