After a lengthy and contentious approval process, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) recently entered into an agreement with ICM Registry to delegate the new .xxx top-level domain (TLD). The .xxx domain, intended to serve as an Internet "red light district" (despite being strongly opposed by many in the adult entertainment community itself), will likely go live later this year. In the meantime, ICM Registry has opened a "pre-reservation period" for interested members of adult entertainment industry, and for trademark owners in other industries.
As with ICANN's planned introduction of numerous generic top-level domains (gTLDs) starting next year, the introduction of .xxx presents yet another opportunity for unscrupulous registrants to take advantage of known brands. Further, as registrants of .xxx domain names must provide online, sexually-oriented adult entertainment, there is a significant risk of valuable brands being associated with such "undesirable" content. The pre-reservation service, located at http://domains.icmregistry.com, allows trademark owners to "pre-reserve," free of charge, .xxx domains of interest. For instance, a provider of traditionally wholesome goods, such as Disney, could pre-reserve the domain name disney.xxx.
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