World Trademark Review reports that domain registrations for the new “.sucks” gTLD will cost $2,499 per year, about 250 times the typical cost of a “.com” registration. Vox Populi Registry Ltd., which manages the “.sucks” gTLD, initially planned to charge a whopping $25,000 for registrations during the sunrise period, but recently reduced the annual fee to the still hefty $2,499. According to the company’s website, “dotSucks is designed to help consumers find their voices and allow companies to find the value in criticism. Each dotSucks domain has the potential to become an essential part of every organization’s customer relationship management program.” In view of this statement and the pricing, Vox Populi Registry is clearly targeting brand owners and businesses who want the “.sucks” domains as part of a defensive registration strategy, rather than critics and consumer advocates who would use the domains as forums for the airing of grievances. Brand owners and businesses will have to decide whether it sucks more to suck it up and pay $2.5K per year for “.sucks,” or gamble that their brands and business names will avoid being sucked into an easily accessible forum for people to vent their frustrations at how much those brands and businesses suck. Read the full article here, and the Vox Populi Registry site here. Reposted from World Trademark Review.

By 2bgr8 (File:Money Cash.jpg) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.