Protecting Phi Slama Jama
University of Houston joins Texas A&M's fight against the porn monster, blocking.xxx with cash
In the wake of the public debut of the new .xxx domain, colleges and universities around the globe made a mad dash to secure their good names from enterprising adult entertainers.
The University of Kansas bought kugirls.xxx and kunurses.xxx, while Indiana University got hoosiers.xxx.
Also gone are harvard.xxx, princeton.xxx and yale.xxx.
UH blocked more than 50 URLs, protecting a string of names like University of Houston, UH Cougars and Phi Slama Jama.
Richard Bonnin, executive director of media relations for the University of Houston, wrote in an email to CultureMap that the school has been researching the matter for months. Since September, opportunities to register and block trademarked names have been available.
"We have spent about $5,000 to avoid the potential of having our image and reputation tarnished and as a defense against pornographers that seek to capitalize on the university’s brand," he said. "These trademarks have value, and we do not want these names associated with inappropriate websites."
The university already blocked more than 50 URLs, Bonnin reported, protecting a string of names like University of Houston, UH Cougars, Phi Slama Jama, KUHF and KUHT. "We have been very active in taking steps to protect the university’s reputation and good name, as well as our federally-protected trademarks."
Texas A&M and the University of Texas also quickly moved to buy up .xxx domains, purchasing more than a dozen each.
Not all schools are rushing to defend their honor, however. Michigan State University is chosing to pursue any infringements as they occur, unlike the University of Michigan, which grabbed 21 site names just to be safe.
Rice University officials declined to comment on the new URL buying trend.
More than 10,000 .xxx domains were released on Dec. 6 — a day which quickly earned the name "Porn Tuesday."
