ICANN approves new agreement: .xxx domain name enters simplified management, IFFOR officially ends

ICANN recently approved a new registry agreement for GoDaddy subsidiary ICMRegistry, marking the official end of the International Foundation for Network Responsibility (IFFOR). The resolution was passed at ICANN's 81st Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. The new agreement removes the original "sponsorship" restrictions, bringing the management of .xxx domain names into a more streamlined stage.

The end of IFFOR and the hollowing out of its role

IFFOR was originally a supervisory body that was designed to set policies for .xxx domain names and support worthy causes. However, the agency did little in practice and has long been seen as a symbolic existence. With the new agreement abolishing the requirement for "sponsor community" membership, IFFOR has lost its necessity and is coming to an end.

Policy changes and simplified domain name management

The new agreement adopts a standard text similar to most other gTLDs, reducing the cumbersome steps in the registration process. For example, registrants no longer need to prove that they belong to a specific community, which significantly reduces the friction cost of domain name registration. At the same time, the strict restrictions on child sexual abuse content in the original agreement have been transferred to ICANN's Public Interest Commitments (PICs), which are theoretically enforced by ICANN.

Defensive registrations still dominate

Although the protocol change may simplify the domain name management process, most of the revenue of .xxx domain names still depends on defensive registrations. As of the end of June this year, .xxx managed nearly 45,000 domain names, but only 7,000 of them appeared in public zone files, while the number of domain names blocked through AdultBlock and GlobalBlock services may be as high as five figures.