After nearly a year of delayed votes, the agency in charge of Internet domain names spiked an application for a triple-X web address that backers said would keep kids away from porn and that detractors charged would sanction smut on the web.

In a statement published late Wednesday, the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said that the nonprofit organization tasked with assigning Internet domain names voted 9-5 against a request for a .XXX domain name.

Among those who voted against the new domain were Paul Twomey, ICANN’s president and CEO; and Vinton Cerf, Google’s chief Internet evangelist and the person often credited with inventing the Internet Protocol.

The statement acknowledged the heated debate the .XXX proposal sparked between free speech groups, Internet watchdogs opposed to ICANN, individual governments, pornographers, and cultural conservatives of many stripes.

“Reflecting the diversity of views this application has generated, the board discussion at today's meeting focused on the criteria for the [.XXX domain], especially for sponsorship, and the terms of the contract… including compliance issues related to key terms associated with public policy concerns,” it said.

Loss for ICM

The vote against .XXX is a blow to ICM Registry, which sponsored the .XXX web address ending and has been fighting for its approval for several years.

Stuart Lawley, ICM’s chairman and president, has said in applications and various communications with ICANN that ICM has no connection to the adult entertainment industry.

Mr. Lawley said his company is chiefly concerned with bringing safe and sound business practices to an often shadowy corner of the web, as well as protecting children from stumbling on pornography.

As the operator of the .XXX registry, ICM would have stood to reap a substantial profit from providing management and supporting the back-end infrastructure.

The domains were to cost $60 per year. In an interview with an adult entertainment industry magazine in 2005, Mr. Lawley said ICM burned through $3 million a year. ICM did not respond to calls for comment.

Wednesday’s vote followed several months of delays, prompted in part by letters from the United States Department of Commerce, which registered concern with the .XXX domain.