Brand.XXX Is Coming. Game Companies, Don't Get (um..) Caught With Your Pants Down!
For anyone interested in brand protection (and every company should be), you should be aware of the launch of the .XXX top level domain (TLD) registration system. What's a TLD? Is those letters after the "dot" in a URL - as in, .com, .net, .org, etc. And now, there's .XXX, which is intended primarly for adult entertainment services.
This presents a bit of an issue for brand owners because this will open up a whole new world of potential Web addresses. Consider this: right now warcraft.com links to Blizzard's World of Warcraft registration/login page. But warcraft.xxx? That all depends upon what (if anything) Blizzard does to protect its brand in the face of the upcoming .XXX TLD launch.
What options does Blizzard (and similar brand owners) have to protect their brands from fetishists with odd proclivities?
Right now, the best tool at your disposal is registration of your mark with ICM (the company authorized by ICANN to act as the registry for .XXX domains). Registration prevents your brand from becoming a .XXX domain for a period of 10 years.
The registration period for making the required filing is now open, but won't remain so forever (the period is slated to close at the end of October). Once registered, others will be blocked for 10 years from trying to register the same domain.
More information about registering a brand to avoid a .XXX domain can be found here. Games companies of all types should consider taking a proactive approach to .XXX domains because, really, no one wants to know what Skyrim.XXX will look like if you don't.
