One of the most valuable domains ever created, Sex.com, went through a years-long battle for ownership shortly following the birth of the modern web, after it was stolen from its owner, Gary Kremen, earning the thief tens of millions of dollars.
Kremen who also founded Match.com, registered sex.com with Network Solutions, but did not immediately develop the site. In 1995, Network Solutions transferred the domain to Stephen M. Cohen, who had been trying to gain control of the domain for some time by misrepresentation, using phone calls, emails and forged letters. Eventually, Cohen got hold of the domain after persuading an employee of Network Solutions to change ownership details by sending fake tax. Cohen then produced an advertising-heavy site that received up to 25 million hits a day, earning him $50,000 to $500,000 per month. Kremen tried to recover the domain while Cohen claimed the domain legally from Online Classifieds (OCI). Both went through a five-year legal battle led by cyberlawyer Charles Carreon.
Kremen came up victorious in November 2000. Cohen was ordered to pay $25 million into court; in April 2001, the California District Court awarded Kremen an additional $40 million for lost earnings, for a total judgment of $65 million. Cohen then remained at large and continued to avoid any further payment and claims poverty. At that time, 7 individuals and 12 companies were used by Cohen to hide his money.
The domain name was the focus of one of the most publicized legal actions about ownership of domain names. Kieren McCarthy, a journalist who followed the case, wrote the book Sex.com, which was published in 2007.