Taylor Swift Just Bought Some Porn Sites with Her Name on Them

TaylorSwift.porn and TaylorSwift.adult. She bought them so that neither you, nor anyone on her long list of ex-lovers could buy them first. The purchase is part of a larger controversial practice called “domain squatting” and it just became a much bigger issue for celebrities and corporations.

CNN reports that, “In 2011, the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers decided to expand the number of generic top-level domains, or gTLDs, such as .com and .net. There were 22 at that time and now there are over 547 new gTLDs on the Web, with new suffixes released every month.” Among those new gTLDs are some salacious options like .porn, .sucks, and .adult so ICANN is allowing celebrities and corporations (basically anyone with a brand or trademark to protect), to get first dibs on the more controversial gTLDs before they become available to any and everyone on June 1st.

Though the gesture of allowing the Taylor Swifts of the world first crack at domains like TaylorSwift.porn seemscharitable, it’s part of a problematic “domain squatting” practice that predates the expansion of gTLDs. Domain or cybersquatting is the practice of registering a domain with the intent of profiting off someone with a brand to protect. The gist is celebrities don’t really have an option not to buy. If Taylor Swift doesn’t buy TaylorSwift.sucks, who will? Haters who are gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate that’s who.

Steve Miholovich, SVP of marketing at Safenames, a domain registrar and advisory firm for websites, told CNN that most brands are compelled to purchase controversial domain names as their only option to protect their name. If left unpurchased, Miholovich says, “People who have bad intentions are going to do what they’re going to do and there’s nothing to prevent that.”

As far as we know, Taylor Swift’s team has no plans to actually do anything with TaylorSwift.porn. But if I were a super-famous cat lady like Swift, I would fill the page with kitten porn. No weapon stronger on the internet than a good old fashioned cat gif.