XRCO Refuses Sponsorship From ICM Registry

In response to a public outcry of protest from several adult industry figures, X-Rated Critics Organization (XRCO) chairman "Dirty" Bob Krotts decided to return the sponsorship funds for this year's XRCO Awards Show provided to the organization by ICM Registry. ICM Registry is the company behind the infamous dotxxx top level domain and as such not very popular in the online adult industry (*Understatement*).

AVN wrote:

Krotts received intense scrutiny on various adult forums from such industry observers as Mike South and original XRCO member William Margold over his choice to accept sponsorship funds from the much-maligned ICM.

AVN continued:

In addition to the online flack, Krotts got wind that such major participants as Digital Playground (whose contract stars Kayden Kross and Jesse Jane are, respectively, co-hosting the ceremony and going into the Hall of Fame) were considering pulling their presence from the show.

On the webmaster boards, XRCO's decision was met with applause and Mike South, the industry veteran who got the ball rolling, had the following to say on his blog:

It pleases me that the attention that I brought to this has resulted in ICM registry and .XXX being expelled from the XRCO Show, BRAVO to all the companies that stood in solidarity and said NO! That includes Digital Playground, Wicked and so many others. Good job.

GFY user Adultking took the opportunity to rub some extra salt in the wounds:

"Probably a lucky turn of events for ICMR, .xxx domain registrations have all but flatlined, there can't be too much money left in the kitty over at ICMR."

ICM Registry has spent millions of dollars on getting the dotxxx tld through the ICANN approval process, millions more on raceboats and sponsorship deals. Yet 4 months after the tld went live, ICM Registry still hasn't been able to convince its target audience of the usefulness of its product. The numbers published by Registrar Stats seem to confirm a statement George Kirikos (President of Leap of Faith Financial Services Inc.) once made:

Dotxxx has only been successful at one thing: making .aero and .coop look successful.

As many in the industry predicted, dotxxx was and is a failure. The only question that remains is: How long until ICM Registry is forced to admit defeat? Everybody knows they failed, it's time they step up and admit it.