How to protect your brand in the new .XXX extension

[lisa_spyder]

Got this email from one of our domain name providers a couple of days ago - anyone else got one of these yet? (I have deleted my handle). I've had a lot of the spammy emails from China (apparently) checking if I want to purchase all sorts of domain name extensions or claim rights to them before someone else does - I ditch those. But this one is for real and I guess it won't be long before I get the spammy ones relating to .XXX extension applications for our domains .

"Dear Customer,

Gandi rarely sends out unsolicited emails, but when we do, it is only in
very special cases. We are taking the liberty of contacting you today
because you are a Gandi customer (with handle ----------) and we would
like to inform you of an important event that may be pertinent to you.

Our primary activity is domain name management. It is therefore our duty
to inform you of a new extension (one that may be a bit controversial)
that is about to arrive on the public domain name market: .XXX

The registry in charge of this extension will allow registered trademark
holders to 'block' domains corresponding to their trademark so that is
is not used by third parties who wish to profit of the notoriety of the
said trademark in order to exploit it for adult entertainment purposes.

Beginning on September 1st 2011, .XXX will be the primary extension for
websites of companies in the adult entertainment industry.

As a concrete example, we are going to reserve GANDI.XXX ourselves, so
that nobody else can purchase that domain and use it as they wish in
the future.

One of the particularities of this blockage is that once the domain is
blocked, it cannot be used. Therefore, once we reserve GANDI.XXX, we
will be unable to manage it or even forward it to GANDI.NET: it will
simply be reserved and rendered non-operational.

The second particularity is that the blockage is only paid once: you
pay $200.00 (135.00 or 150.00) excl. VAT for every
trademark/company name that you want to block, and you will not need to
renew this blockage.

There are nonetheless some restrictions with regards to blocking a .XXX
domain name: you must be the legal trademark holder and provide
documents that prove this. Once the information has been verified, and
if you are not in competition with another company with the same
trademark as yours at the end of the pre-registration period (Sunrise),
the domain name will be permanently blocked. No further action will be
possible with this domain, not even a transfer.

If, on the other hand, you are competing with a company with the same
trademark as you, there are two cases:

- The person in question is part of the adult entertainment industry
(Type A): your blockage request will be communicated to this company,
and they will have the possibility of withdrawing their reservation
request. Nonetheless, if it is maintained, the domain will be
attributed to them. Any recovery of the domain must therefore pass by
judicial means (ICANN).
- The person, like yourself, is pursuing brand protection (Type B) :
the Registry will take into account all identical blockage
requests and will register them. Since the domain is blocked, it
belongs to nobody.

Keep in mind that in any case, no brand protection request will be
refunded by the Registry, even if the domain was registered by a type
A customer.

WARNING: Brand protection will only be possible during the 30-day
Sunrise period starting on September 1st 2011 and ending on the 30th.
Beyond this date, brand protection requests will be ignored. Also,
please be aware that the general opening of .XXX will be reserved to the
adult entertainment industry, with a systematic verification of
registrations. This means, therefore, that the only opportunity to
protect your brands is within this so-called 'sunrise' period.

For more information on the launching and the brand protection phases of
the .XXX extension, please visit the gandibar at
http://www.gandibar.net/post/2011/06/07/Release-of-XXX"

[Brando]

Sounds like a cheap ploy / scare mongering.

Why not just register the .XXX TLD along with your others and have it 301 back to your primary TDL? Why pay this company to do that for you, and also give them control over your trademarked or registered name for more than what the .XXX registration would cost?

[Tervuren]

Irrelevant to the topic, but...

I loved the Calvin and Hobbes strip where they are checking out the reviews on a movie, and read that it has "adult scenes".

They theorize it must be a boring movie containing things like filing taxes, and paying bills.

[Por_sha911]

Maybe I'm missing it somewhere but why would you want the .xxx extension unless you are marketing to folks that are looking for porn?

[Paul_Heery]

It is not a scam. It is a real service.

IPRota reveals how trademark owners can opt-out and safeguard their marks in .XXX | IPRota Ltd

[Brando]

I would have to say it is not an 'official' service. If it were, the registrars would be offering it -- not a 3rd party company.

Again, why not just register the .xxx TLD and redirect it back to your normal .com/.net/.biz etc. Most registrars allow you to pick up the other relevant TLDs for a discount when buying multiples.

[lisa_spyder]

Gandi's site has more info and then points to this site:

XXXempt

I have some reading to do I guess...but it kinda p!sses me off that I maybe have to pay this sort of money to protect us by registering a name I'll never use.

[M.D. Holloway]

I think I shall fille Lubemaster.xxx before it is too late!

[Brando]

Originally Posted by LubeMaster77

I think I shall fille Lubemaster.xxx before it is too late!

May as well -- you could potentially be picking up an entirely new customer base

[john70t]

Wouldn't that just be redundant?

[Joe Bob]

douchenozzle.com is taken so..... www.douchenozzle.xxx would be a bonus.....

Funny, the .org is dedicated to Keith Obermann