From TheDomains.com
What Percentage of dotXXX Domains Are Defensive? Two Stories Out Yesterday: One says 48% The Other 83%. Draw your own conclusions…
by Michael H. Berkens
So what portion of .XXX domain name registrations were defensive that is purchased or registered to either block the domain name or for other reasons that to use the domain actively in the adult space.
Two stories are out on the topic today.
According to one report, the registrar 123-reg.co.uk says that “48% of registrations weren’t from those in the porn industry at all, but regular businesses hoping to protecting their brand and reputation.”
The story does not say how the registrar came up with that percentage.
According to a separate story, NameNewsletter.com says they ran a report based on the .XXX Zone File and concluded that “83% of the total registrations are defensive [inactive]. The runners-up are default registrar name servers like Godaddy or Enom. These account for roughly 6%”
“The .xxx TLD can be said to be much more defensive than speculative.”
“Two specific name servers immediately stand out with 83451 domain names assigned to them: nsb2.icmregistry.net and nsb1.icmregistry.net.”
“These are the name servers for reserved [protected] domain names [example: Disney.xxx].”
“Domain names using these name servers resolve to a standard placeholder page provided by the registry.”
“These two name servers alone account for a staggering 83% of the whole zone file.”
I know for a fact that some .XXX domains that have been purchased still have ICM servers on them for example Orgy.XXX which we purchased with partners at TRAFFIC still have ICM servers and would be included by this report as “defensive registrations”.
Also I’m not sure how the Sunrise domains that are subject to auctions that start in January are treated in the Zone file either.
ICM has not supplied any stats on defensive registrations
We do know that there were around 80,000 sunrise applications which included applications for Trademarked domains and trademark blocks but also including matching existing domain names in other extensions and we don’t know the break down of those.
Of course other companies including a many colleges registered defensive .XXX registrations after Sunrise as well.
