Sir Richard Branson wins '.xxx' domain dispute

Sir Richard Branson has gained control over the website URL 'richardbranson.xxx' following a legal victory.

The Virgin boss seized the adult-branded domain from Australian Sean Truman after lodging a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), The Register reports.

The controversial new .xxx web domain names went on sale in December last year to create an internet "red light zone". Companies and celebrities were given a period of rights to register for protection against association with the URLs, but "cybersquatter" Truman moved before Branson.

However, a WIPO investigation ruled that Truman filed the application in "bad faith", and was thus denied full rights to the domain. Virgin has now ordered the Australian to hand over full control of the explicitly suffixed URL.

"We have a complaint against the owner of richardbranson.xxx. We spend a lot of time protecting the Virgin brand and the Richard Branson name and increasingly this takes us online," said a Virgin spokesperson.

"We do see this as a growing problem with the changes to top-level domains and we [are] not alone."

The .xxx URLs were introduced on December 6, 2011. Celebrities and companies seeking protection were required to pay between $150 and $300 (£100 to £200) depending on their domain provider.

> Richard Branson organises Aussie celeb dinner