.xxx

Is anyone actually going to .XXX domains?

I know that many people were excited when .xxx domains first reared their pretty heads a year ago.

Yet there was already some evidence at the end of last year that some institutions, such as, for example, Stanford and the U.S. Department of Justice had not bothered to protect themselves by registering their own .xxx.

Now, some very diligent people at Domain Name News decided to see how many .xxx domains were generating heat.

It transpires that people don't seem to be rushing to the .xxx version of much at all. For Domain Name News discovered that a … Read more

These .xxx domains are ready to hook up

If you always fancied your very own .xxx domain name, it's not too late: plenty of real estate in the Internet's official red light district remains unclaimed, CNET has learned.

WhiteHouse.xxx and NASA.xxx are reserved, but USDOJ.xxx, Treasury.xxx, DARPA.xxx, and USEmbassy.xxx could be yours for as low as $100 a year.

Many school names remain unclaimed. Stanford.xxx, Harvard.xxx, and Princeton.xxx may be off-limits, but Brynmawr.xxx and LoyolaCollege.xxx are available. Others, including Cornell.xxx and UPenn.xxx have been earmarked for auction. (Playboy, which recently published a "… Read more

Colleges, businesses snap up .xxx domains

Playboy's frequent portfolios of college women across the U.S. are bad enough--never mind the prospect of porn sites with names like "www.USCleazy.xxx."

That seems to be the thinking employed by colleges that, according to the Associated Press, are grabbing .xxx domain names to keep them off the market and prevent the sullying of their collegiate reputations.

The AP offers up the example of the University of Kansas, which, it says, spent nearly $3,000 to lock down names like "www.KUgirls.xxx" and "www.KUnurses.xxx."

Businesses, too, are buying … Read more

Man behind XXX domains says they'll help parents protect kids

After years of being debated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ( ICANN), .XXX was approved earlier this year and is now a reality. Approximately 100,000 XXX domains are going live on Tuesday.

The new top level domains (TLD) are not without controversy. Some free speech advocates worry that there will be governments that require the use of XXX for adult content, effectively forcing such sites into a virtual red-light district but others, including some religious groups, worry that it will legitimize or even sanction pornography.

Stuart Lawley, the founder and CEO of ICM Registry, the company … Read more

XXX marks the lawsuit from peeved porn giant

Porn bigwig Manwin Licensing International has filed a lawsuit arguing that the new .xxx top-level domain arises from a monopoly aimed at hurting the adult film industry.

According to the Wall Street Journal, which obtained the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of the Central District of California, Manwin specifically targets the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN), as well as ICM Registry, the company that is managing the domain. In the suit, Manwin argues that those companies have engaged in "monopolistic conduct, price gouging, and anticompetitive and unfair practices," according to the Journal.… Read more

The 404 946: Where our hand is on Fire (podcast)

We're going hands-on with the Amazon Kindle Fire tablet, released ahead of schedule to a few lucky customers today.

Also leaked from today's 404 podcast: Apple replacing original iPod Nanos, breaking up on Facebook, waging war on infographics, and tap-to-pay apps coming to Ultrabook laptops.

Also, a big congrats to CNET's Bonnie Cha, the new chief correspondent at Crave!

Stream the podcast on audio or video after the page break!… Read more

Best of Buzz Out Loud 16: XXX shakedown, Yahoo CEO fired, and Netflix restrictions (Podcast)

Porn industry outsiders fear 'shakedown' as.XXX domain opens this week; Yahoo's Bartz out as CEO; and new Netflix restriction: one stream per customer?

Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3) |  iTunes (320x180) |  iTunes (640x360) |  RSS (MP3) |  RSS (320x180) |  RSS (640x360)… Read more

Porn sites can now register for .xxx domain name

Porn and adult entertainment sites can now officially register under the .xxx domain, the domain's operator, ICM Registry, announced today.

The new .xxx top-level domain is open not just to porn sites but to nonporn sites that want to block the use of their names on the .xxx domain. Located in Florida, ICM is managing and supporting the new domain but will work with 50 individual registrars around the world to handle the actual registrations.

Promoting the advantages of .xxx to potential customers, ICM said that holders of the domain name will be able to tap into global marketing … Read more

Report: PETA to launch porn site

Animal love is a difficult thing.

Sometimes, it can lead people to such extremes that they tend to diminish the significance of, well, people.

These thoughts course through my being as I read reports that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals intends to unleash a porn site.

Reuters, in the midst of a wider exposition of .xxx domains, reported that PETA doesn't intend, as do so many ethically upright companies, to block its .xxx domain. No, the organization's representative reportedly declared that Peta.xxx will be a porn site that "draws attention to the plight of … Read more