Questions for .XXX Haters & Supporters, Those who want to protect their brand, and republicans.
 

So here's some questions for .XXX Haters & Supporters, for those who want to protect their brand, and bible-thumping republicans:

If you are a "mom and pop" owner of an adult .com domain, will you register the .xxx equivalent? Yes? No? Why / Why not?

If you are a major player in this industry, will you register the .xxx equivalient to protect your brand and trademark? Yes? No? Why / Why not?

If you are an affiliate of either of the above, will you continue to promote that site? Why or why not?

If you do any kind of business at all with the above, will you continue to do business with them if they DO or DO NOT register a .xxx? Yes? No? Why / Why not?

In a discussion with friends tonight over dinner, it was generally agreed that porn will not be forced into the .xxx "ghetto" and that everyone will be able to keep their .com's. Do you agree? Do you think otherwise? If so, WHY or WHY NOT?

If you don't think that sites will be ghettoized, do you think that republicans like Michelle Bachman and her "I will ban all pornography" rhetoric will succeed at least far enough to ghettoize porn to the .XXX TLD?

Quick reply.

- Will I buy one? no. I'm not going to waste money and put more in Stuart's pocket.
- Will I do business with companies that do buy .xxx domains. Yes, most of the big ones will.
- It's not impossible that .xxx will be mandated and porn could be removed from .com's DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU LIVE. It's possible in the US, depends on who is in office and what their agenda it. Also, doesn't help that Staurt will be working the politicians to pass laws to make it mandatory just as hard as he worked ICANN for 10 years. Likely to happen, no. But not impossible.

1. Will I buy one? No. I have no use for one.
2. Will I do business with those that do? I guess it depends. I likely wouldn't even know if they owned one or not but if I was starting a new project and needed a sponsor for it I would likely try to use those without .xxx before those with.

3. will it become mandatory? Highly doubtful. If for no other reason than the COPA ruling about 10 years ago where the Supreme Court ruled that existing filtering software was an adequate protection to keep kids from porn sites. That type of stuff has only gotten more sophisticated since so now they would have to convince the supreme court that it really doesn't work and this is the only option. I can't see that happening.

I think any new TLD is a fun things! It brings opportunities and competition. However, many tactics that company used to secure its passing of this TLD have left a sour taste in my mouth. However, business is business, this doesn't matter - the only bitter flavor I have now is the high price-tag. Our company will invest minimally into this TLD and will do business with anyone without prejudice, and this may or may not include .xxx domains hahaha :)

that bitter taste is going to turn into the flavor of shit in your mouth once you realize you spent some bucks for the domains and they made you dick. If you already don't like the taste, it's just going to get worst. :2 cents: but it's your money to waste, have at it.

Am I going to buy one? No, only buy .com.
Why buy one? Next year are you going to buy a .x or .adult?

Waiting for .x

Sorry I forgot to ask an extra question.

For those who don't buy one, what will you do when a competitor or squatter buys YOURDOMAIN.xxx? Or is not buying a .xxx domain more important than protecting your brand?

(I have about 300 domains and am wondering this myself)

Let the lawyers sort things out.

I see lots of bluster about getting attorneys and such, but there are very few registered trademarks in adult and more than a few sites with similar names but different extensions.

Say, for example, "tits.com" and "tits.info" > all else being the same and failing a registered trademark, if these two sites both want the "tits.xxx" during Sunrise, they have to bid against each other for it.

After Sunrise, when it's first come, first served, anyone can register, including "your" name if it's available.

> Insert howls of "I'll SUE Them!!!"

Guess what? A successful trademark action requires you to demonstrate that you have been protecting that trademark -- which means there are not any existing .whatevers to your brand.

For example, if you own "Tits.com" and didn't keep "Tits.info" off the net (assuming you don't own both) then anybody could likely get away with registering Tits.xxx and have a valid claim to it -- pre written "notice to ICM" letters notwithstanding.

Short story: if you truly value the names, then it's time to write a check -- the price is a lot cheaper than paying a lawyer to tell you "tough shit, you should have registered it."

Personally, I've floated some decent domains for sale, rather than register them as .xxx

what do you do now if a competitor or squatter buys YOURDOMAIN.info, or YOURDOMAIN.ws, or YOURDOMAIN.ca, or YOURDOMAIN.org? :2 cents:

Bottom Line here:

Register the .xxx just in case, never, ever use them.

Moving on.....

no no no nonononono

That's the problem a lot of folks face.

Consider that this is simply a barrier to entry that could help "clean up" the market, in much the same way that many poor-quality domestic paysites were killed by the $750 Visa fee.

Consider also that part of the problem is the adult "wash and repeat" business model where we all own hundreds of underutilized domain names. One friend gave me grief because I seemed to support .xxx (I don't). He said, "I own like 10,000 domains, WTF!"

"Well, you have one good name and 9,999 feeder sites," I told him. "Register the good one and take your chances with the rest."

This guy was in the room with me years ago when CCBill's Ron Cadwell said "Think of a domain name as a separate business: how many businesses can you successfully run at one time?"

Folks don't learn.

Heck, I have a couple good two-word domains that I have the hyphenated and non- versions of (i.e. keywordkeyword.com and keyword-keyword.com). That's four names at $259.99 each (Netsol Sunrise pricing) for two sites, or $1039.96. It ain't gonna happen.

I'll register my one "favorite" one-word adult domain, and put a defensive block on my favorite one-word mainstream brand, still more than $500 down the toilet, write-off or not.

Sigh.