Local companies and universities are snatching up newly released suggestive domain names to avoid potential embarrassing situations in the future.
BC Ferries and SFU are two organizations that have purchased their .xxx domains so as to prevent Internet “squatters” from linking their company with lewd content.
“BC Ferries is family-oriented and we don’t want to be associated with the adult-entertainment industry,” said Deborah Marshall, director of media relations at BC Ferries.
According to SFU chief information officer Jay Black, registering sfu.xxx, simonfraseruniversity.xxx and other related aliases was an obvious and automatic step in defending the university.
“It was a defensive measure. The only way to protect the interest of SFU is to spend a small amount of money to do that,” said Black. “My staff had already done it before I was aware of it.”
He estimated the cost to be $ 150 a year to purchase unused domains — a small price to pay to protect the reputation of the university and its students, he added.
Both SFU and BC Ferries have no intention of using their domain names.
Florida-based ICM Registry began allowing the public to buy .xxx website extensions on Tuesday. The website claims the .xxx designation will allow Internet surfers to clearly identify adult- entertainment sites.
As of Dec. 7, the website has registered 159,351 new domains.
Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver
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