New .XXX Domain Names Now Available

The new .xxx domain name has now been launched to clearly distinguish porn and adult websites from other content on the web.


After .net, .co.uk, .com and more, .xxx has been given the go-ahead by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the American organisation responsible for approving domain names. After a private round of registration from 8 to 25 November 2011 for brands and companies working in the porn industry, the .xxx domain has now been opened to the public.

Since their release, .xxx domain names have apparently been selling like hot cakes and are raking in plenty of cash for the ICM Registry, the company responsible for selling them. While the ICM Registry had counted on receiving around 10,000 domain name requests during the preliminary private registration window, it actually received 80,000, and could clock up around half a million requests by the end of the year!

The porn industry is a lucrative sector on the Internet. According to research by French NGO ICSR, Internet porn generates around $3,000 million (£1,925) per second in the world, and 'sex' is still among the most searched-for words on the web.

ICANN is apparently considering creating a new set of extensions, or even allowing companies or government institutions to create their own domain names. In other words, we could soon see things like .cook and .tech cropping up.

In the meantime, maybe we should look into buying www.digitalversus.xxx before someone gets there first ...



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