Kremen, of San Francisco, originally registered the name in
1994. But Cohen, an ex-convict, took the name from Kremen the
following year by sending a forged letter of transfer to Network
Solutions (which subsequently 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.
Cohen has paid nothing to Kremen, and Kremen says that a
warrant is out for his arrest. But according to the fascinating
article by USA Today, Cohen is now in Europe, making what he
describes as a "very comfortable living" in the European casino and
construction industries.
The case was last decided by the 9th US Circuit Court of
Appeals in 2002. That judgment, published in full the following
year, upheld a district court ruling in part, reversed it in part,
and in part remanded it to the lower court for further proceedings.
Cohen then tried without success to get the Supreme Court to review
the case; and last month it appears that it ended up back with the
9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, possibly ending one of the
internet's longest-running domain name disputes.
Kremen also sued VeriSign for the initial blunder, a case that
settled last year with the company paying Kremen an undisclosed
sum.
