The History of Sex.com, the Most Contested Domain On the Internet

sarahnaomi writes On its face, sex.com looks like a no-frills Pinterest for porn, but behind the site lies an ongoing grudge match between the man who invented online dating and a con artist who stole the crown jewel of the internet out from under him. The history of the domain is well documented, with two books and dozens of articles written on the subject. It was first registered in 1994 by Gary Kremen, the entrepreneur who founded Match.com and was savvy enough to buy up several generic domains, including jobs.com and housing.com, in the early days of the internet.

Comments

TLDR

[NotInHere]

dude A registered sex.com
dude B fucked girl @ registry company of dude A and used further tricks to get sex.com
dude B made millions with the domain name
dudes C and D founded google, resulting in loss of "random visitors"
dude A got sex.com back from B through court descision, demanded $64 million
dude B didn't pay, fled to mexico, was turned over, spent time in prison, still didnt pay until today

Re:TLDR

[msauve]

It's all very confusing. Are we supposed to support the domain squatter or the con artist?

Re:TLDR

[kcwhitta]

Sex isn't trademarked, so domain squatting doesn't apply. It's a domain that he bought and owned and as a result had a right to do whatever he wanted with it.

Re:TLDR

[drinkypoo]

Sex isn't trademarked, so domain squatting doesn't apply.

Uh no. That's not how it works. Domain squatting is buying a domain for the purposes of speculation, and trademark is irrelevant. It would help if you knew what we were talking about.

Re:TLDR

[Registered Coward v2]

Sex isn't trademarked, so domain squatting doesn't apply.

Uh no. That's not how it works. Domain squatting is buying a domain for the purposes of speculation, and trademark is irrelevant. It would help if you knew what we were talking about.

It's a perfectly legitimate thing to do. It's no different than someone buying apiece of land hoping it will be valuable some day. He got there first and bought it so when someone comes around and wants i they have to pay for it. That's different than, as you point out, registering trademarks and holding the domain hostage. The first is a legitimate form of speculation and the latter simple extortion.

Re:TLDR

[Registered Coward v2]

You're a net newbie, aren't you. Domain squatters are scum. Right there with spammers and con artists.

Nah, been here since before eternal September. It's the late arrivers who are pissed at those who got there first and grabbed the good land. Same story, different century.

NSFW and no American Singles

[michaelmalak]

Link is NSFW.

Also, even if we take "online" as a euphemism to mean "web" and ignore UseNet singles newsgroups and who knows what else before that, the article makes no mention of Dan Bender, who launched American Singles on Feburary 14, 1995.

"The history of the domain is well documented"

[richy freeway]

So why are we going over it again?

we all meet a parasite like this sometime in life

[circletimessquare]

the best thing to do is cut all your losses

you will never get anything from someone who resists all attempts at a constructive life

After losing the case, Cohen fled across the border to Tijuana to avoid paying the settlement. Kremen responded by posting “wanted” signs all over the Mexican town with Cohen’s photo and information. McCarthy said Cohen claimed this resulted in bounty hunters showing up at his door and instigating a firefight with the Mexican police.

Eventually Cohen was extradited from Mexico and sent back to the US, where he sat in jail for six months until a judge gave up on trying to make him pay up. To this day, Cohen has refused to pay a penny of the $64 million he owes Kremen, according to McCarthy. The only thing Kremen was able to wrest from Cohen in the end was one of his properties, which he paid people to destroy before Kremen took ownership of it. And the petty fight continues.

“Kremen pays a set of lawyers just to follow anything Cohen does,” McCarthy said. “So they’ve been playing this cat and mouse game for 10 years. He chases Cohen around the world trying to get the money off of him, and Cohen flees around the world refusing to pay him.”

Kremen needs to just walk away. yes, he deserves much from this douchebag Cohen

but it begins to define your life, your identity, and your legacy, if you stay attached to such a piece of shit, even just antagonistically

cut your losses, move on

We could all use a little sex

[HnT]

Dude, it's the closest I've been in years so shut up and don't ruin this for most of us!!!

Re:we all meet a parasite like this sometime in li

[circletimessquare]

Cohen's a con man, he knows how to hide assets

you and i have a house a job and a bank account. in our names. simple and plain

this guy has accounts in friend's names, accounts in countries with opaque banking practices, houses owned by trusts or shell corporations or family members, etc

to liquidate your assets or my assets would be easy, any forensic accountant could do it in 15 minutes. because we're financially transparent, honest and straightforward people. but some douchebag who tries very hard to squirrel away their assets can make it a full time job just tracking it all down

Also the thought comes to mind: At what point in time has the law failed you enough that, ethically speaking, you're well in your rights to just go bash the other guy's head in to at least get some satisfaction?

well, from the article:

After losing the case, Cohen fled across the border to Tijuana to avoid paying the settlement. Kremen responded by posting “wanted” signs all over the Mexican town with Cohen’s photo and information. McCarthy said Cohen claimed this resulted in bounty hunters showing up at his door and instigating a firefight with the Mexican police.

this sounds very close to "oops, poor guy got shot dead by accident"

so either Kremen has thought about the possibility of doing the guy in, or, at the very least, Kremen doesn't mind how his actions might endanger Cohen (i'm not saying he should)

lowlifes in seedy areas with sketchy financial assets and the need to avoid the law often wind up dead and robbed. hard to tell the difference between that happening and being accidental, or arranged

which is why it is good to be you and me with our boring plain finances. when your finances are squirrely, squirrely things can happen to you. but if someone messes with you and i, we can complain and get justice. the question of who is in the right and who is in the wrong isn't very grey

black and white absolutes don't exist in this world. but when it comes to your finances, it's best to be as close to black and white as possible. or you can get fucked with

the best target for con men and thieves, is other con men and thieves

because there's no honor in that world. pure dog eat dog

Re:we all meet a parasite like this sometime in li

[Anonymous Coward]

Contempt of court in a civil case can only be remedial, not punitive. If the judge determined that no amount of jail time will compel Cohen to pay up, he was obligated to let him go. That IS the "law of the land".

Charles Carreon

[Dynamoo]

One interesting footnote is that one of the legal team on Kremen's side was Charles Carreon who later gained notoriety through the The Oatmeal and FunnyJunk legal dispute.

Domain Squatters...

[mutherhacker]

I can think of very few things that upset me more than domain squatters. Up there with child molesters and corrupt politicians.