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SALT LAKE CITY -- When .xxx domain names became available to the public Dec. 6, some local universities scrambled to buy website names that, in the wrong hands, could be used to tarnish their reputations. Others, however, choosing to wait on the purchase.
Along with universities nationwide, Brigham Young and Utah State each purchased .xxx domain names last week when they became available to the public. BYU purchased "byu.xxx" and "brighamyounguniversity.xxx" without a second thought.
"It is common practice for us and for most other organizations to secure the names or addresses associated with our university that are related to any new form of communications technology," said BYU spokesman Michael Smart. "We did the same with Twitter and Google+."
USU does not have a strict policy, but felt it a worthwhile investment to protect the university's name.
"When the issue came up, we felt we needed to ensure that we're controlling the content people might go to who are looking for our info," said USU spokesman Tim Vitale.
It is common practice for us and for most other organizations to secure the names or addresses associated with our university that are related to any new form of communications technology.
–Michael Smart
The university purchased "usu.xxx," "utahstate.xxx" and "utahstateuniversity.xxx" for a total of $600.
Some universities, though, do not feel the purchase would be worthwhile.
"It's not something we're in the business of doing with the thought that there could be a problem down the road," said University of Utah spokesman Remi Barron. "We operate with taxpayer money and we have to be diligent in the use of those funds. Anytime we are spending money, we have to have a good reason for it."
As of Tuesday, "uofu.xxx" and "utahutes.xxx" had been purchased, but Barron said he did not believe the university had purchased the domain names. He declined to comment on whether the university considered the issue to be worth giving attention.
Weber State University spokesman John Kowalewski said the issue merits consideration, but they have not had the opportunity to discuss it in depth. University officials plan to discuss the domain name purchases at a meeting later this week.
"The university's name and identity is something we take seriously," Kowalewski said. "In the interest of protecting the university's identity and reputation, we want to prevent it from being misused in a matter that would be inconsistent with our mission and focus, which is education."
The "weberstate.xxx" address was still available for purchase as of Tuesday evening. Southern Utah University officials were unaware of whether the university had purchased .xxx domain names related to the school. As of Tuesday, "suu.xxx" had been purchased and "southernutah.xxx" was available.
Both the "uvu.xxx" and "utahvalley.xxx" domain names were also available, however, Utah Valley University officials could not be reached for comment.
