According to a Press Release that the ICM Registry, the company behind .XXX, will announce tomorrow, they have received nearly 900,000 expressions of interest for .XXX domain names during its pre-reservation process.
I reached out to the ICM registry and asked how many of the 900K expressions of interests represented unique domains.
Stuart Lawley wrote back to tell me the 900,000 expressions of interest were for about 650,000 unique domain names.
At that level 650,000 domain names would net over $30 Million in registration fees in just the 1st year for the ICM registry at the $50 wholesale price the ICM registry has set for a .XXX domain (not including the $10 fees going to the non-proft)
Of course that also does not including any landrush auctions or premium and reserved domains.
However the Press Release is really not about the number of reservations, but the time frame for the roll out of the Sunrise period which has been pushed back “due to the huge demand for .XXX domain names”
“The ICM Registry will be extending its Sunrise to now run for 50 days commencing 7th September 2011 and finishing on 28th October 2011.”
“The extended period will enable ICM Registry to receive and process all applications from existing domain name and trademark owners who have applied to either opt their brand in or out of the .XXX registry.”
“”Stuart Lawley, CEO of ICM Registry said, “We believe the Sunrise period offers businesses a comprehensive rights protection mechanism where they can protect their brands and trademarks. We are advising businesses to either opt-in or opt-out and want to give them the best opportunity to do so at the launch of our new TLD. Given the high level of interest in the domain, we see that many businesses wish to be proactive in avoiding any brand conflicts.”
“”After the close of Sunrise, a Land Rush period will run for 14 days where businesses from the adult entertainment industry will have premium access to remaining .XXX web addresses, following which general availability will ensue. Sunrise applicants using registered marks to qualify will be required to own a subsisting trade or service mark registration of national effect. ”
“The Sunrise period offers brand managers a unique opportunity to secure relevant trademarked terms ahead of wider availability, effectively safeguarding them.”
“”Lawley also added, “We wanted to take an innovative approach to the launch of .XXX and show best practice at all stages including investing in a global awareness campaign. ICM Registry believes in consumer choice, and while we believe the .XXX will satisfy the needs of the sponsored community, we recognise there is also an audience who would like to opt-out and safeguard their IP prior to the domain going live”.
According to a story in the FT.com tonight, the controversial block fee, the price a trademark holder will have to pay to have its trademark not resolve to a .XXX domain will be $200-$300 on a cost recovery basis.
“We are trying to show that .xxx is a responsible internet domain,” Mr Lawley said. “The triple-x domain has sensitivities so we have gone out of our way to provide protection for companies.”
Here is a copy of the full Press Release which is now out:
ICM Registry, the company behind the .XXX sponsored top-level domain (sTLD), has publicly published the comprehensive plan and related policies for the launch of the .XXX domain. The complete details of the entire launch are located on ICM Registry’s website here. The newly updated plan for launching .XXX on September 7, 2011, includes extending the Sunrise A period due to stronger than expected demand. The launch plan for Sunrise A was originally planned for 30 days but was extended to assist adult companies prepare and implement the necessary requirements for qualified trademarks and matching domains, which is also known as “Grandfathering.”
ICM Registry also confirms the closing of the Founders program on July 31, 2011, and is encouraging any remaining interested companies to act now. The Founders program allows qualifying applicants to bypass the Sunrise process for their existing domain names and also have the opportunity to acquire premium domains. This program has never been offered in previous TLD launces, and was constructed specifically for only those adult companies who had interesting new ideas for premium generic names or well known companies with sizeable portfolios.
“The response from adult webmasters has been very exciting and we have received a lot of interest in names that aren’t adult properties in the .com space but will create exciting new opportunities plus direct and search traffic in .XXX. “We are thrilled to extend the Sunrise periods, so that everyone who wants to fully participate in the .XXX launch process has that opportunity,” says Greg Dumas of ICM Registry.
Sunrise closes October 28th, and on November 8th Landrush opens. It will run for 18 days, but unlike Sunrise, Landrush has no qualification requirements. In the event of competing applications for a domain name, a closed-auction session will be held for those applicants at the end of the Landrush period. General Availability opens on December 7th, 2011, and will allow adult Sponsored Community members to acquire regular, resolving names on a “first come, first served” basis.
Pre-reservation via ICM Registry’s website is now closed and ICM will shortly be notifying all applicants on the next steps they will need to take to process those expressions of interest through participating ICANN accredited registrars. ICM Registry urges those interested in applying for .XXX domains to make inquiries with their registrar, as well as signing up for updates directly from ICM Registry.”
If ICM wants to provide protection for companies, then it should not be charging business’s to pay 300 bucks per domain, to not have pornography attached to it.
This is extortion. Pure and simple. Hopefully Congress will not allow this to happen.
Mark
The other option would be just to let the trademark holders get the domain under a sunrise, pay the annual renewal fee and let the trademark holder do what they want with the domain
How are they “extorting” companies
By offering the service, which they were not required to do in the 1st place?
Mark, how much are you charging to figure out whether someone claiming to own a trademark actually owns one in force?
Are you saying they should just block any domain name for free?
What, specifically, would YOU do?
Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit.
Mark, you’re right. Anyone defending this Bullshit practice is either on the take, or too blinded by all things “domain” to realize how wrong this will be; and trust me, Congress, for as stupid as they are, will step up and smash this crap before it gets started. Watch.
“Stuart Lawley, chief executive of the ICM Registry is quoted to say that “ICM will not be making any profit from the blocking fees, but merely be recovering the costs it would face in checking trademark owners’ credentials.”
So more of this “cost recovery” BS. Sounds like ICANN’s statement on the new gTLD.
It is a great business model. Get a controversial extension, then legally extort famous brand owners a ridiculous amount to block squatters.
This is a preview of the new gTLD….
Brad
John I have the utmost respect for you above everyone else in this area, but would you not agree there are plenty of names that need no proof. Ford,Mercedes Benz,Coca Cola and about 3000 other names.
Sorry Ford or Coca Cola should not have to spend anything to make sure some pornographer attaches their name to porn.
Hopefully these companies will use their lobbying power and get something passed where these extortionist practices will become outlawed. Like being able to go after the registry and not afford them protection for tm. I am sure CADNA is working on something to go after these new tld operators. This game is in the first inning. Again IMO
.xxx is a scam
suckers bet
fools gold
“there are plenty of names that need no proof”
The problem is getting this “list of names that need no proof”. Every effort to come up with a “globally protected famous marks list” has been a failure, and it’s been attempted with three different groups over the last 11 years.
Saying “there are plenty of names that need no proof” does not provide an operational list of names. How would you address the perceived problem?
I’d really like to know, though, what someone would be looking for at “CocaCola.xxx” or “Ford.xxx”. The process requires at least two idiots – one idiot to go through the identity verification needed to register a .xxx name and thus volunteer to be skinned alive by one of those companies, and at least one other idiot to visit “Ford.xxx” with the notion that Ford Motor has decided to publish authorized pornography. Maybe it’s just me, but the concern that anyone is going to gain some kind of advantage by registering a name like Chevrolet.xxx strikes me as somewhat silly.
“Congress, for as stupid as they are, will step up and smash this crap before it gets started.”
Congress is going to be in recess for most of the summer, and .xxx is launching in something like September or October. Additionally, there is a definite possibility that the US government isn’t going to do much of anything for at least some period of time after August 1.