From today, companies within the adult entertainment industry will be able to bid for a new domain name, the suggestive .xxx.

Following a ten-year legal battle, a Florida-based entrepreneur has won the right to set up the sponsored domain, with several adult sites already jumping on board.

Speaking to The Independent, Stuart Lawley, who runs ICM Registry, the company selling .xxx, says he created the domain to "promote a responsible approach to adult content on the Internet and offer clear signposts to its locations online".

He also hopes to make some money, having already outlaid $20 million on the project in legal fees. Still, with registers selling the domain for around $99 a year, and with estimates of 500,00 buyers in the first year, Lawley may well see his labours bear fruit.