People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals reportedly plans to launch a porn site.

The website, at peta.xxx, will be "a pornography site that draws attention to the plight of animals", according to Reuters [1], which cited a spokesperson.

With thousands of well-known companies reluctantly queueing up to pay up to block their trademarks in the forthcoming .xxx top-level domain, PETA appears to be a unique case of a non-porn brand that plans to embrace "adult entertainment" to further its cause.

The publicity-hungry organisation is of course no stranger to pandering to the prurient interest – its long-running "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" ad campaign has persuaded celebrities from Eva Mendes to Khloe Kardashian to strip off for a bit of soft-focus photography.

Quite what a porn site dedicated to animal rights looks like remains to be seen. We await its launch with a mixture of curiosity and terror.

PETA has yet to secure its .xxx domain. The "sunrise" period for trademark holders to protect their brands – at a cost of $200 and up [2] – does not kick off until 7 September.

PETA recently crossed paths with the internet domain name industry when it called unsuccessfully for a boycott of domain registrar and web host Go Daddy, after its then-CEO shot an elephant [3].

It later scored a coup when it recruited Go Daddy spokes-totty Jillian Michaels to lead a demonstration in Los Angeles against the mistreatment of elephants in circuses [4]. ®

Links

1. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/15/us-internet-xxx-idUSTRE77E5W920110815
2. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/16/xxx_domains_pretty_pricey/
3. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/31/bob_parsons_gets_peta_gong_for_killing_elephant/
4. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/07/22/go_daddy_girl_sides_with_elephants_over_sponsor/

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