August 18, 2011 | The Biz

FSC still fighting .XXX

Just because the creation of the controversial .XXX domain was approved, does not mean the fight against it is over. The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) is calling on adult business owners to contact ICM Registry – operators of the new domain – and demand that trademarks be protected from sale on .XXX to third parties.

FSC created a “letter of notice” template for anyone looking to protect their existing domains from potential trademark infringement or cybersquatting. And the letter states that ICM Registry could be liable for any damages should it sell certain domain names.

“This template provides adult businesses which do not want the risk of participating in the precarious .XXX experiment with a path to protect their intellectual property and valuable brands,” FSC Board Chair attorney Jeffrey Douglas said. “This template should be discussed with their lawyers and adapted to their needs, but it can be a valuable tool to prevent the damage to their long developed good will and valuable web names.”

"FSC is inviting adult businesses to put ICM Registry on notice that they do not have permission to sell the .XXX version of their trademarked names and brands,” said FSC Executive Director Diane Duke. “It is critical that ICM Registry understand that the adult community will not tolerate ICM’s business model, which is built on frightening existing adult companies into paying ICM in order to protect their brand and trademark.”

And the .XXX domains are not cheap. Buying a traditional .COM domain name will cost you about $10 a year. GoDaddy has already stated it will be selling .XXX domain names for about $200 for the first year and then $99 for following years. Ouch!

A copy of the template can be downloaded from the FSC site.