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Taylor Swift not taking any dot-com chances

Posted On: Mar. 25, 2015 12:00 AM CST

A pop princess is displaying some savvy reputational risk management by purchasing potentially embarrassing Internet domain names before others can do so.

According to CNN, representatives for Taylor Swift have acquired domain names including TaylorSwift.porn and TaylorSwift.adult ahead of June 1, when many new domain suffixes become available. The nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which oversees Internet domains, has allowed select brands and celebrities the opportunity to purchase domain names during a “sunrise period” prior to June 1.

In 2011, ICANN voted to expand the number of suffixes far beyond commonly used suffixes such as .com and .net to about 547 possible domain endings.

In addition to Ms. Swift, Microsoft used the sunrise window to acquire potentially risqué site names such as Office.porn and Office.adult, CNN reports.

Other image-conscious businesses and celebrities may want to follow Ms. Swift’s lead as one of the other approved domain suffixes set to become available is .sucks.