Everyone wants a domain name. Specifically, people like .com, .net, .org, .co.uk, and that’s about it. Nobody has ever wanted .museum to represent their business. Why would they? When you give out a web address to someone, a lot of the time you’ll find they go “is that .com?” It’s the first one they think of. .biz? .info? Eugh. Yet they all exist. And now, the .xxx domain is finally here! The one absolutely nobody has been waiting for.

The theory behind the .xxx domain is that it will make sure everyone knows where the porn is. Except it won’t, obviously. You think companies that have spent millions of dollars promoting a .com porn site, are going to just up and move to .xxx?
Porn won’t be banned from .com domains, either. So there will still be porn on .com, and more porn on .xxx. What was the point of this again?

The bit that annoys me is the scaremongering that is associated with this. According to an article on the BBC’s news site today:

“Companies and individuals that do not want their name associated with pornography will be able to pay a one-off fee of between $150 and $300 (£100 to £200), depending on which company they register their domain with.”

Here we go. This is the same thing that happens when every new domain launches. Panic buying and scaremongering. The registration companies will tell you “make sure you register ben-park.poo if you don’t want it used for a fetish scat website!” and everyone is just meant to buy it just in case. And with that, nobody benefits. Half of the domains on every TLD (Top Level Domain = the ending like .com, .net, etc.) are used by brands protecting their name from arseholes who might otherwise register cocacola.biz.

Or in the case of .xxx, pay £200 to *not* buy it, just in case someone buys the porn version. If you wanted to buy/block one right now, there’s an “application fee” payable, and if your application is not successful, they keep your money. Great.

“For example, UK adult star Teresa May might wish to bid for a .xxx domain, whereas UK home secretary Theresa May might consider protecting her name.”

They’re an easy mistake to make, especially on Google Images. I can hardly tell which is the MP and which is the adult star. Certainly not from Google Images. They look the same and dress the same. Help me out. Please. I’m confused.

However, assuming the MP de-registered herself from .xxx, and the adult star took the .xxx option, google searching for “Teresa May” finds both options anyway, and if you Google “Theresa May” and look her up on Wikipedia, you get a “For the British glamour model, see Teresa May” right at the top. If she really wants to distance herself further from someone working in an ill-thought-of profession, then the glamour model should consider changing her name. (See what I did there?)

Let’s not pretend it’s about protecting anyone. It’s about making money. It’s about saying “look – if you don’t want your name used to peddle smut, and then a lot of lawyers fees taking them to court, you’d better pay us £200”. It’s a glorified protection racket.

Still, I guess it gives domain registrars something to bang on about, like this:

*sigh*