Taylor Swift snaps up .porn and .adult web domains from Icann to prevent copycat sites
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is set to launch raunchy domains, .porn, .adult and .sucks in June in a bid to create more space on the ever-expanding web, with musician Taylor Swift snapping up TaylorSwift.porn and TaylorSwift.adult before the latest wave became available to the public 1 June.
The non-profit tasked with regulating and releasing internet domains has invited brands, businesses and prominent individuals to pick up titles related to them, in a bid to cease copycats establishing copycat - or derogatory addresses.
In the rush for domains, CNN Money reports that Microsoft Office also purchased Office.porn and Office.adult with each costing as much as £1,674. Icann says that “over 1,300 new names or 'strings' could become available in the next few years”.
This comes after Trademark Clearinghouse issued a warning last February stating that the release of new domains could present serious copyright challenges for brands - especially with third parties trying to pass as them on new addresses.