Two US congressmen want the Internet's top standards-setting body to create a "safe space" for children on the Internet before expanding the existing addressing system any further beyond the ranks of .com, .org and .net.
They've introduced a bill that would require the quasi-governmental body that administers Internet addresses to create a .kids Internet domain.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, known as ICANN, approved seven new domains last November, including .biz and .info, but nixed several proposals for a .kids domain that would function much like a "G" rating for movies, signaling that the content was appropriate for young Web surfers.
"There's usually a kids' section of the library. What we're attempting to do is provide a kids' section of the Internet," Republican John Shimkus said.
ICANN spokeswoman Mary Hewitt said ICANN rejected the .kids domain because the organisation did not feel comfortable setting decency standards for a global medium, and was concerned about liability if inappropriate material found its way onto a .kids site.
"I just don't understand how you could make it work," Hewitt said.
A. Michael Froomkin, a law professor at the University of Miami and prominent ICANN critic, said any domain such as .kids that seeks to restrict content could be more difficult to manage properly than others such as .edu and .museum that simply restrict who may hold an address.
"I think the impulse is noble, but the particular club being used to bash ICANN over the head here isn't the best tool," Froomkin said
