AdultBlock Puts Porn in its Place

Back in 2011, ICM, the registry operator of the .XXX gTLD encouraged rights owners to block their trademarks during the launch period of this adult orientated registry. In two busy summer months, over 80,000 rights owners applied for blocks that exactly matched their marks under the .XXX Sunrise B scheme. (The Sunrise A scheme was for members of the porn community, over 500,000 of whom pre-registered). Whilst very few IP professionals liked .XXX, logic ran that it was better to pay for a reasonably priced 10 year block than risk a third party shocking your customers with a salacious site.

Now the .XXX block is back, this time more powerful than ever, covering not only .XXX but also ICM’s other registries; .SEX, .ADULT and .PORN.

ICM offers Two Block Products Rights Owners May Want to Consider

AdultBlock – this standard service simply blocks a term in all four registries.

AdultBlock+ – this enhanced service blocks a term across the four registries as well as look-alike (homoglyph) variations that appear in a browser to be confusingly similar to the term. For example, an AdultBlock+ would prevent Lloyds.porn from being registered by a bad actor, where the second lowercase “L” was in fact an upper-case “I”.

Restricted Eligibility

Eligibility is restricted to those who applied under the original .XXX Sunrise B and all rights owners who have subscribed to the Trademark Clearing House and therefore have an SMD (Signed Mark Data) file.

In a notable act of generosity, ICM is allowing both AdultBlocks to trump Premium Names and any other promotions run by the registry into the future.

Each Adult Block can be registered for 1, 3, 5 or 10 years, with the whois record simply stating that the domain is blocked under the AdultBlock or AdultBlock+ service. The brand owner name will not appear.

Back in 2011 when we first mailed our clients about  .XXX, we wrote, “Where some say that ICM is promoting pornography, others see that putting adult sites under a .XXX extension is the equivalent of creating a “Top Shelf” for the internet. Whatever your views, you may want to consider the value of removing your brands from exposure through the .XXX Blocking programme”.

Is registration of a block better than cure?

Perhaps, provided the price is right. AdultBlock starts at $300 for one year; the much more effective AdultBlock+ starts at $675 for a year. There’s also a promotional price of $3,750 for a 10 year AdultBlock+ if bought before 31 December 2019. After that, it increases by a whopping $5,000 to $8,999 (although Com Laude is offering its clients volume discounts).

We have a full service to help our clients understand the value of an AdultBlock and to secure their blocks. This includes helping newcomers get into the Trademark Clearinghouse in order to qualify for a block. It won’t be for everyone but if you are interested contact info@comlaude.com or your Client Manager.