It’s taken over a decade but the first .xxx domains are finally live and accessible to the web-surfing public. One month after ICANN announced it would allow .xxx domains the same rights as .com, .org and other top level domains, a handful of .xxx websites have gone live. ICM Registry, the company behind the .xxx registry, has nabbed three of the more obvious URLs, sex.xxx, porn.xxx, and xxx.xxx, and is using them as educational websites to teach people about ICM and the .xxx domain.
As a registry operator, ICM Registry will provide management, supporting infrastructure and back-end functionality for .xxx domains. However, while ICM is eager to create and maintain a domain specifically for adult or x-rated content, the industry it’s attempting to target has reservations about the x-rated URLs. One of the drawbacks of .xxx domains is that it will be easier for schools and businesses to block pornography. If pornography is so easily blocked, the adult industry fears it may suffer as a result.
Despite .xxx being voluntary, companies face an awkward decision regarding the new registry: Say an adult entertainment company doesn’t want a cyber-squatter sitting on the .xxx version of their website, but also doesn’t want to endure the easily-blocked nature of a .xxx website. The obvious answer would be to purchase the .xxx domain and simply not use it. However, companies (or countries) blocking .xxx domains could cross-reference those illicit URLs with regular .com or .org addresses and block those versions too.
The initial launch of .xxx will happen in three ‘sunrise’ phases during which trademark holders and porn webmasters can secure their .xxx domains. The Register reports that this while all of this won’t start until September, general availability could come as soon as November and “certain ‘Founder’ sites at premium domains could go live in as little as a few weeks from now.”