TEXT HERE NEWS Porn sites sue over .xxx TLD
Two of the Internet’s biggest pornography companies have accused domain name regulator the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and top-level domain (TLD) management company ICM Registry of violating antitrust laws with the introduction of the .xxx TLD.
Pornography producer Digital Playground and Manwin Licensing, which owns and licenses adult entertainment trademarks and domain names including
youporn.com and
brazzers.com, and operates and manages all online content for Playboy Enterprises, fi led the antitrust complaint in the US District Court for the Central District of California in November 2011.
In the complaint, Digital Playground and Manwin said that ICANN and ICM Registry intended to injure competition and consumers with the introduction of the .xxx TLD.
ICM Registry has battled to have the .xxx TLD introduced since 2000.
ICANN denied ICM Registry’s original application because it did not appear to “meet unmet needs” and the adult entertainment industry feared that a .xxx TLD would lead to a “ghettoization” of adult content online.
Aſt er several failed appeals, ICM Registry sought an independent review of ICANN’s rejections in 2008.
In 2010 an independent review panel found that ICANN had previously approved ICM Registry’s application and then incorrectly reconsidered its decision. Accepting the decision, ICANN approved ICM Registry’s .xxx TLD application in March 2011.
Manwin has mirrored this move by fi ling a November 2011 request with ICANN in parallel with its joint antitrust complaint. It has asked for an independent review of ICANN’s decision to approve ICM Registry’s application for the .xxx TLD.
In their antitrust complaint Digital Playground and Manwin said that the .xxx TLD is forcing trademark and domain name owners to purchase expensive “defensive registrations” from ICM Registry, so that they can protect their intellectual property.
During a two-month sunrise period ICM Registry sold almost 80,000 .xxx registrations for more than $150 each, according to the complaint.
“T e signifi cant costs and disadvantages of such defensive registrations, and their detrimental eff ects on competition, outweigh any alleged benefi t of the .xxx TLD.”
T e complaint also stated that there was no competitive process for awarding the .xxx registry contract and that ICANN awarded the contract to ICM Registry without soliciting or accepting competing bids.
T is has given ICM Registry “monopoly control and free rein” to impose anticompetitive pricing and practices within the .xxx TLD. “Indeed, ICM [Registry] is charging $60 annually for .xxx registrations, more than 10 times the annual registration charges in other relevant TLDs,” stated the complaint.
“[T e complaint] uncovers a pernicious monopoly at the very heart of the Internet,” said Manwin managing partner Fabian T ylmann in a statement. “Ending anticompetitive practices by ICM and ICANN will not only protect our business, but help other companies compelled to pay a fee to keep their names unassociated with a .xxx designation.”
ICM Registry president and chairman Stuart Lawley said in a statement that ICM Registry is reviewing the fi ling, adding that the claims are “baseless” and that it “will vigorously defend this matter”.
He also said: “Perhaps Manwin has fi led this lawsuit because they are worried that ICM Registry is creating opportunities for others in the adult industry to fi nally have a fair chance to build great brands and businesses in this new .xxx space.”
ICANN director of global media aff airs Brad White said that ICANN’s attorneys were reviewing the antitrust complaint and he could not add anything further.
Plaintiff Digital Playground did not respond to requests for comment. n
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Trademarks Brands and the Internet Volume 1, Issue 1
www.worldipreview.com
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