The world's most expensive domain name "sex.com" with a price of 1.3 billion yen, auctioned and auctioned

It is famous for fraud over proprietary rights and subsequent trials, and its circumstances are two domain non-fiction domain names "Sex.comBut in January 2006 it was sold to Boston's company Escom LLC for $ 14 million (about 1,280 million yen) and it became known as the most expensive domain name in history.

It is said that a fraudster who has defrauded the domain name from the original registrant in 1995 earned 10 billion yen in 5 years, and it is exactly "sex.com" which can be said to be a golden egg on the Internet, but this Since Escom could not return the debt secured by the domain name, it became clear that it could be seized and auctioned.

Details are as below.Sex sells - but sex.com is not worth $ 14 m, owner of domain name finds - News, Gadgets & Tech - The Independent

Be Careful what You Wish For: The Continuing Saga of Gary Kremen and Sex.com

"Sex.com" was entrepreneur in April 1994Gary KremenMr. (World's Largest Online Dating SiteMatch.comFounder ofNetwork SolutionsIt was registered through. Mr. Kremen initially laid down the site without creating anything in this domain, but in the meantime, a cheatStephen M. CohenTook an eye and changed to Cohen name in 1995 as a result of Cohen keeping contacting Network Solutions by forging telephone / e-mail and letters. As a result, Network Solutions will receive a civil lawsuit by Mr. Kremen.

The site Cohen made at the "sex.com" domain boasts 25 million accesses a day and gets advertisement income of about 5 million to 50 million yen per month. Cohen is believed to have earned $ 100 million (about 9.2 billion yen) through ownership of "sex.com" between October 1995 and November 2000, but refuses inspection by the court and owns it I submit false information that most companies are going bankrupt, I succeed in illegally transferring most of assets outside of the United States.

After five years of trial, ownership of "sex.com" returned to Mr. Kremen, but in 2001 he was ordered to damages Kreman for 65 million dollars (about 6 billion yen), arrest warrant When it comes out, Cohen goes high to Mexico. Despite Kremen calling for information provision with a prize money of 50,000 dollars (about 4.6 million yen), Cohen continued to escape for many years, finally in October 2005 Mexico ·TijuanaHe was arrested for a crime of immigration law violation and was handed over to the USA.

Cohen who was interrogated in prison claimed that "There is a memory impairment due to a stroke that occurred during escape," and that the location of the huge asset that should have been obtained at "sex.com" has not been disclosed , Kremen could not receive damages of $ 65 million, but the state of California confiscated from CohenSan Diego CountyHe owns a mansion in Hawaii, and he lives now. It is said that Kremen's expenses for trial were about $ 5 million, and the settlement received from Network Solutions in 2003 is $ 15 million (about 1.3 billion yen).

The history of this fraud case and court struggle is based on Kremen's lawyer specializing in cyber affairCharles Carreon"The SEX.COM Chronicles"Journalist Kieren McCarthy's"Sex.com: One Domain, Two Men, Twelve Years and the Brutal Battle for the Jewel in the Internet's CrownIt is also a book of two books. According to McCarthy, Stephen M. Cohen that Stephen M. Cohen says "It is an unfamiliar but a genius IQ and a fraudster with extraordinary persuasion skills" and elite business which has acquired MBA at Stanford University and has made numerous internet ventures successful If you are interested in a confrontation between the contrasting two people, Mr. Gary Kremen, you may want to read it.

San Diego groupRancho Santa FeMr. Gary Kremen (2006) who shows a smile in front of the pool of his own residence (6 bedrooms, 830 square meters). During the escape of Cohen it seems there was a period of depression and abuse of drugs, but it was said that it was able to recover by support of the family.


Stephen Michael Cohen who worked the fraud (from the album of Van Nuys High School in 1966 · Los Angeles).


Kremen sold "sex.com" to Boston's company Escom LLC in January 2006 for $ 14 million (approximately 1,280 million yen) and became an advisor to the site. New owners and othersPLAYBOYWe plan to reconcile the adult Internet industry with plans to deliver content distribution agreements with a variety of companies including, "Kremen said at the time" It is exciting to see how the revolutionary new business plan will evolve " Although I was talking, Escom's adult portal site "Sex.com" finally ended up being a common and unusual thing, and competing similar domains such as "worldsex.com" and "livesex.com" Even though it appeared many times, it seems that the profit corresponding to "the world's highest domain name" could not be raised.

"Sex.com" seems to stop running now, and when you visit the site it will be redirected to a different page, but the cache looks something like this.
Sex.com - All Ways on Your Mind


Although it is not clear whether the 1.3 billion yen of domain acquisition cost could be collected or details such as the debt value of Escom, it is not a detailed thing, but it is auctioned on March 18, 2010 due to default to Dom Partners Inc. It is said that about one week ago the auctioneerDavid R. Maltz & amp; Co., Inc.It is announced at the site of. Auction is a law firm in New YorkWindels Marx Lane & amp; MittendorfThe bidding applicant seems to need to bring a check with a guarantee with payment of 1 million dollars (about 92 million yen) to the venue on that day, but according to sources of concern, "When it was sold in 2006 It is difficult to think that it will reach such a price ".