Corporate news Updates and releases

.xxx domain names registered during Sunrise B will soon be available to all

As we have recently announced, protection of .xxx domain names registered during the Sunrise B period expired on December 1st, 2021. The registry decided to maintain the domain names in a list of reserved terms that cannot be registered, in order to allow trademark holders to protect themselves via the AdultBlock service. These domain names will be progressively made available to everyone.

Availability calendar for .xxx domains registered during Sunrise B

Starting on March 16th, 2023, .xxx domain names registered during Sunrise B will be open to registration in two periods:

  • Registrations reserved to those who were protected during the Sunrise B period: from March 16th, to May 18th, 2023

If this pertains to you, and you would like to register a domain during this period, please contact Gandi Corporate Services without delay at corporatecontact@gandi.net.

Registrations are done manually and will be subject to a higher price (renewals will be at the standard .xxx price).

  • General availability: May 22nd 2023

Domains will be made available on a “first-come, first-served” basis, either at the standard .xxx price or at a higher price if it is a premium domain.

How to protect yourself against pornographic cybersquatting

The registration of a .xxx guarantees protection against cybersquatting on this particularly sensitive domain name extension. Nevertheless, in order to have an efficient strategy that extends through .xxx, .adult, .porn, and .sex, you can subscribe to the AdultBlock service.

  • The AdultBlock service blocks a single and unique name – one identical to the name being protected. It is possible to subscribe to AdultBlock for a duration of 1 year (€260 excl. VAT), 3 years (€780 excl. VAT), 5 years (€1300 excl. VAT), and 10 years (€2600 excl. VAT).
  • The AdultBlock+ service blocks an identical name to your brand, as well as, if applicable, names that are derived from it according to the TMCH conversion and all the automatic variations in the languages and scripts supported by the registry. You may simulate the protected variations by this service via this link: https://adultblock.adult/trademark-variant-search/ . It is possible to subscribe to AdultBlock+ for a duration of 1 year (€590 excl. VAT), 3 years (€1770 excl. VAT), 5 years (€2950 excl. VAT), and 10 years (€5900 excl. VAT).

The advantage of these products is that they offer protection on all of the so-called adult extensions (.xxx, .adult, .porn, .sex), without needing to register the domain names. All the trademark holders registered with TMCH as well as participants of the Sunrise B of .xxx in 2011 are eligible to the AdultBlock products.

Gandi Corporate Services recommendations

In the framework of an online brand protection strategy, AdultBlock or AdultBlock+ are essential services to protect against pornographic cybersquatting. This is particularly true for these four extensions for which the consequences could have major repercussions on the image of the brand and imply a large budget given the costs of eventual legal procedures.

Even if you think that protecting a single domain name on .xxx is enough, we recommend that you take advantage of the priority period reserved to participants of the Sunrise B period, in order to guarantee the registration of sensitive domain names.

Our team remains at your disposal for any questions you may have concerning the subscription conditions regarding AdultBlock and AdultBlock+ by simply writing to us at corporatecontact@gandi.net.