.xxx blocking process revealed

IPRota, the company responsible for implementing the pre-launch rights protection mechanism for .xxx, published a white paper yesterday explaining how the process will work and estimating the cost at between $200 and $300 for each brand.

“Although this costs money, it does provide some value in protecting brands,” said Jonathan Robinson, Director of IPRota. 

ICANN approved ICM Registry’s application for the .xxx domain in March this year after a seven-year battle. The sunrise period will begin in early September and will last for 30 days. This has been split into two parts. Sunrise A is for members of the sponsored community (the adult industry) with trademark rights or who operate an existing domain name in good faith.

Sunrise B is for trademark owners who want to block use of their names.

Fees will be set by the registrars and have not yet been fixed. If an application to block is successful the corresponding domain name will resolve to a standard page indicating that the domain is not available.

A service to enable brand owners to block the use of brands that are launched after September 2011 will be introduced in 2012, but the white paper says that it is “unlikely to be as cost effective as the options offered during sunrise.” More information is available at www.xxxempt.com.