Warring Porn Kings Declare Truce: Tycoon Behind YouPorn Empire Backs Down In Legal Battle After Rival inflated Price Of XXX Sites

Warring porn kings declare truce: Tycoon behind YouPorn empire backs down in legal battle after rival 'inflated price of XXX sites' Manwin filed lawsuit against ICM Registry which sells .xxx domain names Claimed ICM charged too much after becoming exclusive .xxx registry Lawsuit alleged ICM 'conspired to eliminate competition in the markets' Manwin is owned by German-born 'King of Porn' Fabian Thylmann Thylmann arrested last year over alleged tax evasion on £60m empire ICM is owned by British former fax-machine mogul Stuart Lawley By SIMON TOMLINSON Published: 09:37 GMT, 3 May 2013 | Updated: 12:05 GMT, 3 May 2013 e-mail 15 View comments Settlement: Manwin, owned by Fabian Thylmann (above), alleged that ICM Registry had engaged in price-gouging over its sales of .xxx domain names The owner of one of the largest portfolios of adult-oriented websites has agreed to settle an antitrust lawsuit it brought against the company that has exclusive authority over sales of .xxx domain names.

Manwin Licensing International SARL, which owns sites such as YouPorn.com and xTube.com, jointly announced with ICM Registry that they had agreed to settle the lawsuit that Manwin filed in Los Angeles federal court in November 2011. Based in Luxembourg, Manwin also had sued the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which approved ICM's application to become the exclusive registry of .xxx sites. Jeffrey LeVee of Jones Day, an attorney for ICANN, said that it had reached a confidential settlement with Manwin to end the case.

Manwin, run by 'King of Porn' Fabian Thylmann, sued over what it said were overly high prices for .xxx names. The agreement between ICM and Manwin, woke.id according to the companies, will result in discounted wholesale prices of $7.85 a year for .xxx names during May. ICM, which is owned by British former fax-machine mogul Stuart Lawley, promised to offer similar promotions in the future. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next 'I'm tired of hiding': Revenge porn victim speaks about her... Share this article Share The deal also calls for Manwin to allow content from, or slot advertising for, other .xxx websites on some of its sites.

'Both parties feel that these arrangements will set precedent for trade and consumer benefit and protection for the situs slot online space,' the companies said in their statement. The introduction of .xxx was supposed to help Internet users easily identify the content they are seeking. X-rated: Thylmann, 34, owns seven of the world's most successful sex sites, including YouPorn, on which users can watch adult videos for free In its lawsuit, Manwin alleged that ICM had engaged in price-gouging after it was awarded a contract by ICANN in March 2011 to be the sole registry for top-level domain names in .xxx.

Other top-level domain names are .com and .org. Manwin claimed that it was forced to buy expensive .xxx domain names that it already had purchased in .com. It said such 'defensive registrations' were needed to prevent confusion that would result if others were allowed to buy them. ICM and ICANN, Manwin alleged, 'conspired to eliminate competition in the markets for certain .