Tag Archives: sex.com

Domain Name Aftermarket

Z.com Becomes Year’s Biggest Sale, And Biggest In Four Years, Selling For $6.8m

Domain Name Journal logoThe latest Domain Name Journal chart of top reported sales sees a whopper of a sale reported and the year’s biggest to date – that of z.com for ¥800,000,000 ($6,784,000) in a private sale. It is also the largest reported domain sale since the sale of sex.com for $13.0 million in November 2010.

The sale of z.com was by the Japanese automaker Nissan Corporation who has a series of “Z” sports cars. They have sold the domain to GMO Internet, Inc., one of Japan’s leading ISPs and applicant for new gTLDs and operator of the country’s largest domain registrar

The sale easily eclipses the year’s second biggest reported sale – mi.com, sold for $3.6 million in another private sale. There have also been another two sales topping the three million dollar mark – whisky.com ($3.1m) and sex.xxx ($3.0m).

Back to the week’s top sales for the week ending 23 November, the sale of z.com dwarfed the next biggest sales, coming in equal second was everything.org and rin.com, both selling for $35,000 through Sedo.

On the TLD side of things, there were 12 .com sales, along with one each for .org, .nl, .co, .co.uk, .mobi, .de, .ch and .net.

On the aftermarket outlets, Sedo dominated taking places two through 19.

To check out the Domain Name Journal list of top reported sales for the week ending 23 November, go to:
dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2014/20141203.htm

Domain Name Aftermarket

Sex.com Most Expensive Domain To Date: Guinness World Records

The sale of sex.com for $13 million on 17 November 2010 has been officially acknowledged as the “most expensive internet address domain name” by the Guinness World Record, Sedo announced.”We’re honored that Sedo was trusted with such a high-value and high-profile sale, and we’re ecstatic that it is now being recognized by Guinness World Records as a record-breaking price,” said Sedo in a statement.As well as negotiating the sale of sex.com, Sedo celebrated their tenth anniversary on 12 February and is now the world’s largest domain name marketplace brokering over $400 million worth of domain names including a number of high-profile, seven-figure transactions for premium domains such as Vodka.com, Pizza.com and Russia.com.”The sale of Sex.com was truly a team effort. We spent about two years with the domain establishing the relationship, researching and finding the right buyer and managing the domain’s transfer,” said Kathy Nielsen, director of sales at Sedo. “We’re honored that Sedo was trusted with such a high-value and high-profile sale, and we’re ecstatic that it is now being recognized by Guinness World Records as a record-breaking price.””With a prominent sale like Sex.com, the domain transfer process can be incredibly complicated,” said Jeremiah Johnston, chief operating officer and global counsel at Sedo. “But what makes Sedo unparalleled in the industry is that we work just as closely with domains of any size – to expedite and simplify the transaction, as well as eliminate unnecessary risks for both the seller and new owner.”To learn more about Sedo’s marketplace sales and statistics, please check out Sedo’s 2010/Q4 1010 Market Study: sedo.com/fileadmin/documents/pressdownload/2010Market_Study.pdf

Domain Name Aftermarket, Domain Name Registrants, Opinion

Sex.com Future Likely To Lie In Mainstream

Since the recent purchase of sex.com for a record price of $13 million to a Caribbean company based in the offshore tax haven of St Vincent and Grenadines by a company called Clover Holdings, the owner has been secretive. But TechCrunch has tracked down the owner for an interview of the plans for the domain.The domain is currently parked and brings in 125,000 visitors daily, mostly from the US, India and Germany, while the registrant works out what to do with it. According to the interview, even if the website is not developed, it could potentially recoup the $13 million purchase price by 2024. However this would be a poor investment, so it is certain that it will be developed.TechCrunch says there have been “a handful of interesting offers from mainstream media companies, technology companies and even one from the pharmaceutical industry” but nothing has been confirmed. But there is a deadline the registrant is working towards.And why not jump straight into the online porn industry the article asks? Because that would potentially rule out more mainstream options, a path they would prefer to follow.To read the interview with the unidentified sex.com registrant, see techcrunch.com/2011/01/04/so-you-just-bought-sex-com-for-13-million-now-what.

Domain Name Aftermarket

Will Gambling Prove More Lucrative Than Sex… In Domain Sales?

Gambling.com is being put up for auction with the hope of the current domain holder that it will prove to be a more lucrative sale than that of the recent sex.com sale.Back in November sex.com sold for $13 million, also through Sedo, in the largest ever reported sale of a domain name.Gambling.com has been put up for auction by Media Corporation, a London-based group, with the expectation the domain will sell for more than $10 million, according to a report in The Times.The auction comes about after a couple of potential buyers indicated they would be prepared to pay around $6m. A reserve of $9m has been set for the domain.The domain name is currently ranked number one on Google for searches of the word “gambling”, more than 300,000 people visit the site every month, the report says.To make an offer or for more information, see https://sedo.com/search/details.php4?domain=gambling.comTo read the report from The Times, see www.theaustralian.com.au/business/industry-sectors/bets-placed-on-gambling-over-sex/story-e6frg98o-1225981514264.

Domain Name Aftermarket

Sex.com Sale Goes Through For Biggest Weekly Sale

Domain Name Journal logoThe much reported sale of sex.com finally was processed and predictably easily led the weekly Domain Name Journal sales chart in the week to 14 November. The sale of sex.com through Sedo is easily the largest cash only sale for a domain name ever surpassing previous sales such as Fund.com (sold for $9,999,950 in 2008) and the sale of sex.com, reportedly for $12 million five years ago although as Domain Name Journal notes was a cash/stock deal.

All other sales paled into insignificance, unless you were the seller or purchaser, with no other sales breaking the six-figure barrier. Adhoc.com was second on the list selling for €65,000 ($87,750) followed by webengine.com ($50,000).

The top 20 sales chart was dominated by Sedo taking the top 11 spots and 18 of the top 20.

The highest sale for a non-.COM domain was hämorrhoiden.de, selling for €19,472 ($26,287).

To check out the list of the top selling reported domain names in the week to 14 November, see:
dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2010/20101124.htm

Domain Name Aftermarket

Sex.com Sells for $13 Million In Possibly Largest Ever Domain Sale

This week it was announced that the domain name sex.com, that has had a rather troubled past was, sold for $13 million to a Caribbean company based in the offshore tax haven of St Vincent and Grenadines by the name of Clover Holdings showing that the old adage of “sex sells” being as true as ever when dealing with domain names. Sex sells. has bid $13 million for the potentially lucrative domain name.The sale still has to be approved by a court after the previous registrants went bankrupt on 27 October, causing a long court battle. The sale was brokered by Sedo with about a dozen offers.Should the sale go ahead, it is likely to be the largest reported domain name sale of 2010, and possibly the largest ever. The largest reported sale to date in 2010 is slots.com, selling for $5.5 million according to Domain Name Journal, with gambling probably being the second biggest domain name aftermarket after pornography.Sex.com was last sold for $12 million to Escom LLC in 2006, the company that eventually went bankrupt not being able to make money on their purchase, and according to Kieren McCarthy who wrote a book on the sex.com saga, “has been unable to make Sex.com sufficiently profitable and was overdue on interest and debt repayments.”McCarthy also writes on his blog that “possibly the most interesting thing, apart from the peculiar behaviour of all parties yet again, is that the domain has gone up in price by only $1m in nearly five years.”McCarthy then raises a number of questions, these being:

  • does this mean that Gary Kremen got a great price back in 2006?
  • does it mean that the value of dot-coms, even Sex.com, is stabilising?
  • or does it mean that the buyers kept Escom down to the original price because they knew Escom had no real choice?

While as of yet he is not sure, McCarthy believes it is most likely the third option that has had most bearing on the sale price.In other major sales over the last five years, Domain Name Journal reports the largest reported sale being fund.com, selling for $9,999,950 in 2008 while porn.com sold for $9.5 million in 2007.There have been other large sales that have included domain names over the years, but these have included intellectual property that was a large portion of the sale price. Two of these are insure.com, which sold for $16 million and insurance.com for $35.6 million.The troubled past of sex.com began back in 1997 when the registrant, Gary Kremen, noticed Stephen Cohen had fraudulently hijacked the registration details with forged documents. A long court battle ensued and Cohen won back the domain and a $65 million settlement. However Cohen quickly left the United States to Mexico leaving Cohen with a mansion and small house in San Diego and Tijuana respectively and none of the settlement.In 2005 Cohen was arrested, served a year in jail, but upon release began hacking the page and making unfounded slurs against Kremen.

Domain Name Aftermarket

Sex.com Sale Getting Closer

Sedo’s brokering of the sale of sex.com via a private-broker deal ends on 28 September in what could become the largest ever sale of a domain name.

The sale came about due to financial problems of the previous owner, Escom, who is now facing bankruptcy proceedings. It was last sold for $14 million four years ago, and has been the subject of several court cases and disputes over ownership between Gary Kreman who purchased the domain name in 1994 and an alleged scammer Stephen Cohen. The dispute has been outlined in a book by Kieren McCarthy called The Brutal Battle for Sex.com.

The sale by private broker is anticipated to raise more money than if it was sold via auction as it gives potential buyers of the domain name time to arrange the finance.

For details on the sale of sex.com, see:
https://sedo.com/search/details.php4?domain=sex.com

Domain Name Aftermarket

Sex.com Auction to Finally Go Ahead

The on-again/off-again sale of the sex.com domain name has been given the green light with creditors reaching an agreement to put one of the most valuable domain names up for sale.The sale of the domain name by auction had been set down for March 18, but creditors of the company that owns sex.com, Escom, took out legal action, filing an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding claiming they were owed more than $10 million.But an agreement has been reached and the sale is likely to occur in the very near future.

Domain Name Disputes

Of Process and Product: Kremen v. Cohen and the Consequences of Recognizing Property Rights in Domain Names

Abstract: In Kremen v. Cohen the Ninth Circuit recognized a property right in domain names, defining property as any form of intangible benefit that is distinct and excludable. This reasoning is flawed for three reasons: (1) it is grounded in a faulty understanding of property law; (2) it is over-inclusive, capturing a variety of things and benefits that have been explicitly removed from the realm of property; (3) and it is under-inclusive, as it fails to consider a number of interests necessary for evaluating if something should be deemed property. This doctrine, broadly applied, would result in a massive expansion of legal interests classified as property.

The Kremen court also failed to contemplate the collateral impact of such an expansive view of property. In addition to providing a remedy for interference with the right to exclude, property also functions as an interface between the owner and the society at large, assigning a number of responsibilities and burdens to the owner. For example, the location of property assists in determining important questions of jurisdiction, venue and choice of law, and classifying an intangible benefit as property means transforming it into a taxable asset. When recognizing domain names, or any other form of intangible resource, as property, one must carefully consider how the change in rights will affect dependent social and legal rules — something Kremen failed to do. For these reasons, Kremen is an inappropriate source of authority to rely upon when considering novel questions of intangible property rights.

To download this paper by Noah M. Schottenstein from the Virginia Journal of Law and Technology, see:
www.vjolt.net/vol14/issue1/v14i1_a1 – Schottenstein.pdf

Domain Name Aftermarket

Sex.com Bankruptcy Takes Twists and Turns

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