Manwin Demands ICM Prevent .XXX Exploitation

[gonzo]

LUXEMBOURG — Manwin, one of the largest players in the online adult arena, has demanded that ICM Registry block attempts to register any of its 57 domain names or similar misleading names in the .XXX sponsored top-level domain.

Manwin alternatively asked ICM to register each of its 57 domain names as .XXX domains without any registration, processing or administrative fee or charge.

In a letter to ICM CEO Stuart Lawley, Manwin said that each of their preexisting domain names and trademarks have been "clearly communicated" and that the company must "take steps to block any attempts to register any of them, or any similar misleading names in the XXX TLD."

“From a technical and administrative standpoint, entering our trademarks and obvious similarities into some kind of a blacklist maintained by ICM Registry is a very simple process,” said Fabian Thylmann, managing partner at Manwin.

Manwin, which owns numerous blue-chip online adult franchises, including Brazzers, Twistys, YouPorn and others, said that registration of its domain names without its consent "will constitute a violation of Manwin’s rights."

“The misuse of our intellectual property will not be tolerated,” Thylmann said.

Manwin said that it believes "that the onus is on ICM to honor and protect the rights of the adult content industry in their domain names and hopes that ICM will act responsibly to do so."

Thoughts?


http://www.xbiz.com/news/135927

[spazlabz]

Yeah I wonder if it will work or even if ICM will bother to make a public response to this demand. If it works I can see a lot of other companies following suit

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by spazlabz

Yeah I wonder if it will work or even if ICM will bother to make a public response to this demand. If it works I can see a lot of other companies following suit

PR move.

You know .XXX would like nothing more than to see all those domains go anywhere but Manwin.

[spazlabz]

normally I would say that Manwin does not have a leg to stand on, they could not make the same demand for say .tv, .mobi et all. But I think the one thing that may give this legs is that it is a sTLD which means it has a sponsoring community and I wonder if that will play a role

[Toby]

Look for others to follow suit and make similar demands/announcments. If ICM heeds one, then they must heed them all.

[softball]

“The misuse of our intellectual property will not be tolerated,” Thylmann said.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA......from the company that got rich by...guess what?

[spazlabz]

Originally Posted by Toby

Look for others to follow suit and make similar demands/announcments. If ICM heeds one, then they must heed them all.

That could be easily handled, ICM agrees under an NDA, who else would find out?

Originally Posted by rhetorical

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA......from the company that got rich by...guess what?

The irony is not lost on many I suspect LOL

[RawAlex]

It's interesting to see that some of the biggest companies in the online porn world have no interest in .xxx. I am not a big manwin fan in general, but I have to give them at least some golf claps on this one.

[spazlabz]

Originally Posted by RawAlex

It's interesting to see that some of the biggest companies in the online porn world have no interest in .xxx. I am not a big manwin fan in general, but I have to give them at least some golf claps on this one.

I would suspect that many of the larger companies are watching this topic closely, they are just not going public with what they think and/or have not developed an official policy regarding it. The larger the company the more like a herd of elephants is becomes. Getting them moving can be a slow process

[Toby]

Originally Posted by spazlabz

The larger the company the more like a herd of elephants is becomes. Getting them moving can be a slow process

Some time ago I was reading an interview of the guy IBM put in charge of fast tracking development of the IBM PC and getting it to market before the Apple II had too much market share. One comment, regarding the typical development process at IBM, really hit home, "It would take IBM six months to ship an empty box."

[spazlabz]

Originally Posted by Toby

Some time ago I was reading an interview of the guy IBM put in charge of fast tracking development of the IBM PC and getting it to market before the Apple II had too much market share. One comment, regarding the typical development process at IBM, really hit home, "It would take IBM six months to ship an empty box."

[miz_wright]

Is there a list anywhere of all the Manwin conglomerate properties, as they stand now?

Who all have they pulled under their flag? YouPorn, Carsed... Who else?

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by miz_wright

Is there a list anywhere of all the Manwin conglomerate properties, as they stand now?

Who all have they pulled under their flag? YouPorn, Carsed... Who else?

Sounds like its time for another family tree.

[RawAlex]

Hustler has done the same thing, hopefully more and more companies step up and make the same clear statement. Too bad that ICANN didn't listen.