Kieren McCarthy and I will discuss the fight for one of the world’s most valuable domain names.
That’s the boring part of the story.
Next month at NamesCon Online, I’ll interview journalist Kieren McCarthy about the fight for Sex .com before the record-breaking sale. A fight involving two men who would stop at nothing: Stephen Cohen, the man who stole the domain name and fled from justice. And Gray Kremen, an internet entrepreneur who had to go to ridiculous (and expensive) lengths to get the domain name back.
We will discuss:
- How Cohen tricked the .com registry (Network Solutions at the time) into transferring the domain to him
- What Cohen did to his mansion before handing the keys over to Kremen
- How the two antagonized each other in late-night phone calls as they battled in court
- If that gun battle in Mexico really happened
McCarthy’s book is a fantastic read for anyone who is interested in domain names and crime capers. You can buy a copy here. And join us next month for a lively talk.
Think you mean “Gary” (not Gray) Kreman. 🙂 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Kremen
I spoke with Steven Cohen in 1997. He had called me interested in Tijuana.com. When I told him I planned on building Tijuana like I had with PalmSprings.com, I could hear his fingers tapping on the keyboard as he looked up what I was doing with the Palm Springs. We then had an hour long conversation.
A few of the interesting points that he made—he told me he registered sex.com in 1979, which I knew was untrue. You couldn’t register names that early. I realized how he obtained Sex.com. All you needed to do to switch over a registration was by simply faxing a signed letter with your company‘s business letterhead to Network Solutions stating that you were a principal in the company and that you wanted the new updated whois information.
That’s simply how he got the name. He’s defraud Network Solutions by saying that he was a principal in the company and took possession of the Sex.com.
The person who owned match.com and previously Sex.com must not of ever realize in time that the registration was changed.
The reason why I know this is that at the time, I had spoked to one of managers at Network Solutions about the same issue—likewise someone had change the registration on one of my domain names. I had quickly noticed it over a weekend and Netsol told me the same simple instructions to get my name back, which I did.
Steven was living in Tijuana and he told me he was microwaving his cell phone connection from San Diego. He was obviously living a crooked life in Mexico. He was making millions and keeping it on an off-shore account. He gave me his cell phone but I never called him back.
Sad to hear how people committing fraud to get a good domain. Wish I had gotten that one when the time was right. I did secure Buyitnow.xxx and was going to set up an affiliate sex toy business but now have it listed on godaddy. I am glad the security is better for domain transfers now and that Godaddy handles escrow when I do sell a domain usually once or twice a year. Good luck and success to all.