At the XBIZ show in London, I debated Stuart Lawley, CEO of ICM Registry, the entity that pushed through the .XXX sTLD. I know that many of those in the audience wanted answers and, unfortunately with the typical smoke and mirrors presentation from ICM I am afraid the confusion increased. One such issue was that of the various costs of .XXX. During the debate, I quoted the price of .XXX on GoDaddy as well as the price I had been quoted by two employees of Domain-Monster. As I explained that DomainMonster’s cost was $199 the CEO of the company corrected me saying the cost is $79. What he neglected to say was that the $79 names were only available under the “General Availability” category and only if you commit for 25 years!
It is time to cut the crap. I grow oh so tired of the mixed messages coming from the ICM camp. Adult business owners need to understand how much a product will cost from the various vendors as they determine the appropriate direction for their company. In order to give adult businesses the information they need to make the appropriate decision concerning .XXX, FSC has meticulously gone through the registrars listed on the ICM website and have listed the various costs of domain names at the various stages of availability. Documentation about the registrars and the various cost of .XXX domain names can be found on FSC’s website (FreeSpeechCoalition.com) under the .XXX section. I have included links back to each registrar so that folks can check for themselves and so that ICM cannot refute my claims.
Companies considering copyright infringement litigation against ICM can contact me [Diane Duke] directly for details about Sunrise B registrar information.
I think it important to note that in the process of gathering this information, a few issues surfaced of which adult businesses should be mindful. First, almost ALL of the registrars state that the Sunrise B period — where businesses are given the opportunity to block their trademarked name — is available only for nonadult companies. I challenged Stuart during the debate on this issue and he replied that he can’t be responsible for the registrars. I find this difficult to believe since it is ICM who contracts with these registrars. Stuart insists that adult businesses can block their trademarked names, yet when you apply for Sunrise B, if your request is rejected a portion of the fee is a non-refundable. Moreover, some of the registrars are not even offering Sunrise A, promoting only Sunrise B with the pitch of “Protect you Brand and Trademark.” Companies considering copyright infringement litigation against ICM can contact me directly for details about Sunrise B registrar information.
Another interesting development in researching .XXX prices was that, overwhelmingly, the description of the “General Availability” phase of the rollout, is that it is open to the general public and there is no apparent vetting to ensure that the purchaser of the domain meets the “sponsorship community” definition. This is more of an issue for ICANN but, adult businesses considering participation on the .XXX platform with the understanding that it will be widely known as an adult-only community may want to pay special attention to this issue.
FSC will continue to gather information to assist adult industry professionals make the best decision for their companies. Feel free to contact us directly if you have additional questions about .XXX.
