There is a great deal of controversy and debate among brand owners about how to deal with the issuance of new top-level domains (TLD) by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Should they defensively register all their trademarks under every newly issued TLD to avoid potential problems with cybersquatters or should they refuse to be forced into doing so and just address specific problems when they arise?

In most cases, the issue involves a fairly innocuous TLD. However, the recently approved .XXX TLD is of a different variety. ICANN has designated this TLD for specific use in domains for websites with adult content, something with which many brand owners may not want their trademarks associated in any form.