Will the new .sx domain of Sint Maarten become a red lantern district?
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The island of Sint Maarten consists of a southern part which is an independent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Sint Maarten) and a northern part, which is an overseas community of France (Collectivité d'Outre-mer).
Until recently the island was part of the Netherlands Antilles, with .an as country code domain. In 2010 the Netherlands Antilles was abolished, and Sint Maarten became an independent country. It applied for its own cc TLD, and was granted .sx.
Why this letter combination was chosen, is not clear; maybe the letters refer to SXM, the abbreviation for the main airport of Sint Maarten, Juliana Airport. In any case observers expect that many will use this ccTLD for sex-related websites, as an alternative for the .sex gTLD, if it gets live. Trademark holders see this country code as a high risk for cybersquatting.
But fortunately there is a "sunrise" period, which still runs until July 15, in which trademark holders get priority when applying their domain; note that the trademark had to be registered before March 1, 2011. Then comes, from July 5 till September 4, 2012, a period during which companies based in Sint Maarten and residents of the country can apply for a domain.
And on September 5, the "Landrush" will start, where everyone can order his domain name, without any additional conditions. If there are multiple requests for the same domain, the domain will be auctioned. And finally on October 5, 2012, the .sx domain will be available for all on a "first come, first served" basis.
Check the availability of your domain name
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Posted on : 02/07/2012
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