Companies must act early if they give a XXX about adult domain name association

THE new sponsored top-level domain (TLD), .xxx, designed specifically for the global adult entertainment industry, will soon be available for registration and use – prompting concerns among the corporate community that their brands could be “hijacked” and associated with the adult industry.

This comes against the backdrop of growing concern over the sexualisation of children, especially via access to inappropriate websites.

Four leading web providers – BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin – are to offer new customers the option to block adult content on smartphones, laptops and PCs at the point of subscription. The Prime Minister has launched Parentport, a website to help parents complain about inappropriate content.

With this focus of protecting children in mind, proponents of the controversial .xxx domain argue the TLD should make it much less likely that children will accidentally stumble across inappropriate adult content. Of course, having all pornographic material segmented under the new domain should make it easier for parents and employers to block the entire TLD rather than using more complex and error-prone content-based filtering.

However, critics of the idea argue that because there is no requirement for providers of explicit content to use the new TLD, sexually explicit material will still be commonplace in other domains, making it ineffectual at restricting access.

Companies in the adult entertainment industry can apply for domain names, during what is being called the sunrise period, until this Friday.

However, there will be a number of names – more specifically high-profile celebrities and politicians – which will not be available to them as they are permanently banned from being used as .xxx domains. This means companies in the adult entertainment industry and cyber-squatters alike will be unable to register domains such as AnjelinaJolie.xxx or BradPitt.xxx to drive traffic to their websites.

The concern for the corporate community is that they are not automatically being offered such protection. That means that the brand names of well-known companies or brands could potentially be exploited by those setting up .xxx websites. There is, however, a route that companies concerned about the potential threat to their reputation can pursue to block the use of their name on this domain – but they need to act quickly. Companies that own a registered trademark which was issued before 1 September 2011, that do not want their mark to be associated with an adult website on the .xxx domain can submit a “Sunrise B” application through an accredited registrar. If they do so then at the end of the sunrise period and if there has been no conflicting application by a “Sunrise A” applicant (one who is already using the mark in the context of adult entertainment), the domain name will be blocked and reserved for at least ten years, and removed from the pool of domain names available.

Speed is of the essence because after the sunrise period ends, I would anticipate a land rush from 8 November, during which any business in the adult entertainment industry can purchase any remaining .xxx addresses for a period of 17 days.

After that, the general registration period, which is open to all, will begin.

The advice is clear for companies which want to control the exposure of their brand to the adult entertainment space: wake up to the sunrise and ensure you apply now to ensure you don’t find your firm registered as a triple-x domain.

• Craig Stirling is a partner with Davidson Chalmers.