The sex.com sale, or non-sale, is back in the news with a couple of stories about it. In one, Reuters is reporting “a lender which claims it is owed millions by the Sex.com [registrant] is asking a U.S. bankruptcy court to dismiss an involuntary bankruptcy case against the company, so it can resume a foreclosure auction, according to new court documents.”Meanwhile People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) think it would be a good idea, well, they call it a “stimulating” idea, for DOM Partners to donate the domain name to PETA. PETA think the domain name would be a great idea to help them educate the public as to the wonders of “veggie Viagra”! So they wrote to Dom Partners’ solicitors on 17 March urging them to donate the domain name to them, suggesting there were huge tax advantages.But back to the Reuters report that says the New Jersey lender, DOM Partners LLC, claim to have “loaned more than $4 million to Escom LLC to fund the website’s operations, said in court papers on Friday that Escom shouldn’t be in bankruptcy. DOM said it would be best able to recover the debt by holding a new auction for what may be the world’s most valuable domain name.”The Reuters report outlines how Escom “reportedly paid $14 million to acquire the Sex.com domain name in 2006 and said at the time that it planned to create a ‘next-generation Web interaction’ experience on the site. But the court documents filed by the lender painted a picture of a company with just one employee, little income, and little ability to achieve its intentions.””ESCOM has no working capital of its own to finance any development of the Domain Name, let alone to pay its secured creditors,” a representative for the lender said in court papers.”A hearing is set for April 20 at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Woodland Hills, California, according to court papers filed on Monday.”For more information, see:
www.reuters.com/article/idUSN3014848420100331
www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=14439