CNN: Big Brands 'Swoop In' to Grab .Porn, .Sucks Domains

CYBERSPACE—CNN is reporting on a phenomenon known as defensive registration, whereby large brands make preventative moves to protect their reputations by purchasing domain names they would rather not see in the control of someone else. As CNN puts it, they are "getting first dibs on some of the more controversial domains," including ones that incorporate new top-level domains such as .porn and .sucks. Some of the brands mentioned are pretty hefty. "For example," explains Hope King for CNN, "Microsoft has already registered Office.porn and Office.adult, according to Stuart Lawley, CEO of ICM Registry, which operates the .porn and .adult top-level domains. The same goes for TaylorSwift.porn and TaylorSwift.adult." Companies with verifiable trademarks get those first dibs by way of the ICANN-required Sunrise Period, which lasts until June 1. After that date, warned Lawley, "It's first to the buzzer." The article also contains comments from Steve Miholovich, SVP of marketing at Safenames, a domain registrar and advisory firm for websites, who makes the case for companies to at least consider purchasing domains on controversial TLDs, thereby preventing someone else from gaining control over it "To me it's very responsible," he said.    He did admit, however, that some of his clients refuse to even consider that route. "They want positive images—they want positive messages," he said. "They're not going to turn [.sucks] into a positive." A list of TLD strings currently delegated by ICANN can be found here.