FIU Should Have Thought About Buying FIU.XXX When It Had the Chance

When the new .xxx domain name went online last week, universities and businesses around the country went on a buying spree to snatch up their names before porn squatters started selling smut with their monikers. Florida International University may regret missing its chance to do the same.Since the new domain went live,...

By David Minsky

December 13, 2011

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When the new .xxx domain name went online last week, universities and businesses around the country went on a buying spree to snatch up their names before porn squatters started selling smut with their monikers. Florida International University may regret missing its chance to do the same.

Since the new domain went live, fiu.xxx has led to a blank screen with the titillating promise that "something naughty is coming soon." And the local businessman who apparently owns the domain isn't talking about what he plans to do with the institution's name.

Fiu.xxx is registered to a Jason Hertzberg, a local whose other companies include the High Tech Locksmith services here in Miami, according to state business records.

Reached on the phone, Hertzberg first denied owning the site and then stopped answering calls. A few minutes after Riptide contacted him, fiu.xxx's homepage turned into a bland "Under Construction" banner.

FIU officials also failed to return several messages from Riptide.

Whatever ends up happening with the site, it highlights an unintended side effect of the new domain, which local entrepreneur Stuart Lawley won the right to host after a decade fighting with the Bush Administration.

As we wrote last week, he says the new domain will help porn enthusiasts find smut easier and aid parents in blocking adult content at home.

But universities around the country have worried that porn companies will sell smut in their names through the .xxx label, so starting in September, Lawley gave prominent businesses and schools 50 days to register and block themselves from the domain.

Penn State, now wracked by sex-abuse allegations, made headlines by purchasing several .xxx extensions two months prior to the scandals at roughly $200 a piece.

A quick search shows that FIU may not be the only local school with a smut problem on their hands -- miami.xxx and miamihurricanes.xxx are both owned by out-of-state placeholding companies, according to online records.

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David Minsky is a U.S. Navy veteran and Tulane graduate who has experience reporting on stories from California, South Florida, and the Deep South.

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