No, Harvard isn’t going into the pornography business. But if a domain name buyer picks up harvard.xxx before Harvard does, you can bet that site would make an awful lot of money. Harvard wants to avoid its name being smeared in this way (and someone else profiting off the Harvard name, more likely than not). When getting a domain try a network solutions coupon for a discount. Colleges and universities are buying the domain names to keep them safe, to keep them from being utilized by pornographers hoping to capitalize on fantasies about Harvard girls on a site that ends in .xxx.

.xxx domains are currently selling for about $200 apiece, and multiple domains are being purchased by some schools of higher learning. Let’s hope the Board of Trustees never finds out about such an expenditure – or that they get a quick explanation.

.xxx reportedly raked in about $10 million from domain name buyers just during its sunrise period, which expired on October 29. Currently, .xxx is in landrush, and apparently pricing and information have been difficult to find for those in the business of domain name purchase. December 6th will certainly be a big day.

In order for a UDRP complaint to succeed, the complainant must establish three elements:

1. The complainant has rights to a trademark or a service mark which is identical, or similar enough to be confused with, the domain name.
2. The person who owns the domain name does not have any rights or any real interest in it.
3. The person who owns the domain name is using it in “bad faith”.

“Bad faith” can have a complex set of meanings in legalese, and the panel adjudging the UDRP complaint will use a variety of factors to assess whether the use is in bad faith or not. But since a lot of people buy domain names that they hope to sell back at a profit when those names become useful to others, UDRP can be a real concern for people who traffic in domain names.

Unfortunately, the UDRP is weighted somewhat in favor of the person who owns the trademark, not the person who owns the domain name – basically, Trump is likely to win this round. Further legislation is almost certainly coming in the future, but for right now, you’ll walk a thin line in buying a domain name that’s similar to a well-known trademark or service mark.