Starting today, companies and celebrities will have a 50-day "sunrise" period allowing them to officially register under the .xxx domain and put down bids to set up shop in the Internet's red-light district.

 (Lance Whitney/CNET)

(CBS News)  

Starting today, companies and celebrities will have a 50-day "sunrise" period allowing them to officially register under the .xxx domain and put down bids to set up shop in the Internet's red-light district.

 

The new .xxx top-level domain is open not just to porn sites but to nonporn sites that want to block the use of their names on the .xxx domain. Florida-based ICM Registry, which is administering the launch, will work with 50 individual registrars around the world to handle the actual registrations. After the expiration of the sunrise period, a 17 day "land rush" period will open, allowing adult sites to register for whatever .xxxx addresses are still available. After that, applications will be reviewed individually on a first come basis.