There will be no celebrity .xxx domain names. Photo credit: DeclanTM on flickr
Your chances of ‘accidentally’ surfing across some porn grew a bit slimmer this week with the announcement that thousands of new .xxx domain names are open for registration. Domain name registrar ICM Registry said that businesses “inside and outside” the adult industry have a 50 day “Sunrise period” to register (or exclude their name from) the new x-rated corner of the internet.
According to PC World, ICM Registry claim that the new domain names “will be good for consumers of adult material, for adult entertainment providers,” and, thank goodness, “for those wishing to avoid adult content.” The Independent heralded the arrival of “the internet’s red-light district” and quoted ICM Registry’s Stuart Lawley as saying that the new .xxx domains will make it easier for people to avoid adult content, leaving users “in do doubt about the underlying content of the sites.”
- Sorry, the website www.tonyblair.xxx cannot be found. Among those welcoming the arrival of .xxx are politicians and celebrities who have had their names automatically banned from the disreputable domains. “The move means that cybersquatters will be unable to register domains such as Beyonce.xxx or MargaretThatcher.xxx to drive traffic to their websites,” reported The Guardian. The paper explained that ICM Registry “has reserved 15,000 ‘dot triple-X’ domain names on the request of international governments and child protection agencies,” including “commonly used underage sex terms and the names of cities and well-known politicians.” Many celebrities have also been included in the blanket ban, which as Lawley told The Guardian, is because “it’s very difficult for them to trademark their names. We didn’t want to have the embarrassment of AngelinaJolie.xxx coming up at the launch of the new domain.” Brad Pitt would surely agree.
- Bad news for Cybil Shepherd. Not all celebrities were as lucky as Angelina, it seems. FOX News pointed out that the 15,000 reserved domains do not come close to covering every famous person in the world, and even helpfully provided aspiring cybersquatters with a list of celebrity .xxx domain names that have not yet been registered. The list includes such potential moneyspinners as CybilShepherd.xxx, ScottBaio.xxx and DrRuth.xxx – no doubt their lawyers are already on the case.
- Not a celeb? Cough up. Some commentators have been quick to point out that celebrities are not the only ones who deserve protection from unscrupulous .xxx registrations. “Everyone else will have to stump up the protection money necessary to stop your name, or your brand name, being exploited by those filthy pornographers,” wrote Paul Hales at Thinq, branding the .xxx registration process as “a scam.” Kevin Murphy at The Register agreed, mentioning ICM Registry’s desire to prevent celebrity embarrassment but ruing the fact that “It did not extend the same courtesy to big corporate brands.” Murphy acknowledged that companies could go through the normal process to protect their brands, but “Unfortunately for brand owners, the price of this service, which ranges from $200 to $300 at most registrars, is about the same as registering a .com domain for ten years. Any savings will only realistically be seen over the long term.” Watch this space for www.marksandspencer.xxx, then.
