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New .xxx Domain Could Hurt Businesses

BOSTON (CBS) - Starting in December the new .xxx top-level domain — a replacement for the familiar .com or .org meant to serve as the online red light district for adult entertainment web sites — will be available.

Even non-porn related businesses should be aware of the upcoming rollout of X-rated Internet addresses, according to local IP lawyers, who say that some businesses could find that their company names have been registered as .xxx addresses, a development that could yield some unpleasant results, such as pornographic images popping up during Google searches.

"Most businesses care to some degree about their name and images associated with their name," said Mark Robins, a partner who focuses on brand management and trademarks at the Boston-based law firm Nixon Peabody LLP.

"Everyone should be paying some attention to this, to the extent that your brand name is central to what you sell, you want to control tightly the images associated with your name."

.xxx is a top-level domain that is meant to be a voluntary alternative for adult entertainment sites on the Internet.

Sponsored by the International Foundation for Online Responsibility, fans of the new domain say it will be easier for parents and companies to block sexually explicit content from children or employees.

Businesses that want to prevent adult entertainment companies from registering their business names have a few options.

Currently, the .xxx domain is in its "sunrise" period, which means that adult entertainment industry members can reserve .xxx domains if they have trademark rights.

Non-industry members that have trademarked their business names can block registration of their marks during this sunrise period for a fee of about $200 to $300.

The .xxx domain will become available to anyone on Dec. 8.

"It's a sensitive issue ... (although) the majority of businesses don't have names or valuable trademarks that are likely to serve as good domains for the adult entertainment industry," said Josh Jarvis, an intellectual property associate at Boston-based Foley Hoag LLP.

"But for a lot of businesses the prospect of dealing even with that extremely unlikely scenario is so unpleasant ... to most businesses the $200 it costs to block a .xxx registration may be worth it."

Still, Jarvis notes that this is hardly a new issue.

Businesses that don't protect their online trademarks have always run the risk of similar .com Web addresses popping up with adult content.

And he notes that that risk continues today, as the porn industry still would much rather have a .com address.

"Why would they want to be in the red light district, when they could be on Main Street," said Jarvis.

Lisa van der Pool of the Boston Business Journal reports

Businesses that wait until after the sunrise period to block .xxx domains or take issue with a .xxx domain will have a more difficult time and more expensive battle, said Deb Peckham, co-chairwoman of the intellectual property and sci-tech group at Burns & Levinson LLP.

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