.XXX Now Offering “Pre-reservation” of Domain Names

After 6 years of controversy, the ICM Registry’s application for the .XXX TLD was approved by the ICANN Board in late June 2010.  ICM is currently engaged in contract negotiations with ICANN and does not expect to launch until Q4 of 2010 or Q1 of 2011, however, in the interim the Registry has announced that they are now accepting “pre-reservation requests” for .XXX domains. 

A pre-reservation request is simply an “expression of interest” in a particular .XXX domain name.  It is NOT a domain name registration and there is ABSOLUTELY no guarantee the requestor will be given preference and/or awarded the domain name when .XXX registration opens in Q4 of 2010 or Q1 of 2011.

The following individuals and/or entities are eligible to submit a pre-reservation request for a .XXX domain:

  • Adult Industry – Community Members who are the registered holders of an adult site created before Feb 1st 2010, may submit a reservation request for the corresponding names in .XXX .
  • Intellectual Property Owners – Intellectual property rights holders who are not members of the Community will also be permitted to submit a reservation request for domains that they currently own and use in their business.
  • Community Expressions of Interest – Members of the Community may submit expressions of interest in names they do not currently hold in another TLD. If these names are not otherwise reserved or the subject of industry reservation requests submitted by existing holders, they may be allocated among those who have expressed interest using a methodology to be determined prior to general registration.

Qualifying registrants may pre-reserve .XXX names by visiting the ICM registry website.  If you would like CSC to assist with the submission of your pre-reservation requests, please contact your CSC Client Service Specialist for details.