University of Hawaii Threatens Lawsuit Over .XXX Porn Site

HAWAII—For months, the news has been filled with stories of colleges and universities gobbling up .xxx domain names that contain variations of their names in order to keep cybersquatters and other opportunists from using the names to push porn or hold the domains for ransom. Though some might have figured that was money poorly spent, many school administrators are no doubt thankful today that they made that decision after hearing the news that the University of Hawaii is threatening to sue the operator of a website with a name that the school failed to secure—universityofhawaii.xxx. Oops. Yesterday, University of Hawaii President M.R.C. Greenwood expressed to Hawaii News Now her reaction to learning about the site. "This is not a University of Hawaii site,” she clarified. “We are appalled that anyone would use our good name this way.” And what a good name it is. Not a bad site, either. The tour features couples copulating on beaches that we assume are supposed to be in Hawaii. The description of one scene reads, “Leanna Sweet found herself lost on a nude beach, feeling hot and horny and anxious to wrap her lips around some hard fucking cock. A long haired dude came along and gave her just the dose of sex that she desperately need. They were both so damn horny that they even fucked standing up! Thankfully, there was not a stranger for miles, so they were able to take their sweet time, enjoy themselves and do things right.” It’s unclear if either Leanna, who is an established performer, or the “long haired dude” are supposed to be students but no mention is made of their scholastic ambitions, and GPA appears to be the last thing on either’s mind. That focus on the work before them has apparently not endeared the website or its creators to real students of the University of Hawaii. Hawaii News Now quotes freshman Joe Leavitt from Seattle as saying, "It's pretty disgusting. I guess it's kind of odd to do. I don't know why they'd choose University of Hawaii.” Another freshman, Justeena Veltre from Rochester, New York, said, "They should definitely stop that. It's not good for our name at all, because we want to look like a good school, and not a school where we have porn." The outrage expressed by these students appears to be genuine, but they are freshmen and could easily have been feigning indignation because the site is a paysite and not free. But the anger expressed by school officials does appear authentic. On Friday, UH General Counsel Darolyn Lendio sent a letter to the site that states, in part, "… it is clear that you are using this name and its association misleadingly and/or for improper purposes, and in bad faith.” For her part, president Greenwood is adamant that the school made the right decision when it opted not to secure the domain ahead of general availability. "We considered it, but then when we thought about it we realized that there are so many names that could have xxx attached to it," Greenwood said. "So this was the decision that we made that we would fight it if it happened but there was no way we could completely buy every name." Of the current situation, she added, “In other cases, this has been used as a mechanism for forcing people to buy their good name back. We would rather fight it legally than submit to that kind of extortion.” Still, Greenwood is clearly concerned about the impact this news will have on the university’s reputation, and sent the following letter to state lawmakers and other officials expressing her dismay: It is with great disappointment and no small amount of indignation that I write to alert you to a gross misuse of the University of Hawaii’s good name and reputation.  You will hear shortly in Honolulu news media that an unidentified party has put up a www.universityofhawaii.xxx pornographic website. This is an unauthorized and improper use of our name and reputation, and we plan to take appropriate legal action. We are taking steps to see that this website is taken down, and that no other future similar uses of our name shall occur. Thank you for your continued support of the University of Hawai‘i. We will update you with information as it becomes available. In the meantime, please assure any who inquire that this is not an official university website. Sincerely, President M.R.C. Greenwood There is no word yet whether the communication to the site owners has received a reply. The registrant of the site is not listed, but the webmaster link on the site directs to affiliate program PureCashMasters, and the sole 2257 custodian of records for the site is listed as Cyprus-based Coldfair Holdings Ltd., which is a Private Media Group subsidiary. AVN has emails out to each entity seeking comment. UPDATE In a reply to AVN's query Tuesday afternoon, PureCashMasters said that it does not own the website, universityofhawaii.xxx, but will try to determine who does. AVN will update this story as it develops.