Why There May Never Be A 3D.XXX or 69.XXX; UnitedStates.xxx or France.XXX & That’s Just For Starters

by

According to the contract that ICANN signed with the the ICM registry this week to operate the .XXX registry (pdf) there may never be any 2 character .XXX domain names.

Exhibit 6 of the Agreement, (found on page 59 of the pdf)  all 2 character .XXX domains shall be reserved until such time as the registry reaches an agreement with “the government and country code manager” or the ISO to release such domains.

Some of the best possible .XXX domains would be 2 character domains; 3D.XXX and 69.XXX, My.xxx, Bi.xxx, SM.xxx, TV.xxx, BJ.xxx are some that come to mind right away (thanks Ed)

For now it does not look like any two character domains will be possible.

Also in the contract,  in the same exhibit, ICANN mandates that all Geographic and all Geopolitical names contained in ISO3166-1 shall be reserved and not made available for registration.

The list contained at ISO is a list of countries, so under the contract with ICANN there will never be a UnitedStates.xxx or France.XXX or Iran.XXX in English or in any other “official language”.

Here is how the contract reads:

“All geographic and geopolitical names contained in the ISO 3166-1 list from time to time shall initially be reserved at both the second level and at all other levels within the TLD at which the Registry Operator provides for registrations.   All names shall be reserved both in English and in all related official languages.

“In addition, Registry Operator shall reserve names of territories, distinct economies, and other geographic and geopolitical names as ICANN may direct from time to time.  Such names shall be reserved from registration during any sunrise period, and shall be registered in ICANN’s name prior to start-up and open registration in the TLD.”

States and cities are not included on this list right now, so while there can’t be a UnitedStates.xxx there can be some Geo’s which might be some of the most valuable of all .XXX domains like Vegas.XXX, Miami.XXX, Newyork.XXX or Rio.XXX.

There might be a lot of other domains restricted by this provision: “territories, distinct economies, and other geographic and geopolitical names as ICANN may direct from time to time”

That might be an interesting one.  They are a lot of possible domains that would fall within that definition.

 

 

 

 

 

About Michael Berkens

Michael Berkens, Esq. is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheDomains.com. Michael is also the co-founder of Worldwide Media Inc. which sold around 70K domain to Godaddy.com in December 2015 and now owns around 8K domain names . Michael was also one of the 5 Judges selected for the the Verisign 30th Anniversary .Com contest.

Comments

  1. TheBigLieSociety says

    Looks like #3 is met: ” maintain any significant control over any part of the business”

    U.S. Federal Trade Commission – FRANCHISE TEST

    Sometimes called… THE DUCK TEST …If it Walks like a Duck, Quacks
    like a Duck, Acts like a Duck… it IS a DUCK

    If you sell a Business Opportunity { Registry… Registrar…
    Reseller… RIR } to any person and you;

    * 1. Allow the buyer to use your company name or logo;

    * 2. Charge a fee to the buyer (inside or outside of product
    or service);

    * 3. Provide any significant assistance or maintain any
    significant control over any part of the business.

    “The FTC disclosure laws require accurate representations from
    franchisors to prospective franchisees.”

  3. TheBigLieSociety says

    “Some of the best possible .XXX domains”
    …
    “shall be registered in ICANN’s name”
    ======

    Wonder what ICANN pays per year for those names ?

    …this sTLD (Sponsored TLD) is clearly a Temporary Market Test to gauge “interest level”

    The Big.Boys with Set.Top.BOX DNS will be happy to provide ALL of the domains 🙂

  4. Alan says

    The biggest hassle with the .XXX extension is the application and approval process that will
    be in place to register them. I can’t, at this point, see how affiliate registrars will benefit as
    most people, myself included, will go to the “source” ie, ICM Registry, to expedite the process.

    There are many questions that remain unanswered. Such as, will I need approval for each name registered? How long will the application process take? What happens if my application is denied? Is there a dispute resolution process if my application is denied? etc.,etc.

    I’m beginning to wonder if it’s worth the time and trouble, especially with China and India
    and God know’s how many more countries will block it. Like the pros say “.Com is King!”

  5. TheBigLieSociety says

    “There are many questions that remain unanswered.”
    =====

    Since 1998 the ICANN Proof.of.Concept Market Trials are helping to answer those questions.

    In the words of IRA Magaziner

    “If we left the coordination of the Internet DNS to an intergovernmental body, we feared that it would get bogged down in bureaucracy and approvals would move at a glacial place. …the slow and bureaucratic processes of government and multilateral government bodies are not the best way to coordinate a fast-moving, creative, chaotic medium like the Internet. They move too slowly. They’re too risk-averse. They officially represent only governments and not other constituencies. And just in general, they’re too cumbersome.”

  11. MHB says

    Thanks Ed just added a few of your suggestions to the main story (and of course credited you)

  12. Stuart Lawley says

    @ Alan,

    The process should be fairly seamless and will be largely automated. Yes, there will be appeals mechanisms. Were are not in the business of making it difficult to register these names. Finally, you only have to be authenticated once and then can register as many names as you want.

    @ MHB and @ ED, these ISO-3166 list restrictions applied to ALL 2004 sTLD applicants and will apply to ALL new GTLD applicants. It is designed to avoid confusion with the two digit cc. I believe some former 2004 applicants subsequently applied to allow certain two character strings under ICANNS RSEP process and this is something we may consider in the future, particularly when it comes to ones which include one or two numbers rather than just letters.

  13. TheBigLieSociety says

    “Were are not in the business of making it difficult to register these names.”
    ====

    ICANN is clearly in that business and MANY more unseen actors/players

    “making it difficult” is #JOB1 for many people & their JOB Security

  14. TheBigLieSociety says

    In the words of IRA Magaziner

    “If we left the coordination of the Internet DNS to an intergovernmental body, we feared that it would …move at a glacial place. …’
    =====

    .SO they (The.Clinton(s)) & Ira Magaziner & others created ICANN & made sure it moves even SLOWER than a Glacier

  15. Jason says

    I don’t see the value in creating a triple X unless the extension is only reserved for adult sites. Vegas triple X can work, but many cities don’t fit the extension. IMO, it’s not good to associate a certain name with name because credibility factors come into play.

  17. TheBigLieSociety says

    ://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/daily/Detail.aspx?g=21af6cdb-e43a-4d9e-a9e7-a3783098704e

    “How much will you pay to block your trademark from ‘.xxx’?”

  18. MHB says

    Big Lie

    Yes I think its one of the better things and unique to any TLD, that a trademark owner can pay a one time fee to have its brand.xxx to be blocked permanently.

    This is not only for non-adult trademarks but for adult trademark holders as well.

    The only thing is once you elect to block the domain, it can never be unblocked