Apple Targets iPhone-Compatible Adult Websites in WIPO Domain Name Dispute

iPhone porn sites

Apple, long publicly averse to pornography, has targeted seven domains that feature iPhone-compatible adult content in a complaint filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization.

As noted by Domain Name Wire, all seven sites contain the word “iPhone” in their names, including  names such as “porn4iphones.com.” However, there are some alarmingly innocuous-appearing names, such as “iphone4s.com” and “iphonecam4s.com.”

AppleInsider reports that while Apple owns iPhone4.com, the iPhone4s.com domain was successfully registered in August 2008, over three years before Apple unveiled its iPhone of the same name. 

The domains are protected by a privacy service to shield their Whois information, so their true owners remain unknown at this point.

The World Intellectual Property Organization, with which Apple filed its complaint, is an agency of the United Nations and handles disputes involving domain name ownerships, disputes that are often centered around trademarks and other intellectual property..

Apple appealed to the agency once before, in July 2011, to request that iPods.com be transferred to its control. That domain now forwards to an official Apple website.