The Bizarre Story of Sex.com
By Clive Python | 14jammar
In October of 1995, Gary Kremen, best known for founding Match.com, registered sex.com with
Network Solutions, but he did not develop the
site as he focused on growing Match.com.
In 1995, Network Solutions transferred - without permission - the domain to Stephen M. Cohen, who had
been trying to get control of the URL for some time now by misrepresentation, using phone
calls, e-mails and forged letters. Interestedly, in the 1980's Cohen operated a paid-membership
BBS known as
the "French Connection" that was geared toward swinging and other sexual topics. In the late 80's he
organized swinger get-togethers at a home in Orange County, California. In 1990,
he was arrested for operating a sex club in a residential zone; but was found not
guilty by a jury verdict, but we're getting off topic here.
After he misrepresented Gary Kremen, he
would eventually persuaded an employee of Network Solutions to
change the ownership details by submitting a fake fax from Kremen's company Online Classified,
fraudulently stating that Kremen had been dismissed and the firm was abandoning the domain and that Cohen could have it.
Network Solutions blindly accepted the fax with no verification and transferred
the domain to Cohen, by doing this, Kremen would later use this against Network Solutions in a civil suit.
After he gained control of the domain, Cohen started an advertising-heavy site that received up to 25 million hits a day.
With help from payments for click-throughs and other advertising, Cohen was reportedly making $50,000 to $500,000 per month.
Kreman would undertake steps to recover the URL, while Cohen claimed he obtained the domain legally from Online Classifieds (OCI). A five-year
legal battle would be ensured, led by cyberlawyer Charles Carreon
In November of 2000, Kreman won the battle, Network Solutions was ordered to
return the domain to him. According to the court record of Kremen v. Cohen, Cohen was
ordered to pay $25 million into court in April 2001, the California
District Court awarded Kremen an additional $40 million for lost earnings, for
a total judgment of $65 million.
Cohan would appeal the judgment and refused to
allow assessment of his business: He provided false information and declared
most of his companies bankrupt while illegally moving assets out of US
jurisdiction. When an arrest warrant was put on Cohan's head, he would flee to Mexico
Kremen
offered a $50,000 reward for information about Cohen, but Cohen remained at large while
continuing to file appeals that were rejected. In October 2005, Cohen was
arrested in Tijuana, Mexico for immigration violations, and was handed over
to US authorities.
Kremen settled his lawsuit against Network Solutions for an undisclosed amount.
Cohen would be released from custody on the 5th of December 2006, by Chief Judge James Ware.
Cohen would continue to avoid paying the $67 million judgment and claimed poverty. The courts would find in favour
of Kremen since 2006, with evidence that seven individuals and
twelve companies were used to help Cohen hide the money, including his brother, his daughter,
his ex-wife and also his former lawyer. A court case against his brother is currently ongoing.
In May 2012, Sex.com was relaunched by Clover Holdings LTD in May of 2012, for p-p-p-porn.
I.
Sex.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex.com [Internet Archive, archive.is]
II.
Stephen M. Cohen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_M._Cohen [Internet Archive, archive.is]
III.
$50,000 Reward For Arrest Of Man Who Stole Sex.Com, Tax-News.com, New York
https://www.offshore-e-com.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=3850 [archive.is]
IV.
Chief Judge James Ware - Dead Link
http://www.cand.uscourts.gov:80/jw [Internet Archive, archive.is]
V.
XKCD Comic
https://www.xkcd.com/598/ [Internet Archive, archive.is]
http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Porn [Internet Archive, archive.is]
Written by Clive "James" Python, 02/10/17.
https://owlman.neocities.org/library/sexdotcom.html
https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://owlman.neocities.org/library/sexdotcom.html*
References