Online customers of porn, and those just browsing, will have their own porn-zone domain - .xxx - which the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved on Wednesday, reversing its earlier position, CNET reports. The idea of the new domain is to segregate offensive material, in theory making the web safer for children because technical solutions could more easily block the single domain. ICANN said it's been working with the ICM Registry, which would deal with the technical side of running the database of .xxx sex sites. The new domain is expected to be available year's end.

ICANN's decision is an about-face from its November 2000 rejection of ICM Registry's first application for the .xxx domain. Some conservative politicians eager to cordon off the virtual world of porn were dismayed at the time, whereas others have expressed concern that sites on topics such as homosexuality or birth control may be forced into the .xxx zone - and then easily blocked.

Another nonprofit, the International Foundation For Online Responsibility, will be in charge of setting the rules for .xxx. It is to have a seven-person board, including child-advocacy, free-expression and adult-entertainment-industry reps.