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Confirmed User
Industry Role:
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: In a refrigerator box by the tracks.
Posts: 4,790
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Quote:
Before I move onto Stuart?s comments, I want to bring up two issues that aren?t receiving much attention here. First, we are justifiably and reasonably asking ourselves if there could be potential benefits from a sponsored top level domain. We are, after all, business people and we don?t want to pass up an opportunity to grow the adult market. I respect and partially agree with Marc?s and Q?s analysis of some potential benefits of a sTLD. However, just as we should consider potential benefits, we must equally weigh potential risks.
For example, we must always be mindful of the fact that when Jeffrey Douglas and I traveled to Lisbon to lobby against ICM?s application in 2007, we carried with us legislation that Max Bachus planned to introduce in Congress mandating .XXX for all adult businesses. There is a very real probability?not a possibility, but a probability?that such legislation will be introduced again. And, I know?Stuart will tell you that he has a seven figure ?war chest? ?to lobby against anti-industry legislation. Is it more likely that ICM will use their money to lobby in favor of such legislation, thus eliminating their .com and .net competition? If .XXX is mandated in the US alone, ICM will go from having a small percentage of the adult market to the entire adult market, increasing ICM profits exponentially.
There is no doubt in my mind that the time, money and resources required to fight legislation mandating .XXX will be shouldered by the very same FSC members who are shouldering the cost of fighting .xxx. My point is that, while we weigh potential benefits, we must also consider what the risks are and if ICM or the industry will bear the consequences if those risks become reality.
Second, we must evaluate the premises and assumptions upon which this particular sTLD is based, as opposed to the merits of a sTLD in general. Stuart argues that ?Whilst in no way casting aspersions on participants who operate in other TLD?s,? .xxx will be comprised of only the ?responsible? companies. The implication, of course, is that irresponsibility runs rampant through the adult community. And, throughout his comments, Stuart articulates all of the ways that the adult industry supposedly uses and abuses its customers. And, in fact, the branding of .xxx requires ICM to draw a distinction between it?s ?responsible? members and all other adult sites, emphasizing the ?fact? that consumers ?can?t trust sites on other TLDs.? His brand succeeds only if he is successful at demonizing all non-.xxx sites.
But FSC does not accept this premise?the premise that the majority of the industry is irresponsible. FSC believes that this premise is based upon myths, misinformation, and a complete lack of understanding of the industry. Take Stuart?s assertion, for example, that customers will be safe from malware on a .xxx site. This presupposes that there is a problem with malware on non-.xxx ,adult sites. However, a recent headline in ?The Register? reads, ?Regular Domains Beat Smut Sites at Hosting Malware?: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/30/unsafe_surfing/ The article reports that ?New research pours scorn on the comforting yet erroneous belief that Windows surfers who avoid smut and wares on the web are likely to avoid exposure to malware. A study by free anti-virus firm Avast found 99 infected legitimate domains for every infected adult website.? We should take incredible pride in this finding rather than sitting around complaining about how bad the industry is. FSC simply does not accept the notion that the adult industry is an irresponsible industry. Like any and all industries, there are companies that don?t play by the rules?but these companies are the exception, not the norm. (FSC actually began creating a PR campaign called ?The Faces of Adult,? a series in which we hope to communicate the type of information reported in this study. But fighting .xxx, fighting mandatory condoms, and a few other things have taken us away from that important work.)
In terms of Stuart?s comments, you guys have done an excellent job of voicing the industry?s opposition to .xxx and explaining the reasoning behind that opposition. So, I?m not going to re-hash the objections, concerns, and frustration that you have so articulately expressed. Instead, I?ll simply add a few thoughts.
Stuart Wrote:
Pricing One only has to look at the aftermarket going rate for adult domains to realize that these new domains are going to have real, tangible value. The opportunity to buy something today for $60, that has the real potential for being worth $600 or $6,000 tomorrow. We will be spending millions of dollars on promotion of the .XXX brand, which will bring in substantial traffic to these domains. Your .XXX brand will have unprecedented exposure hopefully bringing in customers who feel more confident to part with their financial information.
FSC Reply:
My guess is that those valuable names (names with potential resale of $600 to $6000) have been pre-registered by adult Registrars like Greg Dumas, who Stuart had testify on his behalf during the Public Forum at the ICANN Board meeting in Brussels. Adult registries are one of the few entities that will profit from .xxx, and I?m certain that they are doing everything within their power to lay the groundwork for maximizing their profits.
The truth is that, yes, if ICM?s application is accepted, the resale value of sex.xxx could be significant. But, how many such domains are there? Very few (and, I suspect that Greg owns that one already). A real adult company with 1,000 domain names would have to fork out $60,000 annually to ICM just to protect the traffic they currently enjoy. Yet, the average webmaster will see no return on his/her investment.
Oh, and I love the marketing idea! Sporting events eh? How about the Superbowl???? Ask Janet Jackson how that worked out for her. Can?t you just hear the commercial now: ?Grab the kids and come on down to Dodger Stadium. It?s mini-bat night, brought to you by .xxx? Stuart will be lucky to get a decal on the undercarriage of a NASCAR vehicle.
Stuart Wrote:
Protection: ICM is well aware of the investment, you the Adult Entertainment provider has made in building not only your brand but developing content. A first within the TLD community is ICM?s Rapid Takedown System. Any member demonstrating a violation of their Trademark or Copyright will be able to invoke our rapid takedown system. A review period and full adjudication of the matter will then ensue to verify the violation, during such time the domain shall remain in suspension. Upon a successful adjudication in favor of the holder of rights, the violating domain will be withdrawn.
Equally as important is Pirated Content. ICM is committed to a policy of Non Proliferation of Pirated Content and or Material. Repeat offenders will face will be face permanently removal from the .XXX TLD.
FSC Reply:
This argument leaves me wondering. Let?s assume that the ICM application is accepted. I don?t pretend to be an expert in consumer behavior, but it seems to me that, if I?m an adult consumer, I now know that, when I?m looking for my porn, if I click on a .xxx site, my porn is going to be expensive. If I click on a .com site, my porn is going to be cheap or free. Particularly in a recessed economy such as this, price point actually does matter to the people who create, distribute and sell legal material because price point matters to the adult consumer.
That?s why FSC has developed a comprehensive Anti-Piracy Action Program. We believe that the solution to piracy is a strategy of education, labeling, litigation, and monetization. We do not believe that creating a piracy-free domain will do anything other than drive consumers into the arms of the pirates. In fact, we believe that this dichotomy could create a pattern of consumer behavior that takes decades to break.
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