The vaguely controversial .xxx top-level domain is about to open up to all comers, but before the main event, a little prep work is required. ICM Registry, the company administrating the launch, can’t just let every joker with a GoDaddy account register domains willy-nilly. Not yet, anyway. So today marks the beginning of the “sunrise” period of the TLD launch, when interested or wary parties can begin pre-registering or restricting their brands and names.
If you’re interested in the new TLD, whether for protective or prospective purposes, the process starts now.
It’s not quite as simple as filling out a few fields, though. See this handy flow chart. Right now it’s only open to people who intend to actually register a .xxx domain. I don’t believe there are any restrictions placed on what it means to intend to register and develop, so if you just want to own mysite.xxx and have it redirect to mysite.com, that’s likely an acceptable use, as long as you bring the money.
If you have a registered trademark and don’t intend to own or develop a .xxx domain, you can also request that a related domain (exact character matches only, it looks like) be blocked from registration. This is probably the option Disney is taking. There’s a fee, naturally, but nothing extortionate.
In a month comes the “land rush” part of the roll-out. This is when the aforementioned jokers with GoDaddy accounts would normally start buying up domains to squat on. Unfortunately for them, ICM is withholding a number of “dictionary words and / or phrases” as “premium names” to be sold at auction. Presumably they’re using a slang dictionary — I don’t see consanguinity.xxx taking off, for instance, but if you use your imagination you will likely hit upon a few candidates for premium status.
Finally, on December 6th, the squatters will have their day in the sun. I don’t think it’ll be very exciting, though; the porn companies have likely already registered practically every imaginable permutation of sex-related nouns and verbs under existing TLDs, so they’ll have transferred over any good ones during the sunrise period.
That’s all. Just a PSA for our readers, many of whom I imagine have at least one site or trademark worth protecting. Check with your existing registrar (or this list) to see if they’re supporting .xxx registry.