The sex.com case is one of the internet’s longest running and
most bizarre domain name disputes. For obvious reasons, the domain
name is one of the most valuable addresses on the web.
Sex.com was originally registered by Gary Kremen of San
Francisco in 1994. The following year, Stephen Cohen, an
ex-convict, took the name from Kremen by sending a forged letter of
transfer to Network Solutions which later became part of VeriSign.
Cohen then ran a highly profitable porn portal until November 2000
when a court awarded Kremen the return of the domain name having
found that the forged signature on the letter to Network Solutions
misspelled Kremen’s name.
A Californian district court ordered Cohen to pay the sum of $65
million in damages to Kremen. However, Cohen has to date paid
nothing. Accordingly, Kremen is instead seeking redress from
Network Solutions/VeriSign.
In 2000, a lower court ruled that Network Solutions, which is
the sole domain name registry for .com domain names, is immune from
civil suit in cases where it negligently handled a domain name.
Kremen’s company, Sex.com, which owns the name, then appealed to
the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Civil liberties group the
Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a brief in the case in
support of the action against the registry.
The American Internet Registrants Association (AIRA) said:
“The sex.com case is of great importance to
the internet community…The AIRA has been inundated with complaints
from registrants who have lost their domain names because of
significant and critical VeriSign mistakes… The Ninth Circuit
decision will determine whether these aggrieved registrants have
any right of redress against VeriSign.”
The appeal was based on claims that Network Solutions did not
make even a rudimentary attempt to verify the forged third-party
letter presented by Cohen.
One of Kremen’s attorneys said:
“There can be little question that a domain
name is inherently a lucrative piece of cyber real estate,
generating substantial revenue from its web surfers… Even domain
name thieves such as Mr Cohen appreciate that reality.”
After his conviction by the Californian District Court, Cohen
has not been seen. It is believed that he lives somewhere in
Mexico.
