The arrival of .xxx domains has been controversial from the start, and now things are just getting strange: universities and colleges are buying up domain names to keep their schools from being associated with porn. It’s part of a program to allow trademark owners a first crack at .xxx names, and universities are buying in bulk at $200 each — even buying nicknames and acronyms for their school just to be safe. The domains will be dead, not even pointing to the school’s site. With all these preemptive buyers, it looks like the .xxx suffix is becoming something of a cash cow for domain registrars before the real action even starts.
Colleges register .xxx domains to safeguard from porn sites
Before .xxx domain names become widely available, companies and universities are jumping to secure their own domains so they’re not used for adult content.
Before .xxx domain names become widely available, companies and universities are jumping to secure their own domains so they’re not used for adult content.
is editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.
Image credit: Mandy Jansen
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