Universities protectively snatch .xxx domains

Creating a top-level domain that is strictly for porn is something that reaches far beyond people who watch or create porn.

It also affects companies or institutions that could potentially find their names being abused by the new online extension.

Case in point – universities. It seems a bunch of them are snatching up .xxx domains that might be attributed to their trademarks and monikers to prevent others from exploiting them.

For example, the University of Kansas spent $3,000 to grab URLs like KUgirls.xxx and KUnurses.xxx, as well as the more likely offenders kansas.xxx and jayhawks.xxx.

Indiana University also poured a lot of money into keeping its initials and namesake clean and pure.

“Down the road there’s no way we can predict what some unscrupulous entrepreneur might come up with,” said University of Kansas trademark licensing director Paul Vander Tuig in a quotation by CBSnews.com.

The .xxx domain went live earlier this month after a slew of controversy and legal battles – controversy and legal battles, that is, that will only continue to expand.

Many companies, both in and out of the adult entertainment sector, have complaints about the new standard but it seems likely that it is here to stay.