ICM Registry Announces .Porn and .Adult New gTLDs Launch Dates

ICM Registry, the company behind .XXX extension,announced recently the launch dates for .Porn and .Adult new gTLDs.

You can read the press release after the jump :

“Following the recent signing of the .PORN and .ADULT registry contracts and after a lengthy negotiation with ICANN, ICM Registry is pleased to provide its launch dates for .PORN and .ADULT. Starting March 1, 2015, .PORN and .ADULT will be made available for a thirty day (30) period to trademark holders who are registered in the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH), as required under ICANN’s Rights Protection Mechanism.

After Sunrise has closed, the next phase of the .PORN and .ADULT launch will be a thirty (30) day Limited Registration Period, referred to as the Domain Matching Program. The Domain Matching Program will be from April 15th to May 15th 2015. The Domain Matching Program will allow .XXX stakeholders to register any available directly matching second level names in .PORN or .ADULT, before those names are offered to the general public. The Domain Matching Program will also be available to trademark owners that successfully applied during .XXX’s Sunrise B program. The Domain Matching Program is explained in greater detail at www.icmregistry.com/programs/gtlds and www.icmregistry.com/about/policies/domain-matching-program.

By way of example, during the Domain Matching Program if you have the domain name EXAMPLE.XXX, you will be given a priority right to register EXAMPLE.PORN and EXAMPLE.ADULT. The Domain Matching Program will be available to all .XXX registrants who have a .XXX registration as of March 31, 2015.

Once the Domain Match Program ends, General Availability for .PORN and .ADULT will begin on June 4, 2015.

The Domain Matching Program is very similar to the original “grandfathering plan” that ICM tried to bring to market, with a few key changes. The changes are a result of ICANN’s decision that the original “grandfathering plan” was in contravention of ICANN’s Rights Protection Mechanisms. At the time ICM applied for its new gTLDs ICANN had not yet finalized their rules; ICANN’s final Rights Protection Mechanisms were published long after the new gTLD application window closed. As a result, ICANN’s final Rights Protection Mechanisms do not allow some of ICM’s original ideas. These final ICANN rules affected not only ICM, but also affected all other new gTLD applicants including entities like VeriSign, Inc. which runs and operates .com.

Stuart Lawley, CEO of ICM commented, “We are delighted at long last to be able to provide firm dates for the launch of our exciting new gTLDs. Whilst we are disappointed that ICANN didn’t allow our original Grandfathering Plan, we believe the new Domain Matching Program means that 98%-99% of our underlying .XXX domain registrants and Sunrise B participants will be given the chance to register the directly matching .PORN and/or .ADULT name, should they so wish.”

He went on to add, “ICM was not the only applicant affected by ICANN’s “trademark first” policies, even VeriSign who run .com were denied permission to introduce their transliteration of internationalized versions of .com, which was a program along the same lines that ICM had planned for in .PORN and .ADULT.”

Steve Winyard, Vice President of ICM went on to say, “ICANN’s mandated rules added a further layer of complexity and procedure to what we had intended but the new Domain Matching Program will serve as an adequate substitute for the vast majority of registrants to help them secure matching names in our new TLDs. The allocation of premium names in .PORN and .ADULT has also been somewhat affected by the non negotiable ICANN rules. Any .XXX Premium Name holder who is wondering how ICANN’s rules affect them should contact me directly. We remain committed to delivering our premium names to companies in the adult entertainment space that have good plans to develop them, as many have done in .XXX.”

Steve went on to say, “The launch of our new TLD’s in 2015 will bring a plethora of exciting opportunities for web masters and brand creators and we are confident that these new TLDs will bring favorable results in search engine rankings as well as creating additional revenue for their owners.”

Multiple parties, including the current owner of Sex.com, initially applied for .SEX. ICM has recently acquired the .SEX TLD through private negotiation. ICM anticipates the launch of .SEX in Q3 2015.”

October 2014 Highest Reported ccTLD Sales

ShopTheHood.ca was the highest selling ccTLD in October 2014. The domain name changed hands for $35,200 via ShopCity.

Here are the highest reported ccTLD sales in October 2014:

1. ShopTheHood.ca     $35,200 ShopCity
2. Angel.in     $30,000     Sedo
3. Donna.it     $27,940
4. Koffer.ch     $22,278
5. Pie.co     $21,500
6. Megabus.de     $14,925
7. NetBet.ca     #13,500
8. Trader.tv     $13,000
9. Lee.es     $12,499
10. Tuenti.com.br     $11,000
11. Parfums.de     $10,160
12. Regio.eu     $10,125
13. XX.com.au     $10,047
14. PRI.mx     $10,000
15. Before.it     $9,779
16.tie     MP3.co     $9,525
16.tie     Renaissance.ch     $9,525
18.tie     Erbjudanden.se     $8,125
18.tie     Monteurzimmer.eu     $8,125
20. IWC.co.kr     $8,000

Major City Domains Offered at No Reserve on NameJet

NameJet partnered with .co.com Registry in order to bring 50 worldwide major city domain names to the domain name aftermarket.

You can read the press release after the jump :

” NameJet, the world’s leading aftermarket domain name auction platform, has partnered with the co.com Registry to make available 50 domain names of some of the most recognizable cities in the world. These highly desirable domains are being offered for auction with no reserve prices and include names like london.co.com, paris.co.com, nyc.co.com, beijing.co.com, moscow.co.com, and many more.

“These are great .co.com names, ending in the popular .com, and are being offered with no reserve prices, creating an opportunity to own a major city domain at a fraction of what the .com version would cost,” said Jonathan Tenenbaum, General Manager, NameJet.

The window to backorder these domains will begin to close on 11/20/2014, followed by three day private auctions for domains that have multiple bidders. Visit http://www.namejet.com/featuredauctions/codotcom to see the complete listing.

About NameJet
NameJet, a joint venture between eNom, Inc., a subsidiary of Rightside (NASDAQ: NAME) and Network Solutions, LLC, a subsidiary of Web.com (NASDAQ: WWWW), is the world’s leading domain name auction platform. Launched in 2007, NameJet has since processed more than 200,000 domain auctions on its award-winning and easy-to-use website. With an exclusive inventory of expired and deleted domains from several of the largest registrars, plus top-quality premium name listings and drop-catching services, NameJet is the industry’s most trusted auction and aftermarket services provider.”

ICANN CEO to Discuss the Future of Internet Governance

[news release] ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé is scheduled to talk with reporter Barton Gellman about Internet governance, including the status of proposals to transition the stewardship of key Internet technical functions to an international multi-stakeholder community.

The interview, which will take place on Monday, November 10, 2014, from 9:15 – 9:30 am PST (17:15 – 17:30 UTC) at the Techonomy Conference in Half Moon Bay, California. It will be streamed live online at http://www.techonomy.com/te14-live.

Gellman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, senior fellow at the Century Foundation and lecturer at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School. He is best known for his coverage of the NSA surveillance scandal and the September 11 attacks. He has also authored two books – Contending with Kennan: Toward a Philosophy of American Power and Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency. His full profile can be found here.

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To learn more about Techonomy 14, which is taking place from November 9 – 11 in Half Moon Bay, California, please go to http://techonomy.com/conf/te14/.

ICM Registry Announces .PORN and .ADULT Launch Dates

Following the recent signing of the .PORN and .ADULT registry contracts and after a lengthy negotiation with ICANN, ICM Registry is pleased to provide its launch dates for .PORN and .ADULT. Starting March 1, 2015, .PORN and .ADULT will be made available for a thirty day (30) period to trademark holders who are registered in the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH), as required under ICANN’s Rights Protection Mechanism.