There have been hundreds of stories in the past few weeks talking about whether brands should protect their domain in the .XXX TLD.
Basically there are two protections possibly available to TM Holders and Site owners, a blocking feature that will make sure your .XXX domain does not resolve for the next 10 years for a one time fee of a few hundreds or getting your .XXX domain and choosing whether to have it resolve now or in the future by paying the annual registration fee.
No doubt with registrations fees around $100 for any .XXX domain, if you just want to prevent someone else from screwing with your good name or your TM or your site, the blocking deal with the one time payment is a much better “deal”
However some groups like PETA have announced not only are they getting PETA.XXX to protect their brand but also are planning on using the domain to promote their message.
So I have been thinking about doing some defensive registrations like berkens.xxx, thedomains.xxx and mostwanteddomains.xxx and spending the $300 a year rather than doing a block.
So the question is are you going to be doing any defensive registrations, either annually or through the blocking feature?
Do you think its necessary to protect your personal, business or site name?
You can answer yes or no and leave any comments below
It’s not right that companies have to pay to block their brands/tms from getting registered. It should be free if you can show ownership of said brand.
If you are willing to spend $300/yr to defend just in one TLD, how many K’s are you willing to go up to when 100’s of TLD’s will spring out of the wild?
I don’t see the point of even looking at .XXX as a defensive registration – is it any different to any of the other extensions out there that people don’t use and aren’t really interested in?
Personally I think the threat of something like YourBrandNameSucks.com is greater than anything someone might do on a .XXX domain..
Also, given that Google and the other search engines default to family friendly (ie blocking adult sites and .xxx is adult by default) , then surely the chances of a dupe name .xxx site appearing in regular SERPs for your brand are pretty close to zero?
There are now about 350+ name-spaces where BRANDs can be Protected
Twitter
FaceBook
DNS
DNS+XXX
Are people going to run around to all 350+ places ?
Register in .COM and you get a FREE new Top Level Domain – No $185,000 fee or $25,000 annual charge
.ORG is dead
might as well register .cn
Wrong audience for such a poll.
DotXXX is going to come out way ahead here, but in doing so may jeopardize the new TLDs (if anyone thinks there’s a 100% chance the new TLDs are coming you may want to reconsider your position). Recent stories about companies feeling like they are being forced to buy dotXXX is shedding new light on the new TLDs in a way I don’t believe ICANN anticipated.
And now this article is really creating a HUGE buzz: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/icann-departures-draw-criticism/2011/08/19/gIQAzpeDTJ_story.html
I will pay 99 cent whoever register “BullS’ dot xxx and promote the site.
Please someone….take the offer.
Actually I think it’s the perfect audience
Not too many people understand the value of their internet reputation so as I said in the post I’m consider getting defensive .xxx registrations.
The last thing I need is some idiot grabbing Berkens.xxx & putitting up some less than flattering
A: absolutely NO
but, maybe, I can register few .xxx when they will cost less and only if I find good domains, that could likely be resold at higher price
This is pure worthless crap
I hope they ban it in the US
just like they have in China and India
“Not too many people understand the value of their internet reputation”
Check your reputation at OPENDNS.COM
THEDOMAINS is considered XXX
Hi,
I think what really sucks is that many ‘non profit’ .orgs are going to be forced into ‘defensive regs’…which will cost them.
As an just an example:
I doubt most churches, especially the big mega types… most as of right now, will have no idea about doing ‘defensive regs’ for .xxx themselves.
People that totally disagree with there points of view,… could easily put up a not so nice .XXX website…that would force them into spending I think it is $1300…and you can get a .xxx shut down within just a couple weeks.
I had a great article about this process…but the author seem to think this was a great option…but $1300 is still $1300. I cannot find the article now…forgot to bookmark it.
I think for all legitimate “nonprofits”….some type of ‘fee exemption’ or at least a reduction of ‘defensive regs’…should be considered.
No matter how you look at it….ICAAN has opened up a BIG can of worms, that is going to make a lot of people at lot of money, in just ‘defensive regs of .xxx extensions…and cost people a lot of money unnecessarily…IMHO
____
“MHB’;s” 3 examples used in this post… is going to cost him $300…which is a small price for him to pay…and well worth doing.
But, still…$300 is $300…no matter how much money you have or do not have.
Peace!
‘D’
BTW: Here is an interesting article, it is not the one I was referring to above…but it provides some “solid” information.
“Intellectual Property Update: Trademark Owners Can Block Misappropriation In New .xxx Domain”
http://www.gladstonemichel.com/trademark_owners_xxxdomain.shtml
The fact of the matter is, there’s just no way to ‘domain’ your way out of a hit site.
There are just too many adjectives for ‘sucks’.
As corporate America has demonstrated, the right way is to let offenders offend, then drag their asses into court and watch them make excuses, before you pursue damages.
A lot of people are skating in wafer-thin ice under the guise of ‘free speech’ that really crosses over into libelous, defamatory stuff. It’s only a matter of time before that ice cracks… Does anyone seriously think that Encyclopedia Dramatica came down for ‘strategic rebranding’ reasons?
It’s one thing to say so and so is an asshole and that person having a huge tantrum because their ego was wounded, it’s something else entirely to commandeer that persons online reputation and smear it with pornography, etc.
Just like buying trademark domains in the mid 1990’s, this issue of defamatory online speech is still the wild west. We will see a day when there are clear-cut mechanisms to go after people who are deliberately maligning a persons professional reputation via online means.
Step-by-Step – Walk into the ICANN trap
1. Protect your Brand in .XXX
2. Pay your $185,000 for some obscure TLD
3. Be turned down because THE COMMUNITY does not like your XXX reputation
4. If not turned down you will be blocked in the Set.Top.Boxes
5. If not blocked you will be paying to play because of your XXX reputation
As for the Big.Brands ? they walk in FREE
BTW…
Do you think you will get a refund ?
Ask the 2000 beauty contest entrants where their $50,000 went.
Mike, the wording of your poll is the telling part of all of this…
“Will You Protect Your Site or Brand From .XXX?”
FROM? That demonstrates, and rightly so, that it is the .XXX Registry itself that you need protection against. So basically you are paying the very thing that threatens your brand a protection fee.
Don’t be surprised when Racketeering charges are made… I’m interested to see how this all shakes out with .XXX because I can see this having a definite affect on the other zillion new extensions being proposed…
MHB has a his hand in this shit-ho*le cookie jar.
Like any other attorneys, they like to play with the fear factor.
If you don’t do this, don’t do that….it will cost you more $$$$$$$$$$$ and you have to sign the dotted line to hire them,
Folks, life is simple, all you really need is food, shelter and SEX(that is extra bonus).
Now go out and play.
Mike,
Registering Berkens.xxx will have no effect in protecting from someone from putting up bad stuff on your name.
Also, there’s a better chance most people will do a search on the search engines on “Berkens” rather then direct navigation. If they even direct nav at all, they would have to guess the correct gTLD, ccTLD or TLD extension.
I wouldn’t worry about it.
I’m not, for myself.
The truth is, I don’t direct nav anymore. I use the search to find information.
That’s what most people do.
Save your money and just buy your wife and yourself a nice dinner with the money and bring home a doggy bag for Bandit 🙂
I don’t see the need to protect your brand in .XXX
I think what they are doing to TM holders is basically legal extortion. It sets a bad precedent for any other potentially offensive or controversial extensions down the road.
Brad
I have weighed up the same issue with my registered trademarks.
I am happy to pay $100 for a two strategic (and generic) .travel names, that I can actually use, but I cant see the point with .xxx.
I’m going to start a petition
to
have this extension
revoked.
I don’t think anyone needs to protect their brand against .xxx. This is silly. Is URS happening soon for newer tlds anyway? Isn’t that like the cost of 2 .xxx registrations? So in that case if you find there is a problem you can deal with it then right?
.XXX=Legal Extortion
i’m hoping someone will register the.xxx of most of my sites… i could use the extra traffic from folks mistyping .com looking for naked women. maybe disney should do that but i’m thinking that in the future… sex will not be considered a crime.
sure we won’t see later two new TLDs? .XX and .X
By you registering ‘berkins ,xxx’, you have elliminated someone else named berkens from owning the domain.
(Sorry. It gags me to say that. We all have received the nasty emails where a person complains we own their name, business name, organization name or name of their ‘new’ project.)
If you are trying to prevent someone putting up a hate site, it is a no win situation.
Logically, you can’t register every possible combination.
For example, mike,berkens,sucks ,com is unregistered.
If the $300. is burning a hole in your pocket, send it to me.
Why does any church or anyone for that matter need to defensively register a .xxx? Will there be natural traffic to the xxx, no. Will it show in google results, no (how often do you search for something it isn’t very clearly porn an gotten porn results?, try searching cucumber, you see any porn results?)
Someone would have to register a xxx and then advertise it somehow for people to see the site. And then you deal with the problem by way of your choosing. Whoever does this to you doesn’t need a xxx domain to do this. Xxx is just good branding for porn, and realistically bad branding for a non porn site. Xxx doesn’t have Magical traffic.
Funny thing is that CompanySucks.com often times has traffic just because the public has een trained to look for sucks sites (thus the defensive registrations). Also google indexes gripe sites.
Wrong audience for this article. Spew this at the non thinking people who follow and believe everything they read.
Money grab .xxx dead on arrival like the other gTLDs.
A flacid attempt at bringing back the virtual gold rush of the 90’s
Lame, lame, lame
At least some companies are waking up to the deception
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20093699-38/advertising-groups-lambaste-net-address-expansion/
@ MHB Please explain why you would spend $300 on defensive registrations in .xxx when you are apparently either unwilling or unprepared to spend $20 registering domain names like:
MikeBerkensSucks.com, TheDomainssuck.com, TheDomainsSucks.com all of which are available at reg fee!
“sure we won’t see later two new TLDs? .XX and .X”
====
Those already are part of the NEW DNS Software
ALL 2-Letter LL names are included
The only reason ICANN (ISOC) is allowing people in their game now is they know they are losing market-share to the new DNS Resolver Technology
Before tossing $185,000 to the wind, it might pay to understand DNS
and the people you are supporting – They are laughing all the way to the .BANK
I say treat .xxx like .co
(Sorry, I don’t mean to turn this into a .co discussion but the .co rollout is relevant to the .xxx roll out.)
If you liked .co, you’ll like .xxx
If you regged a .co to protect your brand then reg the .xxx
If, like me, you never registered a single .co because the extension is meaningless to anyone other than speculators, no need to register a .xxx.
.xxx registry will make millions and speculators will make money if they get in and get out quick. Certainly not a buy and hold but that’s just my opinion from being in the domain business since 1998.
So, to answer your poll question… I have about 50 developed websites and I don’t have any plans to register the .xxx version but I wish everyone well if they chose to speculate on the roll out.
And another take from AdAge
http://adage.com/article/adages/brand-xxx/229412/
I predict that the .XXX sunrise will be MUCH LARGER than the .CO sunrise was. By orders of magnitude.
Tom Barrett
EnCirca
@Tom B.
Interesting.
Do you think there will be more .xxx registrations than .co registrations because of more speculation, more brand protection, more development or a combination of the three?
@Rob
So zero interest in owning Cuba.xxx ? Not even if it were reg fee?
@JP,
I didn’t say I wouldn’t consider speculating in some .xxx domains but it’s not a high priority. The only thing I would do with Cuba.xxx if I owned it would be to sell it quickly and hopefully at a profit.
I wouldn’t pay more than $1000 for Cuba.xxx if you are wondering.
I didn’t even consider going after cuba.me or cuba.co.
Somebody offered me Cuba.me when it first came out. I passed. It later sold for $800.
Havana.me just dropped. I bid to $110 and was out bid. It sold for $120. Seriously.
I own Cuba.cc and it gets ZERO traffic. Remember .cc? That was the hot new extension many years ago and now it’s dead. Kind of like these…
.mobi
.biz
.ws
.asia
.eu
.travel
.jobs
After the hype, MOST undeveloped domains with new extensions are worthless clutter. Hell, MOST undeveloped .com domains are worthless clutter.
Heard it before “.mobi is the next big thing… I mean .eu, wait .asia, I mean .me… no wait… .co is the next big thing. Damn. .xxx is the next big thing.
I think .xxx has a better chance for SOME long term value since people will develop it more than a .me or a .co.
Speculation is fine but I don’t think any new extension is a buy and hold investment.
Anybody want to buy my Cuba.cc? 🙂