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Luxembourg/US: Unusual adult content domain name antitrust dispute resolved

By  |  May 2, 2013

A leading conglomerate of the online adult entertainment industry based in Luxembourg has agreed with a smaller, US-based company to end its more than two-year-long antitrust battle. Luxembourg’s Manwin accused Florida-based ICM Registry of “monopolistic conduct” and “price gouging” concerning its use of the “.xxx” domain named, an alternative to “.com,” in November 2011. ICM denied the allegations that the company was looking to squeeze out adult content websites that use the “.com” domain; Manwin predicted that those looking for adult content online would naturally gravitate towards the “.xxx” domain. Seventeen months after the dispute began, the two companies have agreed to drop the disagreement, though Manwin will not see any settlement payments from ICM. Rather, ICM will reportedly offer discounts on “.xxx” domain names to producers of the adult content that sign up with the company during May, with plans of a similar promotion in the future.

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