US blocks Internet red-light address

The US has delayed the creation of .xxx addresses for the third time.

The US has blocked a move to create a dot-xxx Internet address to take the bulk of pornographic sites on the World Wide Web, according to a newspaper report on Tuesday.

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ICANN, the international body that manages the Internet, was earlier reported likely to approve the new address at a meeting that opened in Wellington.

Stuart Lawley, chairman of Canada's ICM Registry, which developed the proposal, was quoted in the Dominion Post as blaming "religious conservatives in the US that appear to have access to the powers that be" for blocking it.

Lawley said it was the third time the US had delayed the creation of .xxx addresses.

"The last-minute intervention -- again -- of the US department of commerce -- is a worrisome trend for ICANN," he said.

"I think the international community is looking to ICANN to show its independence of the US."

Lawley said that the US government tried last year to convince the rest of the world that it did not meddle with ICANN and internet policies, adding, "This kind of interference calls that into question".