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We’re the first domain registrar to come out and say it…

Yes, we do plan on selling .XXX domains when they become available.

Read on to learn why.

Background on .XXX

ICANN has debated and delayed the creation of .XXX for years, but in late March they finally decided to allow it. During the debate back and forth, various pro-family groups came out against it, saying it would lead to the proliferation of obscene content online. At the same time, other pro-family groups came out in favor of .XXX with the reasoning that it would allow for greater filtering of adult content so that it becomes easier to block, etc. Many adult industry groups also expressed concerns with .XXX, fearing that there might be a push to restrict all adult content to only those domains rather than the .COM, .NET, and other domains currently in use today for adult content.

With all the various positions for or against .XXX, ICM Registry (the registry that will manage .XXX) is moving forward on releasing the new TLD with a focus on “promoting online responsibility” and making it clear that adult sites will not be forced to use .XXX, but instead will be encouraged to utilize good business practices including safeguarding children from adult content.

Why Domain.com Will Offer .XXX

While some competitors are busy shooting elephants and filming their next racy commercials that could probably use their own .XXX domain, we are thinking about ways to improve the Internet for both users and content creators. Adult content will continue to exist online regardless of whether or not .XXX is introduced, but .XXX will help segment that content so that those who don’t want to view it or should not view it can filter it out.

At Domain.com, we strive to help reduce spam and low-quality sites, improve online safety, provide relevant information to visitors, and improve the organization and categorization of websites. .XXX will help in all of these categories, because it, along with the upcoming imminent launch of many new TLDs, will help to structure and segment the web so that visitors have context for what to expect on a website before they even visit. In this case, more options for domains will improve customers’ ability to name their website, and new TLDs will aid in direct navigation to websites as well as providing indicators to search engines and search engine users of content type. Just as you wouldn’t visit a .XXX site expecting a blog about healthy eating, you wouldn’t visit a .FOOD site expecting adult content.

We see .XXX as just one of many TLDs coming, and we want to offer as many of them as possible as long as it makes business sense for us to do so. We don’t want to set a precedent of limiting customers’ options when they purchase domains, so offering .XXX is just one step towards offering customers a huge variety of TLDs to find the one that’s the right fit for their site.

While .XXX is likely to be one of the more controversial new TLDs coming out, we’re excited to be able to offer our customers an even greater number of options for their websites.

Following up the fun we had yesterday with the fictional uprising of the Skynet computer network from the Terminator series, we thought we’d touch base on a more serious issue.

Botnets and the negative activities they can promote are one of the banes of online companies, and we’re no exception. Two major problems they pose for us are spam and DDoS attacks, but luckily we’ve taken preventative measures to protect against both threats. The good news is that there are recent positive signs that we (the Internet as a whole) may be making some progress in winning the war against botnets.

Progress Made

There have been several recent news events surrounding the takedown of botnets by the FBI in coordination with various tech companies. The two biggest recent takedowns have been the Rustock Botnet, which may have been responsible for up to a third of all email spam, and the Coreflood Botnet that was responsible for wire fraud and bank fraud.

A long Way to Go

However, there are plenty more botnets in existence with new ones still being built, and web spam is by no means a shrinking problem. Domain.com has taken actions to deal with both issues, specifically with our spam filtering built into our email products and our use of a CDN (Content Delivery Network) for our website. The CDN has proved to be particularly vital, as people sometimes use “domain.com” as an example or test domain, for both good and bad purposes. This includes as a testing domain for DDoS attacks, with the attackers likely not even realize they’re targeting our website in the process. However, our CDN has handled some huge DDoS attacks with ease, resulting in improved uptime and reliability for our website visitors. If you have a high-volume website and uptime is key, we highly recommend looking into a CDN.

How is Domain.com Helping?

Domain.com is helping to protect you and the web in several ways. Our fraud and abuse  teams do an outstanding job making sure customers purchasing domains and using our web hosting are legitimate and do not have illegal or spammy intent for their services. Our automated security scripts for web hosting also regularly check to make sure our web hosting servers and customer content are free of viruses, malware, and other exploits that could lead to the creation of botnets or mass-spamming. We also work with government authorities when necessary to shut down customers who are abusing our services or using them for illegal activities per our registration agreements.

How can you help?

In general, be informed on how to stay safe online. Use strong passwords and keep various passwords for various logins, so that cracking your email won’t give an intruder access to your bank accounts, social profiles, etc.

Make sure you also perform good system scans for viruses and malware, as botnets only grow when they are able to compromise new computers. Individual computers running outdated software are often the easiest targets for hackers and automated scripts looking to compromise computers.

For more info, we recommend visiting StaySafeOnline.org for tips on how to improve your web security.

Winning the War?

There is certainly a long way to go in winning the war against malicious activity online, but at Domain.com we feel that a spam-free and abuse-free Internet is a realistic possibility in the long-term. The key to getting there is spreading knowledge among all users about the tactics that hackers utilize and how to protect against them. This is part of the reason we’re big fans of (and sponsors of) Internet TV show Hak5, which includes information on common hacking methods and the best ways to defend against them. Host Darren Kitchen is an extremely seasoned web security expert, so if you’re a tech geek who wants to learn more, we definitely recommend checking out the show.

Have thoughts on Internet security we haven’t addressed here? Feel free to leave your questions or thoughts in the comments below.

Skynet has become self-aware, and today is set to release their terminator army to wage war on humans. This means you probably need to hurry and snap up any Domains you’ve been thinking about and quickly build a website with our Web Hosting.

Today only, save 15% on your Domain.com order with coupon code SKYNET.  And then you might want to go looking for a friendly T-800 to protect you.

*LIMITED TIME OFFER. SKYNET coupon and offer expires April 21, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific. SKYNET coupon is good for 15% off new products and services. No minimum purchase required. All renewals on products and services after the initial discounted period will be charged at the current standard list price for the selected period. Coupon is not valid with certain TLDs, renewals, transfers, custom website design, Sunrise Registrations, Landrush Registrations, or special pricing.