Since its creation in 1998 to handle Net addresses, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has pledged to focus on technical matters, but finds those decisions inevitably affect online users more broadly. Cerf did not seek legislation but advice on how Congress and the White House handle similar tensions in other organizations. Upton said it was too early to discuss a legislative solution.
Domain names are key for finding Web sites and sending e-mail.
Without them, users would have to remember complicated strings of information to identify specific computers on the Internet. The problem is comparable to phone companies having to create new area codes to address shortages in phone numbers. The names are to appear in use later this year. But Cerf said his organization could not guarantee that adult sites would actually use .xxx, and parents who find porn elsewhere might decide to sue the organization. Some critics complained that the cash-strapped group overcharged for reviews.