Brands can avoid associating their sites with the .xxx domain

The commercialisation of .xxx domain names has begun with a sunrise period. This has been done to allow registered trademarks to reserve their corresponding domain names to avoid cybersquatting.

This is a top level domain name that has been spoken about for a long time. Things are now starting to move with the ICM Registry – the company responsible for registering .xxx domain names – who has today announced the opening of the sunrise period.

This sunrise period will run until the 28th of October 2011, before the registration of domain names is opened up to everyone on the 6th of December on a first come, first served basis.

The .xxx extension has been designed for adult content, be it in the charm or pornographic industries. The sunrise period will run for 50 days, allowing owners of trademarks and recognised brands both inside and outside the adult entertainment industries to register (sunrise A) or exclude (sunrise B) domain names with .xxx extensions.

So that a brand that has nothing to do with .xxx isn’t registered on the web, and to avoid cybersquatting, a company will have to pay around 200 dollars. This will block any potential domain name from ruining a company’s reputation.

According to The Guardian, thousands of celebrities and political figures have had their names permanently blocked from being registered in the .xxx domain.

According to ICM Registry, close to 600 000 .xxx domain names have already been pre-registered.