Last night, I posted a reminder to people that the Sunrise period to reserve .XXX domain names was going to end on October 28, 2011. According to an email I just received from Moniker, the Sunrise period has been extended to October 31, 2011. The email stated:
“Great News! ICM Registry, responsible for the Dot Triple X sTLD (sponsored Top Level Domain), has extended Sunrise A and Sunrise B registration periods for an additional three days to conclude on Monday, October 31, 2011 at 16:00 UTC (Noon ET). This extension provides prospective registrants valuable time to secure their domains and protect their brands.”
Although the ICM Registry website still says the end date of the Sunrise period is October 28, I have confirmed this information with them. According to Vaughn Liley, Sales Director for the ICM Registry, the extension is “due to incredible last week demand and at the request of several Registrars who wanted the weekend to process their backlogs of applications.”
In addition to this confirmation, Liley also informed me that they have received over 70,000 applications for .XXX domain names. Earlier this week, that number was around 42,000 applications. I am not surprised at how many sunrise applications they’ve received, but the figure is stunning. At around $200/each, that’s over $14 million up front cash. I wouldn’t even be surprised if they surpass 100,000 applications by Monday afternoon.
If you do wish to have your trademarks opted out of triple x domain names, now is the time to reserve them before the sunrise period ends.
“over 70,000 applications for .XXX domain names.” Looks very strong