The Australia-based Motion Picture Domain Registry has dropped eligibility requirements for new domain names in its .FILM generic top-level domain (gTLD). Earlier, the domain was strictly policed (or at least claimed to be) with potential registrants having to prove their connection to the filmmaking industry. This requirement and relatively high annual fees ($70 to $120) were promoted as measures to prevent intellectual property piracy. It was thought that they would protect against the distribution of pirated content.
Unfortunately, the restrictions did not work as planned. Domain Incite reports that, according to Alexa ranking, the most popular .FILM websites are piracy sites. Since the eligibility requirements were dropped, the number of registrations has spiked, exceeding 4,000 for the first time. This is still a rather modest figure for a gTLD delegated in 2015 but perhaps now the gTLD will have a bright future. It should be noted that the other film-related domain, .movie, controlled by Donuts, has even worse statistics, with the number of registrants wobbling between 2,000 and 3,000.
