NEW YORK, December 7, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Morality in Media, a leading national organization focused on opposing pornography and indecency in the media, is urging U. S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate ICM Registry, the company behind the new .xxx domain, for possible violations of federal laws prohibiting distribution of hard-core pornography.
ICM Registry advertises its .xxx domain as “designed specifically for the global adult entertainment industry,” offering domain names “that were previously unavailable in the dot-com world.”
“Title 18 United States Code Sections 1462 and 1465 prohibit distribution of hard-core, obscene Internet pornography. Yet, isn’t that the purpose of the .XXX Domain?” asked Patrick A. Trueman, President of Morality in Media and former chief of the U.S. Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Criminal Division in Washington, D.C.
“Further, Title 18 U. S. C. Section 2 prohibits aiding and abetting a federal crime and Title 18 U. S.C. 371 prohibits a conspiracy to commit a federal crime. The U. S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, should review the activities of ICM Registry in relation to these federal criminal laws immediately,” said Trueman.
Truemna said that internet pornography has become a pandemic, creating addictions that lead to marital breakdown and divorce, and other grave social costs. He warned that the establishment of a .xxx domain will increase, not decrease the spread of Internet pornography.
“In fact, ICM has indicated that it has nearly one million ‘expressions of interest’ for new xxx sites. Yet not one porn company has announced plans to close its .com site to relocate to the xxx domain,” Trueman said. “Porn on the Internet may double due to the xxx domain.”
Trueman noted that existing federal obscenity laws give the attorney general all the authority he needs to take action against distributors of pornography.
“Will Attorney General Holder stand by and watch this pandemic of harm continue to spiral when he has laws at his disposal that can be enforced against this destructive material?” asked Trueman.
“If Attorney General Holder won’t investigate ICM Registry now, we will press the next attorney general to do so. This issue will never go away for ICM Registry or for Internet pornographers who attempt to hide their criminal activities behind the .xxx domain.”
Morality in Media works to abolish pornography and indecency in media through public education and the application of the law. For more information, visit www.pornharms.com, and www.moralityinmedia.org.