BEIJING, June 3 -- Sex sites will soon have their own Internet domain. But Internet experts say a virtual red light district by no means guarantees that people can avoid online pornography.

    The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said Wednesday that it would move ahead with plans for pornographic Web sites to use new addresses that end with ".xxx."

    Porn sites won't be required to sign up for .xxx addresses. The adult entertainment company Playboy Enterprises Inc. already said it had no plans to move any of its Web sites to the virtual red light district.

    But the new domain will help filtering software keep underage users away, according to ICM Registry Inc., the company that will oversee the domain.

    ICANN said it will begin negotiations with ICM Registry to resolve commercial and technical issues associated with operating the .xxx TLD (Top Level Domain).

    Child-safety advocate Donna Rice Hughes said .xxx won't help people shun online porn because sex sites will still be able to hold on to their old .com domain names.

    Hughes, president of the group Enough is Enough, said the new domain is not "going to make filters work any better."

    Pornography accounts for more than 10 percent of online traffic and there are more than 1 million porn Web sites currently online, according to ICM. Enditem

(Agencies)