One of the biggest money making segments on the internet is pornography. For years, the U.S.-based ICM Registry Inc company has been petitioning for a new top level domain specifically for the porn industry.

ICANN has repeatedly denied the request to create a domain .xxx that would be used by sites with adult or pornographic material. In 2007, ICANN denied the request to create the .xxx domain with ICANN chairman Dr. Vinton Cerf stating, "[The] decision was the result of very careful scrutiny and consideration of all the arguments."

Reuters reports that ICANN is now expected to finally approve the .xxx domain as early as today. Members of the ICANN board are arguing that in order to maintain neutrality, ICANN should allow the creation of the .xxx domain.

ICANN general counsel John Jeffrey said, "If expedited due diligence results are successful, then staff will proceed into contract negotiations with ICM [for the .xxx domain]."

Figures collected by Internet Pornography Statistics claim $3,000 per second is spent online for pornography and that the term "sex" is the most searched term on the internet, making up a full 25% of all search queries. There are unsurprisingly several groups that are against the .xxx – religious groups are opposed on moral grounds. 

Oddly, some pornography industry insiders also oppose the creation stating that the .xxx domain would invite censorship. That makes sense considering if most porn sites used the domain the .xxx domain could simply be blocked entirely with firewalls whereas most businesses can’t block all access to .com or .net websites.