Public bodies snap up .xxx domains to prevent cybersquatting

Museums, educational institutions and respected groups have been among those to snap up .xxx domain names in the last week, it has been reported.

The controversial top level domain – geared towards the adult industry – came into being earlier in December, as ICM Registry launched the public sales process.

First of all, organizations and individuals have been given the opportunity to register .xx domain names related to their own names, in order to keep them out of the hands of cybersquatters.

According to AFP, some US colleges have paid $200 for exclusive control over their selected domain names for ten years.

UC Berkeley college spokesman Robert Sanders told the news provider that the school had chosen to pay an annual fee of $102 to maintain a “calbears.xxx” website it does not intend to use.

“Basically, we’re trying to safeguard the university’s name and its trademark from being used by people in a manner we would find inappropriate,” he told AFP.

“We wouldn’t want to be associated with the industries that might use these kinds of sites.”