Ohio University officials have decided to purchase websites in the new .xxx domain to combat the potential damaging of the university's brand by the porn industry.
The new .xxx suffix was approved earlier this year and will provide a domain specifically designed for sexually explicit websites. Some higher-education institutions are worried the adult entertainment industry might try to take advantage of their trademarked names by registering .xxx versions of URLs containing school names and brands, according to the Associated Press.
OU purchased three websites: ohio.xxx, ohiouniversity.xxx and ohiou.xxx. The university registered each website for $487.46, bringing the total cost of the purchase to $1462.38. The registration will last for five years, at which point university officials will have to decide whether or not they wish to continue their ownership of the websites.
The purchase is meant to protect the university from anyone attempting to take advantage of OU trademarks, said Brice Bible, OU’s chief information officer.
“We also plan to rely on trademark protections if necessary,” he said.
The decision to purchase the three websites was made last week, said Becky Watts, chief of staff to OU President Roderick McDavis.
Other university-affiliated websites, such as those of the Marching 110 and E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, are not directly controlled by the Office of Information Technology, Watts said.
“(OIT doesn't) have a full inventory of those (websites) that individual units have purchased separately,” she said.
Since OIT does not manage those websites, the office cannot make the decision to purchase .xxx versions of the domain names. Instead, individuals and organizations owning OU-affiliated websites were sent a message alerting them of the opportunity to do so themselves, Watts said.
bv111010@ohiou.edu
