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GoDaddy likely to win relaxed .xxx deal
GoDaddy seems set to get a renewed and relaxed .xxx registry contract, after ICANN dismissed the concerns of critics of the deal.
In a much-delayed analysis of submissions to a recent public comment period, Org indicated that it is in favor of GoDaddy, via subsidiary ICM Registry, migrating to a Registry Agreement much more in line with sister gTLDs .porn, .adult and .sex.
That would mean an end to the “sponsored” status of .xxx, removing the largely pointless restrictions and streamlining the registration process, and the dissolution of IFFOR, the nominal sponsor, which was criticized by one commenter as a toothless “gravy train”.
Only nine comments were received, and views were mixed, but where commenters were critical of the proposed deal ICANN has stood firm.
Notably, Org dismissed the idea that a public comment period on a Registry Agreement renewal is an appropriate forum to question whether a signatory to that Registry Agreement has historically complied with its terms.
At least two commenters had raised issues, some of which I have reported, about whether ICM had stuck to promises related to funding IFFOR and whether IFFOR had stuck to promises to issue cash grants to worthy causes.
Commenters also said that ICM has already stopped verifying the identities of registrants in its made-up “sponsored community”, which would have enabled it to more easily tackle repeatedly abusive registrants.
But ICANN doesn’t think that kind of thing — which it files under “Misconceptions, assumptions, and allegations and claims” — is suitable for discussion in Public Comments.
“If there are concerns regarding ICM’s compliance with the .XXX RA, such concerns (if any) should be raised with ICANN Compliance for investigation and are considered outside of the scope of this Public Comment proceeding,” the analysis reads.
There’s also no need to replace ICM’s sponsorship commitments with Public Interest Commitments along the lines of those found in most post-2012 gTLDs, according to the Org analysis.
“ICANN has not identified a need to add further, new obligations for the operation of .XXX or to treat .XXX differently than other adult-themed gTLDs, particularly in light of the similar PICs that the .ADULT, .PORN, and .SEX gTLDs have utilized for approximately the last decade,” it reads.
The .xxx agreement was due to expire in early 2021, but its term has been repeatedly extended as negotiations continued behind the scenes. Likewise, the public comment analysis was originally due to be published in late May but was repeatedly delayed.
It’s now up to ICANN’s board of directors, which has already been briefed on the analysis contents, to approve the renegotiated deal.
It would still be interesting to know whether, on balance, .xxx generates more revenue from domain registrations or from the “brand protection” racket. I know which way I would bet on that proposition.
Having a product or service so odious that people will pay not to have it is a great high-margin business. Running it as a TLD spares the inconvenience of having to break the occasional shop window to keep the customers in line.
hmm.. this is an interesting thought.. yes, it would be interesting to see these numbers.
Based on my incomplete research, I think .xxx makes more money from registrations than it does from AdultBlock, but that the majority of its registrations are defensive. I might be wrong.
My bet would be that most are real domain registrations by x companies and webmasters. A very strong tld – real gem out there. .. I don’t see a reason why GoDaddy should have them – why not some new player that wants to muscle in the TLD business.
I disagree on your first point. When there are 45,000 registered domains but only 7,000 in the zone file, it is reasonable to conclude that the large majority of registrations are defensive. And that’s not even including the AdultBlock domains, which numbered at least 18,000 when I last checked.