Archive for the ‘.xxx’ Category
Letters threaten legal action if trademarks are registered as .xxx domains.
Free Speech Coalition, which has been fairly quiet since organizing a poorly attended protest at an ICANN meeting in San Francisco earlier this year, is making some noise again.
The group that represents some adult webmasters has provided a template “Trademark Protection Letter” for adult web site owners to send to .xxx registry ICM Registry. People can customize the letter with their list of trademarks to put ICM “on notice”.
According to the letter, ICM Registry has a greater responsibility than generic registries to protect specific trademarks because it’s clear that they will be used in direct competition with the owners. The letter states:
In contrast, if the holder of a trademark engages in selling specific products and services, a third party purchasing a domain identical to the trademark in a generic TLD, such as .NET or .BIZ
only improperly competes against the trademark holder if the use of the domain name is directly
in competition with the holder’s area of business.
The letter concludes with a threat:
ICM is now on notice that the registration of any domain name using the .XXX extension that is identical or confusingly similar to one of the trademarks or domains listed on Exhibit A will violate (COMPANY NAME)’s intellectual property rights and constitute an unfair business practice. ICM must take steps to prevent such activity before it can occur. Failure to take affirmative steps to prevent this conduct will establish ICM’s substantial liability.
(COMPANY NAME) welcomes the opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue with ICM, should ICM choose to resolve these matters other than through litigation.
© DomainNameWire.com 2011.
Get Certified Parking Stats at DNW Certified Stats.
Related posts:
- ICM Registry Responds to Free Speech Coalition on .XXX
- Fox Loses Free Speech Trademark Battle with DISH Network
- Adult Industry Association Still Doesn’t Want .XXX
Users might have a hard time reaching Indian .xxx site.
I was caught a bit off guard when reading Elliot’s story today about Masala.xxx launching.
This is apparently an adult site aimed at India.
Although I don’t believe anything is done yet, India is high up on list of countries that will try to block .xxx domain names from resolving.
It seems odd that you’d launch a .xxx site aimed squarely and India in the face of it being hard for your target visitors to actually resolve your site.
But perhaps people just visit these sites through proxies anyway.
© DomainNameWire.com 2011.
Get Certified Parking Stats at DNW Certified Stats.
Related posts:
- India Gets 7 IDN County Code Domain Names
- India May Try to Block .XXX
How many .xxx domain names will be registered in the first year?
ICM Registry says it has received nearly 900,000 “expressions of interest” for its .xxx top level domain name. It has also extended the sunrise period for trademark holders, apparently due to demand.
Anyone could submit an expression of interest in a .xxx domain name and some of them are for the same domain name, so no one has paid the $70+ per domain for these yet. But that will soon change.
It’s clear there will be a lot of registrations, and not all from willing participants. There are also already over two dozen domain name registrars signed up to accept registrations — most notably GoDaddy.
So, how many domains do you think will be registered by one year after general availability, which would be December 7, 2012?
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
© DomainNameWire.com 2011.
Get Certified Parking Stats at DNW Certified Stats.
Related posts:
- Register.com Must Stop “Call In” Practice by March
- Poll: How Long Until New Top Level Domain Names?
- Last call for 2006 Domain Name Wire Survey
Group to help set policy for new .xxx domain name.
One of the interesting quirks about the new .xxx domain name is that it will help fund a group called International Foundation for Online Responsibility (IFFOR).
IFFOR will get $10 from every domain registration in order to initiate “a series of policies for responsible business practices and conduct within the .XXX online adult-entertainment community”.
Today the group sent out a press release formally announcing the members of the IFFOR board as well as initial members of its Policy Council.
Board members include:
Stuart Lawley – CEO of ICM Registry, which is running .xxx
Clyde Beattie – CEO of Yorkland Investment Corp
Sebastien Bachollet, CEO of BBS Consulting and a member of the Board of Directors of ICANN
Policy Council members include:
Fred Cate – Professor of Law at the Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington and director of the Indiana University Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research
Bob Corn-Revere, Partner at Davis Wright Tremain
Nadine Strossen – Served as president of ACLU from 1991 through 2008
Five more Policy Council members will be announced within the next couple months.
© DomainNameWire.com 2011.
Get Certified Parking Stats at DNW Certified Stats.
Related posts:
- Creative Commons CEO Joi Ito Joins Tucows Board
- ICANN Approves New .XXX Top Level Domain
- Demand Media Adds Two Board Members
Registry will get a windfall in initial fees to block registrations of trademarks.
.XXX could set a record when it comes to defensive domain name registrations.
A “defensive registration” is when a brand registers a domain name solely to keep it out of the hands of cybersquatters or competitors.
When you look back at previous new TLDs you’ll find a number of large brands defensively registered their domains. But you’ll still find lots of brands that don’t bother to register .info, .biz, and other newer extensions.
When .tel came out, some companies that were aware of it didn’t bother to register. They didn’t think it was the end of the world if someone else nabbed the domain name.
With .Co there was a bit more concern because of its similarity to .com.
But .xxx scares them.
Law firms are emailing their clients (I received one such notice last night). The trademark press is constantly writing about it.
And if there’s one thing most brands don’t want to be associated with, it’s porn.
Thankfully, .xxx registry ICM Registry is providing an innovative way for these companies to defensively register their domains. It’s more of a “non-registration” that will block the domain from being registered by another party.
So let’s say Verizon is worried about someone registering Verizon.xxx. It doesn’t have to register the domain annually for itself; it can pay a one time fee to block it for as long as ICM runs the .xxx registry.
This fee is expected to be about $200-$300 at the retail level.
But brands will have only 30 days to take advantage of this blocking offer, so they should educate themselves quickly.
Given the press’ inclination to write about .xxx, I think ICM Registry is going to get a lot of these defensive registrations.
That said, smaller brands probably don’t need to worry unless they have enemies. At about $75 per year for registration, .xxx cybersquatters will have to limit their activities.
It will also be interesting to see how much certain brands are willing to pay to prevent registrations in other controversial top level domain names possibly on the horizon, including .sex and .porn.
© DomainNameWire.com 2011.
Get Certified Parking Stats at DNW Certified Stats.
Related posts:
- Are Defensive Domain Name Registrations a Myth?
- Lessons from ConAgra and Defensive Domain Registrations
- Bank of America Wants You to Know Its Executives Don’t Suck
Some adult operators want to boycott .xxx. Yeah, good luck with that.
I understand why some adult web site owners are upset about .xxx.
But trying to boycott the new top level domain name is a ridiculous idea.
Before its rally at the ICANN meeting in San Francisco the Free Speech Coalition said it would try to organize a boycott should .xxx pass. At the time I wrote:
If .xxx gets the green light anyway, Free Speech Coalition is calling for a boycott of .xxx. That would be difficult; surely competitors would snap up each others’ domain names.
Now Free Speech Coalition is following through with its boycott idea.
It won’t work.
It’s difficult to boycott a finite resource. It’s like American’s trying to boycott oil. What else will they turn to?
Scratch that. Boycotting second level domains under a new TLD is even more difficult than boycotting oil. It’s like your car can only handle one type of gasoline. If you don’t buy it someone who’s angry with you will, and then you won’t have anything to fuel your car.
Some types of boycott work. If I’m mad at a company and I have alternatives to its products, a boycott might work.
But there are no alternatives here. A boycott is one big game of chicken. It’s just challenging your competitors to buy a unique resource that will give them a competitive edge. Or at least hurt you.
It’s time for Free Speech Coalition to think a little bit more strategically. Perhaps it should consider applying for an unrestricted .sex when the new TLD round opens. Or .porn.
That’s something it could rally its base around.
© DomainNameWire.com 2011.
Get Certified Parking Stats at DNW Certified Stats.
Related posts:
- Adult Industry Plans Rally Against .XXX at ICANN Meeting
- ICM Registry Responds to Free Speech Coalition on .XXX
- Adult Industry Association Still Doesn’t Want .XXX
.XXX gets the yellow light at board meeting.
The ICANN Board adopted a resolution yesterday that will allow ICM Registry’s application for .xxx to move forward. But it may not be a quick process, and a new can of worms will be opened allowing for another comment period on the actual registry contract. Here’s the resolution that was adopted:
Whereas, ICANN’s General Counsel has completed the expedited due diligence regarding ICM Registry, as directed by the Board, and has concluded that ICM has represented that its Application for the .XXX sTLD is still current and that there have been no negative changes in ICM’s qualifications.
Whereas, ICANN Staff is in consultation with ICM on a new proposed registry agreement for the .XXX sTLD and expects to receive a finalized proposal from ICM.
RESOLVED (2010.08.05.21), upon receipt of ICM’s application documentation, ICANN Staff is authorized to post ICM’s supporting documents and proposed registry agreement for the .XXX sTLD for public comment for a period of no less than 30 days.
RESOLVED (2010.08.05.22), upon completion of public comment period, ICANN Staff shall provide the Board with a summary of the public comments and shall make a recommendation to the Board as to whether the proposed registry agreement for the .XXX sTLD is consistent with GAC advice.
RESOLVED (2010.08.05.23), once the Board has received the above public comment summary and recommendation from the ICANN Staff regarding the proposed registry agreement for the .XXX sTLD, the Board shall at its next possible meeting, consider this recommendation, and determine, consistent with the ICANN Bylaws, whether a GAC consultation shall be required.
© DomainNameWire.com 2010.
Get Certified Parking Stats at DNW Certified Stats.
Related posts:
- .Asia moves forward
- ICANN Delays .XXX (Again)
- ICANN May Green Light EOIs for New Top Level Domains in February
.XXX to get green light, but the value to ICM registry has wilted.
Ex-ICANN staffer Kieren McCarthy is reporting that ICANN’s general counsel has spilled the beans on .xxx, saying ICANN will approve the new top level domain name tomorrow during its board meeting.
Make no mistake, this is a monumental moment for ICANN. If it were up to the organization it would have let .xxx die years ago. But an independent review panel found ICANN erred. And, despite having final authority, the board is ready to accept the panel’s finding.
But it also means something for new TLDs. Many new TLD applicants are in favor of .xxx being approved. Not because they give a damn about .xxx, but because it gives them a higher likelihood of being able to eventually introduce their own planned TLDs.
So it’s a victory for process and a victory for new TLD supporters. But what about ICM Registry, which will run .xxx (after jumping through a couple more hoops)? It’s bittersweet at best. It has waited a long time and spent inordinate amounts of money to get to this point. It kind of reminds me of Telnic, which waited nearly a decade to launch .tel. From the time it came up with the idea to when it released the domain name, the world of internet communications changed rapidly thanks to social networking. That all but killed the potential of the domain.
I don’t know much about the online adult world, but The Domains author Michael Berkens does. And he thinks ICM Registry may have missed the boat. The world of adult entertainment has changed drastically since .xxx was first proposed. The economics aren’t nearly as rosy.
So, like .tel, the eventual approval to run .xxx may have come to late to make it a viable business. (No pun intended.)
© DomainNameWire.com 2010.
Review and rate domain name parking companies at Parking Judge.
Related posts:
- ICANN Delays .XXX (Again)
- ICANN Board Drops Bomb on Registrars Hoping to Launch New TLDs
- ICANN Board to Consider “Expressions of Interest” for New TLDs at December Meeting
Anti-porn group mobilized against .xxx.
If ICANN is supposed to include the thoughts of the greater internet community, it is certainly getting its wish.
Focus on the Family Some advocacy group — whether it be a religious right organization, parents organization, or someone else – has lit a fire under dozens of people to submit comments to ICANN regarding .xxx.
The comment period for the procedural issues around reconsidering ICM Registry’s .xxx application opened yesterday, and already there are over 50 comments. Subject lines include:
“Re: against porn web domains”
“PLEASE STOP EXPOSING OUR CHILDREN TO PORN!!”
“.XXX Comments READ THIS”
“No on pornography!! ”
“Are You Crazy”
From reading the comments, I don’t think most people understand the issue. Here’s one comment:
I am writing to encourage those who are involved in considering making a xxx domain to please think about the devastating affects of porn on families and individuals. I have seen porn and the addiction that some people develop to it destroy families and relationships. Creating an xxx domain will not help protect people, but will make a smooth path for even more hurt and destruction. Think about the hurt and the pain and then think about your place in possibly allowing more.
and
WE WISH THAT OUR CHILDREN WON BE EXPOSES TO SUCH NASTY HURTFUL THING ” PORNOGRAPHY’
and
Just want you to know, that pornography has caused lots of problems in our marriage. If that’s not your intention, please do not create more problem by trying to create this dot xxx thing.
May God bless you with wisdom in making such important decision.
Apparently God is getting involved with ICANN decisions these days. That should certainly speed things up.
OK, I get it. You’re opposed to porn. But creating a .xxx domain name isn’t going to result in more porn on the web. And your internet filters can easily block this porn — unlike what exists on other top level domain names.
Perhaps my favorite comment is the one that asks ICANN to “go with its initial gut feeling”, which the author says was to deny .xxx. Actually, its initial decision was to approve .xxx. Only later did it backtrack, which is why ICANN is in this mess with ICM to begin with.
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
Review and rate domain name parking companies at Parking Judge.
Related posts:
- ICANN Gives New Life to .XXX Domain
- Commentless Comment Periods at ICANN
- My ICANN New gTLD Applicant Guidebook Version 2 Feedback
ICM Registry notifies ICANN of its hopes and intentions.
Fresh off an independent review victory over ICANN, .XXX top level domain name applicant ICM Registry is asking ICANN to get the show on the road.
In a letter (pdf) to ICANN chairman of the board Peter Dengate-Thrush, ICM chairman Stuart Lawley writes:
“I am hopeful, as are others in the community, that ICANN will embrace the communications of the panel and use them to improve its processes and to restore confidence in ICANN as an institution.”
Lawley said time is of the essence for ICANN to regain institutional confidence:
“Assuming, as I do, that the Board takes its obligations under the accountability provisions of the Bylaws seriously and will respect the conclusions of this Panel of preeminent international jurists, we believe that it is now incumbent on ICANN to move expeditiously to execute a registry agreement with ICM for operation of the .xxx top level domain.”
And if ICANN doesn’t act expeditiously to get a contract in place with ICM registry? It probably faces a lawsuit:
“ICM is mindful that our patience has not always been rewarded in the past and can see no purpose (other than the expenditure of yet more time, money and effort by both parties) that would be served by delay. Accordingly, and with respect, I hope you will understand that we must protect our rights if it appears that our efforts to work in partnership with ICANN are failing, once again, to bear fruit.”
My guess is ICANN either approves the agreement or pays off ICM registry to go away until the new gTLD round gets going.
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
Review and rate domain name parking companies at Parking Judge.
Related posts:
- ICM Registry Hopes to Offer .XXX Domains This Year
- ICANN to Hold Live Consultation on New gTLD Registry Agreement
- ICANN Seeks Fix for Registry Failure
You can go forward to the next page