Sex.com domain goes up for grabs

[eudaemonia]

LINKY

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Sex.com, one of the most valuable Internet domain names, will go up for auction next week after the previous owner defaulted on its debts.

Escom LLC paid a reported $14 million for the Web site in 2006. But the company failed to repay debt owed to DOM Partners LLC, the New Jersey-based lender that helped finance the deal.

As a result, sex.com will be sold "as is" in the equivalent of a foreclosure sale, according to a letter from DOM Partners' lawyers that was made public Tuesday. The auction is set for March 18 in New York, and bidders are required to appear with a certified check for $1 million to participate.

Richard Maltz, an auctioneer at Maltz Auctions who is overseeing the sale, said there has been a "good amount of interest" in sex.com. But he did not say how much the Web site could sell for.

"It is a very unique property," he said. "It will be an incredible opportunity for someone."

Indeed, sex.com generated $15,000 a day in revenue at one point, according to Charles Carreon, an attorney who wrote about the Web site's legal travails in his book "The Sex.com Chronicles."

By way of comparison, the domain name www.pizza.com reportedly sold for more than $2.5 million at an auction in 2008.

The sex.com saga

The auction is only the latest chapter in the turbulent history of sex.com, which includes allegations of theft and countless court cases.

Gary Kremen, the founder of Match.com, registered the domain name in 1994, according to a timeline of the events on the Web site of journalist Kieren McCarthy, who wrote a book about sex.com.

[...]

 

[silverwhisper]

that's very, very interesting...good find, e!

ed

 

[Cathleen]

Obviously I really want to know since I dup'ed my post.

 

[Cathleen]

What I want to know is how the first person claimed 'whatever dot com'. Who is that person (are those people) that said 'dubs' that's mine? It had to start with someone and I'm pretty sure it wasn't good ol' Al Gore.


Tell me that and you'll win a prize.


ETA: How about we all pitch in and buy that gem?

 

[eudaemonia]

What I want to know is how the first person claimed 'whatever dot com'. Who is that person (are those people) that said 'dubs' that's mine? It had to start with someone and I'm pretty sure it wasn't good ol' Al Gore.

I can't precisely answer the "how" but it likely involved registering the domain with the InterNIC. As for the exact "who"/human involved, this isn't dispositive but may satisfy your curiosity on some level:

100 oldest registered .com domains

Rank   	Create date	   	Domain name
1.   	15 Mar 1985	   	[URL="https://www.iwhois.com/whois/symbolics.com"]Symbolics.com[/URL]
2.   	24 Apr 1985	   	BBN.com
3.   	24 May 1985	   	Think.com
4.   	11 Jul 1985	   	MCC.com
5.   	30 Sep 1985	   	DEC.com
*snip*

Registrar whois lookup (whois.networksolutions.com)
Meystedt, Aron
XF.com Company
PO BOX 293
Cape Girardeau, MO 63702
US

Domain Name: SYMBOLICS.COM

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
Meystedt, Aron admin [anti-spam graphic] XF.com
XF.com Company
PO BOX 293
Cape Girardeau, MO 63702
US
573-450-8272


Record expires on 16-Mar-2016.
Record created on 15-Mar-1985.

As for Symbolics and the other First 100, here's a good read: 25 Years Later, First Registered Domain Name Changes Hands.
. . . . .

So what's my prize? Whiter teeth ... shinier hair ... immortality?!

 

[Cathleen]

Gee, Ms.E, I figured it was some guy named Buck sitting in a dark room somewhere. I owe you a prize...we must chat.