Why does .XXX Matter to Small Business?
Cybersquatting (is registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else) and Typosquatting (a variation of cybersquatting; the practice of registering domain names that are misspellings of website addresses) are big business.
Each time a new domain extension launches, businesses around the world and their legal teams rush in to protect company brands and trademarks before cybersquatters do so. Now add in the component of .XXX and potentially pornographic content. While cybersquatters could put objectionable content on any domain extension, .XXX is geared specifically for this. Most companies would not want any association whatsoever with sexually explicit content, so protecting your brand is even more crucial this time around.
Essentially it’s easier and cheaper to register a trademarked domain name with a new triple-x extension than to launch a legal battle over trademark infringement. .XXX is an especially important domain name to defensively secure, because most business owners will not wish to have their brand associated with adult content.
What Are the Steps Small Businesses Should Take to Protect Their Brands?
There are two options for business owners and individuals who are not part of the adult entertainment industry. For the first time in domain history, trademark owners have the ability to pay a one time fee of US $349 (rather than an annual registration/renewal fee) to block their trademarks under .XXX “forever” (or so long as the company owns the trademark and so long as ICM is running the registry and future rules don’t get changed…for now it’s a minimum of 10 years). This process is called Sunrise B: Launched on September 7, 2011, it requires all applications to be submitted by October 28, 2011.
If you or your business do not own a trademark and you want to protect your own name, a brand name, taglines or misspellings of your trademarks or brands, you have the opportunity to pre-register these names under the General Registration process. XXX pre-registrations will be submitted on a first come, first serve basis when General Registration opens on December 6, therefore interested parties are encouraged to pre-register desired names early. Pre-registration costs $129 US and is entirely risk free; unlike some other registrars, Webnames.ca is not charging any additional pre-registration fees.
Find Out More
There are a lot of domain extensions out there and more launching each year. If you want to know more about this topic, take a look at previous articles by Cybele Negris including: What Domain Names Do Canadian Small Businesses Actually Need? and Domain Name 101 – What Do the Various Domain Extensions Mean?
To learn more about .XXX, visit Webnames.ca's .XXX.
Please note that Webnames.ca will not be supporting live content such as hosted websites on .XXX registrations. Those who are part of the adult entertainment industry and wish to have an actual .XXX website will need to choose another registrar.