November 23, 2005 | The Biz

Sex.com thief sits in jail

Ten years ago, the famous domain name Sex.com -- a goldmine for one lucky Internet entreprenuer -- was stolen when Web registry Network Solutions Inc. received a false letter of transfer that sanctioned the domain's theft by an especially wily conman.

On Monday, a federal judge in San Jose, Calif., told the author of that letter, convicted forger Stephen Michael Cohen, that he controlled his own fate.

"Your freedom is up to you," Judge James Ware told Cohen.

Ware issued a $65 million judgment against Cohen in 2001 when Sex.com's original owner, Gary Kremen, took the case to court. Cohen fled the country in the wake of the decision four years ago and was arrested in Mexico in October on charges of civil contempt for his flight. Cohen has plead poverty, but Ware insists that he will remain in prison until he comes up with the money to settle the judgment against him.

"The longer [Cohen] pleads poverty and refuses to account for what happened to his money, the longer he will be in jail," says Kremen's lawyer, Tim Dillon.

The legal case against Network Solutions, who authorized the transfer of Sex.com to Cohen, was resolved last year after reaching the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which stated in its landmark decision that domain names are virtual property.

What else is "property," Mr. Cohen? A man's ass when he's in prison ...

• Court to Cohen: it's up to you how long you stay in jail [AVN Online]