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Todd Wasserman writes www.mashable.com – The porn industry is rumored to win a major battle this week with the possible approval of the .xxx domain.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which doles out the .com, .net and .biz suffixes for website URLs, could approve the domain name on Friday, according to Politico. The report goes on to say that such domains would be available for purchase this summer.

Reps from ICANN could not be reached for comment. However, reports of the .xxx top-level domain (TLD) for adult websites have circulated before. Last June, ICANN was poised to approve the domain, according to multiple reports, but it didn’t happen.

The domain name, originally proposed by a company called ICM Registry in 2005, had been held up by the Bush Administration, which had bowed to pressure by religious groups that opposed .xxx.

(Somewhat surprisingly, some pornographers have also taken issue with .xxx, declaring it a form of digital segregation.)

Some proponents also point out that .xxx would result in fewer accidental landings on .com porn sites, though there’s no indication that the domain would be mandatory for all or any adult websites. The Obama Administration hasn’t taken a stand on the domain name.

If approved, .xxx would be the latest domain name approved by ICANN. It would follow .co, which ICANN approved for commercial use last July.

from www.politico.com – SAN FRANCISCO — To keep the Internet “forever young,” decision makers should keep in mind that the world is divided between rich and poor nations with vastly different needs, former President Bill Clinton told a packed crowd here as the keynote speaker at the meeting of the organization that oversees the Internet’s naming system.

“Every time you have to face a question about the future of the Internet, what applications will this have in poor countries and rich countries, ask yourself that,” said Clinton.

Clinton made the remarks at the annual meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. In a far-ranging speech, he touched on Haiti, the financial crisis, job loss, basketball, the human genome and Egypt and Libya.

“Are we forming a more perfect union across the world?” he asked.

Clinton’s appearance at the ICANN meeting was more than a global luminary making an appearance at a tech event.

“The ICANN community owes President Clinton many, many thanks,” said Rod Beckstrom, president and chief executive of ICANN, who introduced Clinton. “He saw the Internet had the power to change the world, and he was right, and he ensured that ICANN would hear all voices. This is a powerful and enduring legacy of his presidency.”

ICANN was created in 1998 by the Clinton administration as a nonprofit corporation that would allow the private and public sectors to manage the issuing of names on the global network beyond .com and .net.

Ira Magaziner, a senior policy adviser under Clinton, worked to set up ICANN. The administration wanted the domain name system to be private, more competitive and involve international participation.

ICANN was set up in Southern California and operates under a contract with the U.S. Department of Commerce. Now, 13 years later, there are 21 domain names such as .com.

Clinton’s speech Wednesday night came at a time when ICANN is contemplating the biggest expansion of domain names in its history. The expansion could involve a variety of words such as .gay, .nyc or .love.

This week, the organization and its many members were embroiled in discussions over this expansion as well as the role of governments in ICANN’s decisions.

Clinton appeared to address this conflict in his remarks. “It’s important not to be carried away that we don’t think that governments don’t matter. Even though we have an international forum, let’s not forget that countries matter.”

Clinton put ICANN’s mission in a broader context. “As we go forward, we need to be thinking about — what is the next decade’s source of new jobs?” said Clinton. “What role does information technology play. How can it be used to support opportunities? All the things you deal with, this will be lurking behind it.”

He also spoke about sales tax and the Internet. “It seems e-commerce is doing great and old commerce is not doing so great,” he said. “Do we need to set up a tax system that favors the people who are doing well and hurts the people who are struggling?”

One ICANN attendee wanted to know Clinton’s position in this debate. “How do you see the role of the governments in the Internet governance?” a French representative posted on the organization’s website.

On Monday, Magaziner said that governmental control was not a viable alternative to ICANN. “We think the idea has worked,” he said. “While ICANN has its faults, I urge you to work actively to improve it rather than tearing it down.”

Clinton spoke about how the Internet could be used as a tool to make the world a lot closer. He talked about the struggles in Haiti with public health, education and poverty and invited people in the room to help. “The world is desperately in need to apply the potential of the Internet far beyond its current capacity.”