Comments
by Frank Tauk.
The
Bad Guys Win Again
Just
what is a domain name? You know, the address you type in your browser
to get to a webpage...like http://getdetails.com?
It's a registered name that points all the computers on the world wide
web to your server. It's also supposed to be secure, and free from
fraud...well it was supposed to be. On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge
James Ware dismissed a theft claim -- technically called a "conversion"
claim -- against a twice-convicted felon accused of hijacking a web site
name, ruling that Web domains aren't property, and therefore can't be stolen.
The
domain in question is Sex.com. According to the plaintiff Gary Kremen,
this name was stolen by Stephen Cohen by using a forged letter to Internic,
the original domain name registrar. During the proceedings, it was
established that Kremen had originally registered the name in early 1994,
and that Cohen, who was released from prison shortly thereafter, stole
the name a few months later.
I'm
being very careful in this article not to actually accuse Mr. Cohen, since
he reportedly has a large staff of lawyers who do nothing but bring suits
all day, every day. But the facts remain that Kremen decided to stand
up for his rights, and now through it's infinite wisdom, the court has
decreed there's not a damned thing he can do about it. Now that's
scary.
Consider
what would happen if someone could high jack your house, or bank account.
By allowing this possible fraud to stand, the court is saying in effect,
if you can find an innovative way to steal, go for it.
You
may be wondering why this is really such a big deal after all, I mean aren't
there millions of other domain names out there? Why didn't Kremen
just forget the whole thing, and just register a new name? There's
big money involved for one thing. As Mr. Cohen has been quoted as
saying, the world over, there's one thing everyone understands...SEX.
With more than 140-Million hits every month, this is quite possibly
one of the most lucrative sites on the web.
By
his own admission, Cohen charges at least $1,000,000 a month just to display
banner ads for other sex sites. Add in the millions of memberships
the site has sold at $25 a pop, and you've got a 100-million dollar reason
to go to court. Kremen vows to take it all the way to the Supreme
Court, and I, for one wish him well. If he fails, God only knows which
site will be next...MSN.com,
Yahoo
and Amazon are all equally
vulnerable in the realm of cybercriminals.
Finding
the true figures to go with the assets could be somewhat difficult though.
Since the controversy began, Cohen has transferred ownership of the company
to a holding company based outside the US, which in turn is owned by yet
another company. Meanwhile, the legal bills Mr. Kremen has incurred
trying to protect his rights have really begun to mount.
Hopefully
he won't succumb to the fate of many others who dared to go up against
Cohen and his henchmen: Give up and let them have it.
By
the way, you'll notice there is no link to sex.com in this article.
First of all, it's not because I have qualms about it's content...I'm not
a prude. No, it's the incredibly irritating practice of opening
a cascade of new browser windows when you try to leave the site...I counted
13 separate windows as I tried in vain to get away from the sleaze.
I eventually had to turn the computer off. |
