Changes

===Defensive Registration===

===Defensive Registration===

Some of the criticism leveled against ICM, starting during their application process and going forward, was the necessary defensive registration for many brand owners. ICM did make a block list for celebrities and certain other entities. It was reported that many Universites were buying .xxx domains related to their schools, as they did not want someone taking advantage of the name of their school, their sports teams, or their mascots and associating it with sexual material.<ref>[http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/11/universities_try_to_keep_their.html Universities Try to Keep Their, Blog.Cleveland.com]</ref>

Some of the criticism leveled against ICM, starting during their application process and going forward, was the necessary defensive registration for many brand owners. ICM did make a block list for celebrities and certain other entities. It was reported that many Universites were buying .xxx domains related to their schools, as they did not want someone taking advantage of the name of their school, their sports teams, or their mascots and associating it with sexual material.<ref>[http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/11/universities_try_to_keep_their.html Universities Try to Keep Their, Blog.Cleveland.com]</ref>

=Launch=

==Launch==

Following the opening of the general availability of .xxx domains on December, 8th, ICM Registry declared the launch of the name space a victory, and described it as "the most successful launch of any new sponsored top level domain". Indeed, their international, high-profile advertising campaign, and the nature of the domain itself, attracted a great deal of media coverage.<ref>[http://www.circleid.com/posts/icm_announces_general_availability_of_xxx_domain_names/ ICM Announces General Availability of XXX Domain Names, CircleID.com]</ref>

Following the opening of the general availability of .xxx domains on December, 8th, ICM Registry declared the launch of the name space a victory, and described it as "the most successful launch of any new sponsored top level domain". Indeed, their international, high-profile advertising campaign, and the nature of the domain itself, attracted a great deal of media coverage.<ref>[http://www.circleid.com/posts/icm_announces_general_availability_of_xxx_domain_names/ ICM Announces General Availability of XXX Domain Names, CircleID.com]</ref>

==Sunrise and Landrush==

===Sunrise and Landrush===

ICM Registry reported that it received 80,000 [[Sunrise Period|sunrise period]] applications, though this was before they verified the applicants' trademark claims.  Half of those applications were received during the last week of sunrise, causing the registry to delay the auction period of the sunrise as it validated each applicants' trademark claims.<ref>[http://domainincite.com/xxx-sunrise-auctions-delayed-after-80k-applications/ XXX Sunrise Auctions Delayed after 80k applications, DomainIncite.com]</ref>

ICM Registry reported that it received 80,000 [[Sunrise Period|sunrise period]] applications, though this was before they verified the applicants' trademark claims.  Half of those applications were received during the last week of sunrise, causing the registry to delay the auction period of the sunrise as it validated each applicants' trademark claims.<ref>[http://domainincite.com/xxx-sunrise-auctions-delayed-after-80k-applications/ XXX Sunrise Auctions Delayed after 80k applications, DomainIncite.com]</ref>

The program was developed specifically for adult webmasters, who were interested in developing a .xxx address ahead of general availability of the namespace. It was targeted at those individuals moving their current brands and websites into the new space and also at those who were interested in starting completely new sites on previously unavailable names, such as videos.xxx.<ref>[http://www.todayisp.com/news/MessView.net?IDMessage=9870 TodayISP.com]</ref> It was their hope to see the .xxx become a more content-rich namespace given that many of the most premium [[.com]] addresses are in the hands of professional domainers who keep the pages parked and do not develop them. ICM touted the fact that one of the world's wealthiest domainers, [[Frank Schilling]], got involved with his first [[TLD]] launch by negotiating a 7 figure deal to acquire premium names that he would then develop with prominent companies in the adult industry. Names acquired include free.xxx, hot.xxx, and live.xxx. The founders program involved a strict agreement that required the domain to be developed and not parked.<ref>[http://www.domainnews.com/en/icm-registry-successfully-concluded-its-founders-program-1500-xxx-domains-claimed.html ICM Registry successfully concluded its, DomainNews.com]</ref>

The program was developed specifically for adult webmasters, who were interested in developing a .xxx address ahead of general availability of the namespace. It was targeted at those individuals moving their current brands and websites into the new space and also at those who were interested in starting completely new sites on previously unavailable names, such as videos.xxx.<ref>[http://www.todayisp.com/news/MessView.net?IDMessage=9870 TodayISP.com]</ref> It was their hope to see the .xxx become a more content-rich namespace given that many of the most premium [[.com]] addresses are in the hands of professional domainers who keep the pages parked and do not develop them. ICM touted the fact that one of the world's wealthiest domainers, [[Frank Schilling]], got involved with his first [[TLD]] launch by negotiating a 7 figure deal to acquire premium names that he would then develop with prominent companies in the adult industry. Names acquired include free.xxx, hot.xxx, and live.xxx. The founders program involved a strict agreement that required the domain to be developed and not parked.<ref>[http://www.domainnews.com/en/icm-registry-successfully-concluded-its-founders-program-1500-xxx-domains-claimed.html ICM Registry successfully concluded its, DomainNews.com]</ref>

==General Availability==

===General Availability===

General Availability for .xxx domains was opened on December 6, 2011. It created quite a buzz in the industry, and was picked up by non-industry news sources as well; CNN, for example, highlighted the story as a top feature on its website.<ref>[http://www.thedomains.com/2011/12/06/xxx-launch-makes-front-page-of-cnn-com/ XXX Lanuch Makes Front Page of CNN, TheDomains.com]</ref> The availability was set to open at 16:00 UTC, but was delayed by one hour until 17:00.<ref>[https://twitter.com/#!/LogicBoxes/status/144090056347488258 LogicBoxes, Status, Twitter.com, Dec611]</ref>

General Availability for .xxx domains was opened on December 6, 2011. It created quite a buzz in the industry, and was picked up by non-industry news sources as well; CNN, for example, highlighted the story as a top feature on its website.<ref>[http://www.thedomains.com/2011/12/06/xxx-launch-makes-front-page-of-cnn-com/ XXX Lanuch Makes Front Page of CNN, TheDomains.com]</ref> The availability was set to open at 16:00 UTC, but was delayed by one hour until 17:00.<ref>[https://twitter.com/#!/LogicBoxes/status/144090056347488258 LogicBoxes, Status, Twitter.com, Dec611]</ref> Their site pushing general availability, buy.xxx, was receiving near 1 million visitors per day surrounding the time of general availability.<ref>[http://www.circleid.com/posts/icm_announces_general_availability_of_xxx_domain_names/ ICM Announces General Availability of XXX domain names]</ref>

==Notable Deals==

==Notable Deals==