YNOT – GoDaddy.com, one of the world’s largest domain-name registrars, has announced its pricing structure for dot-xxx domains. Prices will range from a low of $99.99 per year during the general availability phase, during which anyone may register a domain for any reason, to a high of $209.99 for the first year’s registration under Sunrise A, with annual renewals costing $99.99 per year. Sunrise A, which begins Sept. 7, is a “pre-open-season” period during which trademark owners and those who own adult domains in other spaces may protect their existing intellectual property by registering corresponding dot-xxx domains in order to prevent hijacking and cybersquatting.
GoDaddy’s pricing structure looks like this:
Sunrise A (Sept. 7 through Oct. 28 ): Companies and individuals may register dot-xxx domains that exactly match trademarks and/or domain names already used in any other space. The first-year fee of $209.99 includes a non-refundable application fee and the first year’s registration. Subsequent registrations will cost $99.99 per year per domain.
Sunrise B (Sept. 7 through Oct. 28 ): Also known as the “defensive registration phase,” Sunrise B offers companies and individuals an opportunity to “block” dot-xxx domains corresponding to trademarks and/or domain names already in use in both mainstream and adult realms. “Blocking” a dot-xxx domain places it on a “non-resolving name” server, meaning no one else will be allowed to register the name, nor will the registrant be able to construct a site at the address. A non-refundable, non-reversible processing fee of $199.99 per domain will block the domain for a period of 10 years.
Landrush (Nov. 8-25): Individuals and companies may register any dot-xxx domain not registered during the sunrise periods. Landrush registrants need not be members of the adult entertainment industry or own adult domains in other spaces in order to apply for dot-xxx domains. The first-year fee of $199.99 includes a non-refundable application fee and the first year’s registration. Subsequent annual registrations will cost $99.99 per domain.
General Availability (expected to begin Dec. 7): Anyone may acquire any unclaimed dot-xxx domain name on a first-come, first-served basis. A fee of $99.99 per domain per year will be assessed.
GoDaddy announced its approval as a dot-xxx registrar in May, but waited until Aug. 11 to reveal pricing. At the time, founder and Chief Executive Officer Bob Parson said the company was “going to listen to our customers” regarding the controversial sponsored Top Level Domain.
“A large number of our customers have spoken, and there is a demand for the controversial new domain name extension, for both brand protection purposes and for new names,” Parsons said in a statement released jointly by GoDaddy and dot-xxx overseer ICM Registry. “So what are we going to do? Go Daddy is going to give our customers what they want.”
Except for the $99.99 retail price tag per domain, he may be correct. Adult industry insiders undoubtedly would rather see the per-domain retail price closer to the wholesale price of $62 per domain ICM Registry CEO Stuart Lawley said his company charges registrars like GoDaddy.
GoDaddy did not mention discounts for volume purchases, unlike the U.K. registar DomainMonster, which in mid-May became the first registrar to declare its pricing dot-xxx pricing plan. DomainMonster plans to offer volume purchasers a retail price of U.S. $75 on lots of 25 or more dot-xxx domains purchased simultaneously during the general availability period.
