.XXX?
 

Ok...I am sure this has been discussed and I guess I missed it. So I apologize. I have been reading articles about the .xxx and maybe it's because I am a blonde by nature.... but I do not understand the pros and cons of this at all. Why is this not getting through to me? I don't mean to start another long thread about something that probably was discussed many times, but could someone just PM me, or give me a short version of the good and the bad?
Thanks!

Linda |banghead|

The only "pro" that I've seen that remotely makes any sense is in regards to branding. It would be clear that a .xxx domain is selling adult content.

However, that is also a huge potential "con" as this same branding can be used by the gov't, Visa, and any number of others to set restrictive policies on sites using .xxx domains.

In my opinion it's nothing but a major money play by the owners of ICM who plan to sell these domains at a price in the $75 each neighborhood.

Are any of you reserving domain names ? What if some asshole registers al4a.xxx ? Do they have safeguards against that ? I read that they would but it could just be a bunch of BS.

Emperor

Yes there is such a thing as Trademarking a name. Just like Mc Donlads. You can not go out and buy that even if it was avalible. You would be required to release the name by law. I think it's like $100 bucks or something.

At this point, .xxx is just a money grab by ICM, like Toby said. Not really a big deal, unless there are trademark disputes later on (i.e., one person owns the .com and another owns the .net version of a name -- who should get the .xxx?) Even that's not a huge deal, unless .xxx becomes mandatory for all adult sites.

And that's really the issue - IF congress passes a law that requires all adult sites to use .xxx, IF ICANN helps to enforce it, IF credit card companies refuse to process for adult sites on other domains, IF ISPs decide to filter out .xxx entirely, etc.

Personally I don't think all that is going to happen. The Supreme Court has already said that there should not be "zoning laws" on the internet. So even if Congress were to pass such a law, it would be overturned quickly, imho. Though the industry would be in for a rough ride in the meantime....

And that really isnt an issue because congress cannot require adult sites to use it outside of the US - and that is the fault with all of the arguments by the "sky is falling" perpetrators - they discount the fact that the supreme court and congress as well as doj and everyone else that has been mentioned taking some "restricting" action only affect US based websites - therefore having no effect on anyone outside the US.
Secondly, anyone that does take any type of action, which I seriously doubt, would be immediately be ostricized by the family groups and conservatives as supporting the porn industry by giving it validity

a very good point about non u.s. domains.

and Hi linkster, was nice meeting you in person at the show |waves|

Spooky - great meeting you as well :)

Since Im of the opinion that this little pushing of the xxx as a separate area for adults is a power/cash play by the registrar that won the contract for distributing the domains, I tend to disregard most of the news they publish - way too much "PR" and very little reality floating around about this - only problem is that if they were to get the backing of too many high profile adult side people (which I dont believe would really happen) the perception of a good idea would turn in to a reality by mass movement which seems to happen in any industry where there are no strong leaders or backers.
Fortunately most of the outspoken people on this issue so far have only been the adult news type people generating their readership-increasing fear-mongering just after the page views :(

Thanks for the info....I think I understand it somewhat better. So with all of this, are any of the x rated sites reserving their names with the .xxx? It seems that most sites are .coms. If blahblahblah.com doesn't reserve blahblahblah.xxx....does it become a problem for the .com ?

It costs $350 in fees to trademark a name in the USA. That requiers that you di not pay any legal fees and do your own name search.

I do not know about an international trademark which is what would be required to truly protect your name on the Internet.

I've been hearing all kinds of stuff about the law; that all presupposes it will be *mandatory* to use a .xxx name which is really a different issue.

What if they make .xxx available regardless of a mandatory usage law ? There will be people left and right buying up names like al4a.xxx, etc.

My name isn't trademarked, I doubt I can even get it trademarked, but everyone knows it (it's a .org), will I get first choice of the .xxx ? Will they do it in good faith ? That's what concerns me.

Emperor

Emperor - just my opinion - but Im treating this just like the .travel domains they approved at the same time - its just another tld and I sure didnt go out and buy the .us or .biz of my named sites - if someone were to do that and put up a comparable site to mine they would suffer the same consequences as they would if they did it on a .us domain - makes no difference.

Hey Linkster,

I agree with that for the most part, except that I don't think .xxx is "just another TLD", it will have more credibility that a .us and .biz, that's for sure. Maybe not at first but eventually.

Emperor

Why? I thought that .biz could have had some valid points and credibility going for it - until too many dubious characters started buying them...

But ever since I got cheated with the DOT-SEX scam some 5 years ago I stay clear of anything but .coms, specially since there still are enough good ones around...