Two internet porn giants have settled a lawsuit with an agreement that will make .xxx domain names more affordable. The domain names currently retail for around $100 annually, but under the settlement, the domains will be on sale during May at significantly reduced prices, which buyers can lock in for up to 10 years. For the remainder of the month, .xxx domains will be sold to registrars at $7.85 — the same price as .com domains — however registrars will still be able to mark the price up beyond that.
The lawsuit was filed by Manwin, the owner of a suite of adult websites including Brazzers and YouPorn, and was targeting alleged anti-competitive practices by ICM Registry, which controls .xxx names. ICM normally sells the domains for $60, and Manwin has been in part saying that these unusually high prices hurt competition. Though ICM doesn’t admit to any wrongdoing, the settlement will allow Manwin to save some amount of money when registering its host of adult websites on the .xxx domain.
The initial creation of .xxx — which only debuted in late 2011 — was opposed by a number of industry members due to censorship concerns,and until now, Manwin has refused to accept advertising from .xxx websites across its properties. It’s changing that practice as a result of the settlement, potentially clearing up the opposition between itself and another major player in online porn.
