Sunrise period for .xxx porn domain closes on Friday

The sunrise period for .xxx domain name applications closes on Friday, and domain registry ICM Registry is already claiming that the long-awaited top level domain (TLD) has been a roaring success.

The .xxx TLD has had a chequered history. It was all set for the green light in 2005 after approval from Icann, but this decision was reversed in 2007 after Icann was apparently influenced by right wing US groups and the Bush administration.

ICM didn't give up, though, and Icann was subsequently forced into an embarrassing about-turn in 2010 after an independent review panel adjudged that its previous decision to deny .xxx was wrong.

ICM chief executive Stuart Lawley explained that the registry has engaged in a series of marketing initiatives to educate businesses on how to apply for the domain, as well as educating consumers on the benefits of seeking out .xxx as the "clearly signposted home for adult content online".

There has certainly been a spike in interest from businesses. ICM was forced to extend its sunrise period from 30 to 50 days, (7 September until 28 October) after 900,000 expressions of interest during the pre-reservation process.

As with most new TLDs, the general pattern is a huge amount of interest early on in the sunrise period, during which brand holders defensively snap up the relevant domains so that cyber squatters or rivals are unable to use them.

The succeeding period of general availability rarely leads to the avalanche of registrations predicted by the registry and registrars involved.

Given the unusual nature of this particular domain, ICM has given brand holders the chance to pay a one-off exemption fee of $200 to $300 to ensure that their .xxx domain can never be bought by others.

While this is good news for brand holders looking to keep their trademark safe from exploitation by online scammers, ICM will be hoping that the subsequent landrush sees more interest than other launches in recent times including .tel, .eu and .travel.