NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - For the time being, there will be no red-light district on the Internet.

The organization that governs Internet domain names voted Wednesday against a proposal that would introduce a new dot-xxx ending for adult-entertainment Web sites.

The board members of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which is responsible for making sure every Internet address is unique and valid, voted 9 to 5 against the proposal at its board meeting, according to a posting on its Web site.

The organization said "details regarding the vote" would be released later this week.

The proposal for a dot-xxx domain was made by the ICM Registry of Jupiter, Fla. According to media reports, British entrepreneur Stuart Lawley was the driving force behind the proposal, arguing a new dot-xxx Internet neighborhood would protect children by making it easier to filter pornographic and other adult sites. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Lawley also stood to benefit financially by collecting registration fees for dot-xxx sites.

The dot-xxx proposal has sparked worldwide debate among a range of advocacy groups. Critics argued that the proposed domain would still allow pornography in regular dot-com domains and ultimately do little to shield children from adult material. Observers also speculated that adopting a special domain for pornography might put ICANN in the awkward position of having to decide what qualified as pornography and what did not under a variety of international rules.