Global General

Sex.com may become most expensive domain name in history

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-11 01:11

BEIJING - The web domain Sex.com is up for auction with bidding starting at $1 million.

The domain has had a varied history since its birth. It was originally purchased by Gary Kremen, the entrepreneur who founded dating website match.com, in 1994.

But two years later, through a scam, the ownership was transferred to Stephen Cohen, resulting in a five-year legal battle over ownership.

A Californian judge awarded $65 million in damages to Kremen and returned him the rights to Sex.com. He eventually put the site on the market in 2006, and Escom reportedly paid $14 million, backed by DOM Partners LLC, a lender from New Jersey.

However the lender is now foreclosing the Internet property after the owner Escom failed to pay its loan.

Bidding is due to start on March 18 and some are suggesting the web domain may bring in record bids. Richard Maltz, an auctioneer at Maltz Auctions who is running the sale, said there was considerable interest in the domain name.

"We don't know who's serious and who's not, but prospective bidders need a 1 million dollar certified check," he said. "It should be interesting."