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Saudi Arabia Objects To Proposed .gay gTLD, Among Others

Qedward writes "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has objected to a variety of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) ranging from .porn and .sexy to .wine and .bar and .bible, according to records of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The organisation said in June it had received 1930 applications for gTLD 'strings,' of which 911 came from North America and 675 from Europe. Saudi Arabia's Communication and Information Technology Commission, the IT and communications regulator, has objected to the .gay string and asked ICANN to refuse the application for the new gTLD. 'Many societies and cultures consider homosexuality to be contrary to their culture, morality or religion,' CITC said. 'The creation of a gTLD string which promotes homosexuality will be offensive to these societies and cultures,' it added."

33 of 459 comments (clear)

  1. Hmmm... by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 4, Funny

    Interesting the .gay thing, considering how infamous Saudi Party Boys are...

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    1. Re:Hmmm... by wytcld · · Score: 4, Funny

      What should we expect from men in dresses who are afraid of women? At least Allah has put them someplace where there's plenty of lube!

      --
      "with their freedom lost all virtue lose" - Milton
    2. Re:Hmmm... by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That officials should support the will of the people rather than their own personal opinions or anything they might be more informed about.

      No, officials are elected to office to conduct government for the good of the people . Sometimes, large segments of the people are not able to recognize what is good for them.

      If we say that elected officials should represent EXACTLY the will of the people, there would still be slavery in the South, and homosexuality would be, for the most part, illegal.

      Is that what you want?

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    3. Re:Hmmm... by Mashiki · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Not sure why that's modded funny. Bachi Boy parties are common in saudi arabia, afghanistan and a variety of other middle eastern countries.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    4. Re:Hmmm... by Zaelath · · Score: 3, Funny

      That's not nearly as strange as their rule that they aren't allowed to be alone with a male goat (nannies are ok).

  2. Well I object by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    to their treatment of Jews and women, so they can kiss my ass.

    1. Re:Well I object by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 5, Funny

      to their treatment of Jews and women, so they can kiss my ass.

      The Saudis probably wouldn't object to .jew because it would help them block a lot of material...

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    2. Re:Well I object by X0563511 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So, why would they object to .gay? They can block it for the same reason.

      --
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  3. Keep censoring and let the rest of the world go on by cynop · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why don't the simply censor those domains? They already censor the hell of the internet anyway.

  4. Contrary to my morality by agm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I find religion contrary to my morality.

    1. Re:Contrary to my morality by icebike · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Meanwhile, I'm not convinced we need all these boutique TLD's. Maybe there's lots of pressure for more after the .xxx cash-grab.

      The more descriptive TLDs are not something the xxx crowd wants.
      I suspect establishing these is but the first step to a wider enforcement of censorship. Once these are in place you can impose laws forcing the use of the appropriate TLD, and then simply make it really easy to block the entire TLD.

      There are already restrictions in place on .gov and .edu (easily circumvented in many cases). There was even some noise about .net being tightened a bit in the last couple years.

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      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    2. Re:Contrary to my morality by chrb · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My religion compels me to pray for you, and to let you be.

      Your religion doesn't compel any such thing - it is your personal internal sense of morality that guides you. If a proof were produced that your god did not exist, would you suddenly throw away all of your morality and principles, and turn to murdering, raping and thieving? Of course not. Millions of people have been killed in the name of the world's major religions, and many more have suffered persecution because of their religious beliefs. The "peace" that we have have now is more a product of the Western world turning towards secularism than anything else; it was only 70 years ago that some Christians were busy rounding up Jews - when the leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church actually said, "Why should we not get rid of these parasites [Jews] who suck Rumanian Christian blood? It is logical and holy to react against them.". Of course it would be unacceptable for a religious leader to say something like that today, wouldn't it? Hmmm... are we really so arrogant to believe that we have evolved so far, culturally and as a species, that such thoughts are no longer possible?

  5. How about this new gTLD? by killmenow · · Score: 5, Funny

    .fuckyousaudiarabia

  6. Ban them all by xero314 · · Score: 4, Funny

    As an Anarcho-Syndiclist I object to organizations and companies so I respectful request that be remove the .org and .com TLDs.

    1. Re:Ban them all by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Funny

      As an Anarcho-Cyclist I object to car companies so I respectfully request that we remove the .car and .carinsurance TLDs.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
  7. So whats the problem? by 0racle · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The .gay TLD will instantly make it apparent that the content is something they find offensive and they won't mistakenly go there. Seems like a win, unless of course the offensive material isn't what the problem actually is.

    --
    "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
  8. ... then don't go there? by MadCow42 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm continually amazed that people think that because something offends THEM, that they have the right to censor what other people can do/see/say/hear/view/etc. There are a few things that the world DOES agree on - such as kiddie porn and murder being bad - but beyond that, if you're offended then simply censor YOURSELF and don't visit those sites! If the whole country agrees (which I doubt!), then block it in your country.

    If ICANN doesn't tell them to go take a flying leap, there should be rebellion.

    MadCow.

    --
    I used to have a sig, but I set it free and it never came back.
  9. Irony by Sparticus789 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Saudi Arabia refuses to allow for a .gay domain
    People continue to put oil from that country in their cars.

    Chick-Fil-A founder says he personally believes marriage is between a man and a woman
    Gets boycotted.

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    sudo make me a sandwich
    1. Re:Irony by SuricouRaven · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It's easy to go without chick-fil-a. A minor inconvenience at most. Going without oil, though, is a major problem. Especially so in the US.

      For a related example, look at all those people who boycott genetically-modified foods, but would suddenly find their objections disappear upon diagnosis of diabeties. The best treatment involves insulin produced by transgenic bacteria. Or the fuss last year when it was emerged that some of the flavorings used in coke-cola and a few other products were tested on human embryonic stem cells - there were a lot of boycotts over that one, but always of food. No-one called for a boycott of drugs, even though practically every medication developed in the last thirty years was developed and tested using the same cell line, HEK 293.

    2. Re:Irony by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, let's see here...

      Cheap petrochemicals are one of the most vital foundations of modern technological civilization, making possible(and helping to set the price and availability of) virtually anything everyone who isn't a subsistence mud farmer interacts with day to day.

      Brand A fast food chicken products are, roughly as comestible as Brand B fast food chicken products.

      Nope, no significant difference there, must be ironic.

  10. Can we hear again about how wonderful... by John+Hasler · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...it would be for "control" of the Internet to be taken away from the evil Americans and given to the saintly UN where rational, tolerant governments such as that of Saudi Arabia have influence?

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  11. Re:Keep censoring and let the rest of the world go by icebike · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Exactly my thought. Wouldn't this make it EASIER for them?

    What are they bitching about? Its a boat load easier to block entire TL domains in their DNS servers than to block a gazillion .coms all over the world.

    Sure the wise will change to some other DNS server, and they may have to block IPs, but so what? They already have that problem. I suspect they also block out of country dns servers.

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    Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
  12. Re:Keep censoring and let the rest of the world go by Jeng · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The problem is that it will be easier to block them, so now they won't have access to them.

    The old "Women are for babies, boys are pleasure" attitude in the Islamic world is prevalent enough that I do not understand why they don't just come out of the closet?

    http://sheikyermami.com/2008/06/22/afghanistan-thursday-night-is-boyz-night/

    --
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  13. Re:But they applaud the .stoning TLD by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 4, Insightful

    and then bomb their fucking stuck-up, 15th century asses into the ground

    Yeah, that'll show 'em what civilized behavior looks like!

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  14. Re:Keep censoring and let the rest of the world go by Sir_Sri · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Saudi view themselves as the leaders of the Islamic faith (sort of like if Italy took the lead on all things catholic that the pope said, good ideas or not).

    To them the notion that some of these concepts could even be considered acceptable, anywhere, is outrageous, and true moral leadership is to object vigorously to all of it. They know they'll probably lose, and they probably want to lose (and I'm sure the US embassy was consulted in advance as to whether or not they had any chance of actually getting their opinions followed). But as the stewards of the islamic faith they must at all times appear to object to things contrary to the brand of islam they are promoting.

    The idea that these behaviours (consumption of alcohol, sex for fun, homosexuality etc.) could be exposed to any of the islamic faith, especially their poorer brethren, who rely on the Kingdom for guidance and support on these issues, means they must show their leadership to the world and demand such unislamic activites be discouraged at all time. It would be equally terrible if a member of the Islamic faith outside of a Islamic society were to be corrupted by these ideas, especially as a young, impressionable boy or girl in the US or Europe, and the international community should at all times work to protect them from unislamic influences, everywhere.

    It's stupid, they know it's stupid, you know it's stupid, but the poor illiterate bastard in Bangladesh or Afghanistan or Morocco or the like can get outraged over it and they don't know it's theatre for their benefit, the saudi's can claim to be defenders of the islamic faith (which wins them points with the literate crazies) and it's unlikely to go very far anyway, so no harm done.

  15. Re:TLDs failed by jmorris42 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ICANN wants the money too badly to admit failure.

    But there is only one sane solution to these international problems. Put everything in the country specific tlds. Then the only international cooperation needed is to ensure we can all find the national roots and divide up the IP space. And IPv6 removes pretty much all controversy over a fight for addresses so problem solved. Yes it would mean a longterm migration of .com, .net, .org and .mil into the .us address space and probably mirroring them into most of the others, at least for a transition period since the sensible behavor for browsers would be to determine the local .cc and append it to everything. But over a decade we could end all this bickering AND the relentless push to turn control over the entire Internet to the U.N.

    The idea of Saudi Arabia objecting to the existence of something in someone else's namespace would be laughed at. But if it is a shared namespace they really have as much right to object as the various other factions to support these goofy new top level names.

    --
    Democrat delenda est
  16. why modded funny, not all youth dancing is dirty by davidwr · · Score: 3, Informative

    Because "Saudi Party Boys" *sounds* like it might be the name of a gay porno flick.

    "Bachi Boy parties" sounds like a children's-entertainment company specializing in hosting bocce ball birthday parties.

    Oh, thanks to the recent military involvement in that part of the world, most Americans who watch the news are aware of "Bachi Boys" in Afghanistan and the political trouble American military and civilian personnel get into back home if they appear to endorse the sexual and quasi-sexual (e.g. erotic dancing) exploitation of under-18 males or tolerate it if they are in a position to stop it.

    I will point out that there is a continuum between children dancing as a skill in a non-sexual way and dancing for the purposes of erotic arousal. You see the former in the United States in events like Ballet Folklorico, children's dance theaters, and similar programs for youth. However, some of the dances they do could, if done by an adult with a slight exaggeration of certain moves, be considered sexually provocative and would be more appropriate for a night club or other adults-only venue. While some "Bachi Boys" are clearly exploited outright as prostitutes, and others are exploited or at least "given an opportunity" to dance in a way that most Americans would call "Adult entertainment" I'm sure many of the youth and child dancers in that part of the world entertain in ways that are more akin to the dances that trained American children and youth do to entertain adults.

    --
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  17. So, is the Vatican objecting? by davidwr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Um, nevermind, it's too late for them to do that with a straight face.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  18. You really do not understand... by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Lots of the arab countries do not want to be able to block things like porn or ".gay" material.

    No, they do not want it to EXIST. At all. Not there, but not where you are either. So they are not OK with ANYONE having a .gay domain, because they fundamentally think it's wrong to allow this for anyone.

    Think about this the next time proposals are made to have the U.N. control domains...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  19. Re:men having sex with men IS a different matter by Teun · · Score: 3, Informative
    Indeed, according to the warped Muslim beliefs of Saudi men you can do all kinds of otherwise forbidden things with persons that are still of the age of innocence.
    I have personally seen large buildings where under-age kids were censoring foreign printed publications before distribution.
    A rather shabby piece of cleric would first investigate the magazines and newspapers and specify what needed to be cut out.
    These examples were then hung on the wall and the kids went to work, no damage to them when they had to handle all these photo's of insufficiently dressed people because they were of the age of innocence.

    A brochure for expensive yachts and boats was nearly the worst victim, on virtually all photo's there were people in states of undress so in the end there would be little left of the magazine if not for the fact that the importer of the yachts paid extra to have the kids use sharpies to paint clothes on the bikini babes and yacht men in shorts.

    A sick society.

    --
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  20. Re:why modded funny, not all youth dancing is dirt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Waiting for you to name a Christian country where what you wrote is rule of law.

  21. Re:why modded funny, not all youth dancing is dirt by TFAFalcon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's interesting how little of the current breeds of Christianity is based on the words of Jesus, and how much on the words of his students and church leaders. And how rarely all the 'love and giving and kindness' is followed by the 'righteous'. You very rarely hear a person quoting Jesus, while other authors are quoted in just about every conversation where something is claimed to be against the will of God.

    Islam considers Jesus a prophet as well by the way. So anything he said also applies to them.