NEW YORK — Inn Productions Inc., which in late March struck a $500,000 deal with ICM Registry for more than 30 .xxx domain properties, has defaulted on the agreement, an official at the registry said.
The Inn Productions-ICM Registry deal was publicized with great fanfare at the time, only because some of the names were on the top tier with “category supremacy potential.”
In the deal, Inn Productions, operated by Stephen “Maverick” Roche, was to acquire Tube.xxx, LiveCam.xxx, Affair.xxx and Hookups.xxx, as well as more than two dozen other .xxx sites.
But on Friday ICM Registry — the operator of top-level domains .xxx, .porn, .adult and the upcoming .sex — said that the deal crashed and burned.
“We have issued a breach [of contract] for nonpayment,” Stephen Winyard, director and vice president of ICM Registry, told XBIZ.
“I’m not getting into a mudslinging match as it serves no purpose,” he said.
“The domains that he had contracted for are therefore back in stock unless by any remote chance the breach is cured, which is about as likely as turkeys voting for Thanksgiving.”
In an email exchange with XBIZ on Friday, Roche did not answer allegations of nonpayment or elaborate on why the deal fell apart. Instead, he alluded to a concern over whether some of the domains could be trademarked.
“The wording of ‘xxx tube,’ ‘hookups’ and ‘affair’ are already taken,” Roche said. “Any use of these words without express written permission from the person or persons is a violation of trademark law.”
Roche did not return a subsequent email and phone call from XBIZ over other accusations made by industry members on an XBIZ.net thread.