Categories: Web

.XXX domains go on sale today, brands and celebrities given chance to block certain addresses

.XXX domains go on sale today

ICM Registry, the body responsible for managing the new .xxx adult entertainment domain, has today begun to allow brands, celebrities and public figure to secure their .xxx domains, marking the beginnings of the so-called ‘online red light district’.

It’s hoped that .xxx domains will allow users “to surf porn safely” as the .xxx TLD (top-level domain) effectively verifies the legality of the site’s content, while also making it easier to parents, guardians and various institutes to filter out pornographic content.

ICM Registry is allowing brands and public figures up to 50 days to claim their domain as a means of guarding against cybersquatters. A one-off fee of around $200 will allow companies, celebrities and politicians to safeguard against domains like google.xxx, georgiasalpa.xxx or endakenny.xxx being used.

More than 4,000 celebrities, including Angelina Jolie, have already had their .xxx addresses blocked by ICM Registry. A further 15,000 .xxx domains have been blocked at the request of international governments and child protection groups.

After an initial 50-day period, a further 17 days is assigned for the exclusive selling of .xxx domains to those involved in the adult entertainment industry. Around 1,500 .xxx domains have already been scooped up by 35 different porn companies ahead of the TLD’s public launch on December 6th. ICM Registry are hopeful that 500,000 domain names will be sold by February 2012.

The .xxx domain is the first such TLD to be approved by ICANN since .CO in July 2010.

Image courtesy of Ryan Christopher VanWilliams on Flickr

Albizu Garcia

Albizu Garcia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gain -- a marketing technology company that automates the social media and content publishing workflow for agencies and social media managers, their clients and anyone working in teams.

View Comments

  • Good blog you've got here.. It's hard to find quality writing
    like yours these days. I really appreciate people like
    you! Take care!!

Recent Posts

The nostalgia wave of the 2020s revived the heritage debate 

In the archives of nearly every major heritage brand – Louis Vuitton, Mercedes-Benz, Coca-Cola or…

4 hours ago

Imagine Your Life as a Game Controlled by Someone Else

You woke up this morning, made a series of choices, and ended up here reading…

1 day ago

The Internet’s Writing Problem Is No Longer Easy to Ignore

Writing sucked long before LLMs showed up. Sure, today's doomsayers love pointing at ChatGPT as…

1 day ago

DARPA O-Circuit program wants drones that can smell danger with ‘a new class of biologically inspired computer’

DARPA's O-Circuit program looks to build a new class of biologically inspired computer equipped with…

6 days ago

How a ten-day bootcamp is helping students at Delhi Public School hone their AI skills 

As AI races into classrooms worldwide, Google is finding that the toughest lessons on how…

6 days ago

WEF promotes eat the bugs agenda in ‘new nature economy’ report

The push to eat bugs is not an organic movement coming from the people, but…

1 week ago