I REFUSE to be blackmailed by the porn industry! Are you at risk, too?

A few days ago, my web hosting company sent out an email offering to block the use of my trademarked name Girls Can’t WHAT? from being used by the porn industry as a xxx domain for the low, low price of $299.

Thanks to the release of the new xxx domain extension, we non-porn people are being forced to pay to have our trademarked business names protected from being used by the porn industry.

That’s right – they get their own xxx extension and WE have to PAY to keep them from using it against us.

Extortion, anyone?

It was supposed to cost me $299 to “block” my domain.  Do you know what that really means?  It just means that when people click on GirlsCantwhat.xxx – they can get redirected to this site you’re reading right now.

How confusing will that be? That doesn’t “block” anything.

If people want to view or make porn – that’s their business. But forcing US to pay to protect ourselves from them abusing OUR business names is beyond ridiculous. Most people call that EXTORTION!

And why did the Porn Industry get FIRST PICK?

Oh yeah – and if this isn’t bad enough… the porn people got FIRST PICK of the domain names.  So even though I have a trademark, they can still snatch up my business name and force me to take legal action to get it back. More money wasted.

Ooops… it’s really going to cost you more than that…

If you read the fine print in this whole mess, you would see that some trademarks were allowed to block their names early, but not all trademark owners. My trademark didn’t qualify, so I didn’t even get an opportunity to block my domain. Instead, I’m one of the “lucky” ones who actually get to OWN THE XXX DOMAIN for $99/year.  Are they kidding me? $99/year for something I don’t even want?

I contacted my lawyer.

Be aware… most small businesses also fall into the supplemental category and could therefore be screwed out of protecting their names.  Seriously?  Who is running this show?

But who is really affected by this?

In case you’re wondering… no, this xxx domain thing isn’t a threat to everyone.

But it is a HUGE threat to me.  

The name of this site – Girls Can’t WHAT? – is a porn search magnet. I won’t list all of the disgusting search terms that infiltrate my keyword statistics on a daily basis. When your site name can be misconstrued, AND you have “girls” in the title, AND every post on your site mentions girls or women AND you cover topics like cheerleaders and Hooters – your domain gets listed in the search engines a lot when people are searching for porn. This post probably isn’t going to help in that department either.

In reality, this site is all about empowering women. Oh, the irony.

And you know what really concerns me? People search for my site by name. My brand name is recognized. What would happen if a xxx domain took my brand and then some innocent little girl searches Google for “Girls Can’t WHAT?” and one day that xxx domain somehow creeps into the top search results and she unknowingly clicks on that link, not realizing the xxx means to stay away? It WILL happen. Mark my words. It will be the next big Yahoo news story your friends are sharing on Facebook.

I’m furious.

And that’s probably an understatement. That $299 or $99/year could be put to better use. Girls Can’t WHAT? is not some huge corporation with deep pockets. We give a good chunk of the monthly profits to help other women with their businesses.  That $299 would have robbed us out of helping 12 women this month. That means 12 women would have gone without the financial assistance they need to get out of poverty, improve their business or feed their kids. I refuse to bow to the porn industry.

I don’t know exactly who gets to keep the $299 or the $99/year – I’m still trying to get to the bottom of that. I think the Hosting Companies are profiting somewhat, but the “registration fee” has to be going somewhere else. Anyone know the answer? Please comment below.

The Loophole… aka – Porn Wins Anyway

Oh and get this… if a porn site wanted to register girls-cant-what.xxx or any variation of my trademarked name, they can do so.  Because in order to block any different spellings or hyphenated versions, I have to buy each one separately for – you guessed it – another $99/year.  Anyone else see a problem here?

Beware of squatters…

I’m betting there are gonna be a lot of surprised people out there who wake up and find out someone has snatched up their business name with a xxx extension.  And the “squatters” (people who buy domain names with the intent to sell them) will be registering the xxx names like crazy starting today. If you find your business is now a xxx site, it could cost you thousands of dollars in legal fees to get it back.

That is, if you want it.

Something is seriously wrong.

I’m all for having the xxx extension because it provides a clear intent of the site and makes it easier to avoid accidentally seeing stuff you don’t want to see. I see the need for it and I approve (of the extension differentiation – not the porn – so don’t try to twist that around).

But why are we non-porn people footing the bill for this? My business name is trademarked. I shouldn’t have to pay to keep someone from using it. That defeats the purpose of having a trademark! I purchased a trademark to protect myself and now I’m being told I have to pay more money to further protect something I already own?

And why wasn’t I notified of this earlier? I guarantee this will be unwelcome news to a lot of people. Even worse for ones who wake up and find out someone else beat them to it.

So what will I do?

I am REFUSING to pay $99/year for a xxx domain I don’t want any part of owning. I would much rather invest that money into helping other women get out of poverty. That’s where my money is going. I am not going to be blackmailed by the porn industry!  

How about you?

Got something to say about this?  I’d love to hear it.  Post your thoughts below…

Edit: Ladies – the more I think about this, the more I think we need to do something and do it fast.  Share this post with as many women’s organizations as you possibly can. Tell your friends and anyone whose name and or business might be a target.

This is serious.  And I have a feeling it’s going to take everything we women have to change this.

I am still putting together a plan of action. Awareness is the first step so please post this to Twitter, Facebook, Digg and everywhere else. I guarantee you most people do not know about this “xxx land rush” and time is critical!