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{{For|other persons with a similar name|Stephen Cohen (disambiguation){{!}}Stephen Cohen}}
{{For|other persons with a similar name|Stephen Cohen (disambiguation){{!}}Stephen Cohen}}
{{Update|date=August 2011}}
[[Image:sex-com-crd.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Stephen M. Cohen’s Sex.com business card]]
[[Image:sex-com-crd.jpg|thumb|right|240px|[[Business card]]|alt=His Sex.com [[business card]]]]
'''Stephen Michael Cohen''' (born February 23, 1948)<ref name="KMcCarthy38">{{cite book|ref=harv|chapterurl=http://waterstones.com./wat/images/special/pdf/9781905204663.pdf|format=PDF|chapter=Stephen Michael Cohen|title=Sex.Com|first=Kieren|last=McCarthy|publisher=Quercus|date=2007-05-03|isbn=9781905204663|page=38}} &mdash; via Waterstones</ref> is an American convicted felon<ref name="KMcCarthy38" /><ref name="bicknell">{{cite news|author=Craig Bicknell |url=http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/1999/04/19140 |title=The Sordid Saga of Sex.com |publisher=Wired.com |date= |accessdate=2012-07-11 |deadurl=yes}} {{Dead link|date=April 2014|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref><ref name="DIN">{{cite web|url=http://news.findlaw.com/court_tv/s/20051104/04nov2005143246.html |title=Sex.com thief faces justice after hiding out in Mexico for four years |publisher=News.findlaw.com |date=2005-11-04 |accessdate=2012-07-11}}</ref> best known for his fradulent acquisition of the [[domain name]] [[Sex.com]].<ref name="Pankaj">E-Commerce By Pankaj, APH Publishing, 1 Jan 2010, [http://books.google.com/books?id=-V4ot1Rbt9gC&lpg=PA197&ots=HN6UfK9AAh&dq=stephen%20cohen%20sex.com&pg=PA75#v=onepage&q=cohen&f=false pp.75-77] and [http://books.google.com/books?id=-V4ot1Rbt9gC&lpg=PA197&ots=HN6UfK9AAh&dq=stephen%20cohen%20sex.com&pg=PA197#v=onepage&q=cohen&f=false 197-198]</ref><ref name="blue">{{cite news|author=Violet Blue, Special to SF Gate |url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2006/12/21/violetblue.DTL |title=Sex.com: A URL - All Crime And No Sex |publisher=SFGate |date=2006-12-21 |accessdate=2012-07-11}}</ref> He was also involved in the controversial [[peer-to-peer]] service [[EarthStation 5]].<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A61110-2004Feb21 ]{{dead link|date=July 2012}}</ref><ref name=eco>{{cite news|author=Sponsored by |url=http://www.economist.com/node/2301336 |title=Online music: Sex, lies and Earth Station 5 |publisher=The Economist |date= 2003-12-20|accessdate=2012-07-12}}</ref>


'''Stephen Michael Cohen''' is an American who gained notoriety after acquiring control of the [[domain name]] [[Sex.com]] in 1995. He also has citizenship in [[Mexico]], [[Israel]] and in the [[principality of Monaco]].<ref name="blue">Blue, Violet. [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2006/12/21/violetblue.DTL Sex.com: A URL - All Crime And No Sex] ''SF Gate'', 2006-12-21. Retrieved on 2007-08-09.</ref> He was later implicated in involvement in running the controversial [[peer-to-peer]] service [[EarthStation 5]].<ref>Anderson, John Ward. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A61110-2004Feb21 Techno-Rebels in West Bank?: File Swapping Firm Claims Odd Hide Out]{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, ''Washington Post'', 2004-02-22, pp. A29 via washingtonpost.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.</ref>
==Early life==
Cohen was born in [[Los Angeles]]<ref name="KMcCarthy38" /><ref name="mccarthy">{{cite news|author=Jenny Booth and Roland Watson Updated 46 minutes ago |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article1844511.ece |title=The Times &#124; UK News, World News and Opinion |publisher=Entertainment.timesonline.co.uk |date=2012-03-13 |accessdate=2012-07-11 |location=London}}</ref> and attended [[Van Nuys High School]] in the [[Van Nuys]] area of Los Angeles.<ref name="KMcCarthy38" /><ref name="blue" />


Cohen was born in [[Los Angeles]]<ref name="mccarthy">McCarthy, Kieren. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080706041338/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article1844511.ece Sex.com and a web of intrigue: Two men’s battle over a domain name shows how far the net has come]. ''The Sunday Times'', 2007-05-27, via timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-08-09.</ref> and attended [[Van Nuys High School]] in the [[Van Nuys]] area of Los Angeles. Cohen obtained his [[Juris Doctor]] degree at the [[University of Southern California Law School]] in 1972.<ref name="bicknell" />
==Early career and convictions==
In 1975, Cohen was convicted of [[grand theft]] and [[Check kiting|check-kiting]].<ref name="bicknell" /><ref name="KMcCarthy40">{{cite book|ref=harv|chapterurl=http://waterstones.com./wat/images/special/pdf/9781905204663.pdf|format=PDF|chapter=Stephen Michael Cohen | title=Sex.Com | first=Kieren | last=McCarthy | publisher=Quercus | date=2007-05-03 | isbn=9781905204663|page=40}} &mdash; via Waterstones</ref>


In the 1980s, he operated a paid-membership [[bulletin board system]] (BBS) called the French Connection, geared toward [[Swinging (sexual practice)|Swinging]] and other sexual topics,<ref name="bicknell" /><ref name="mccarthy" /> and by the late 1980s, he organized swinger get-togethers at a home in [[Orange County, California]]. In 1990, he was arrested for operating a sex club in a residential zone. He relocated the enterprise and charges were dropped.<ref name="bicknell" /> In 1991, he was convicted in a [[bankruptcy]] [[fraud]] scheme in which he forged documents and assumed other identities. He was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison, and was released on February 1, 1995.<ref name="bicknell" />
In the 1980s, he operated a paid-membership [[bulletin board system]] (BBS) called the French Connection, geared toward [[swinging (sexual practice)|swinging]] and other sexual topics,<ref name="mccarthy" /><ref name="bicknell">Bicknell, Craig. [https://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/1999/04/19140 The Sordid Saga of Sex.com]. ''Wired'', 1999-04-15.</ref> and by the late 1980s, he organized swinger get-togethers at a home in [[Orange County, California]]. In 1990, he was arrested for operating a sex club in a residential zone; he was found not guilty by a jury verdict.<ref name="bicknell" />


== Sex.com ==
== Sex.com ==
{{main|Sex.com}}
[[File:sex-com-crd.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Stephen M. Cohen’s Sex.com business card]]
⚫
Cohen fraudulently obtained the lucrative [[Internet]] [[domain name]] [[Sex.com]] in May 1995 from the original registrant, [[Gary Kremen]], who had registered it in May 1994. Cohen obtained the domain by means of a forged letter to domain registrar [[Network Solutions]], faxed from Kremen's company "Online Classified", fraudulently stating that Kremen had been dismissed and the firm was abandoning the domain and that Cohen could have it. Network Solutions blindly accepted the fax with no verification and transferred the domain to Cohen, an action that would prove grounds for a later civil suit by Kremen against Network Solutions.<ref name="Pankaj" /><ref name'"KRE">Kremen v. Network Solutions, Inc. Appeal from the [[United States District Court]] for the Northern District of California. James Ware, District Judge, Presiding. Argued August 13, 2002. Submitted July 25, 2003—San Francisco, California. Filed July 25, 2003. Before: Alex Kozinski and M. Margaret McKeown, Circuit Judges, and James M. Fitzgerald, District Judge. Opinion by Judge Kozinski. [http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/999D1D5B0D734B6088256D6D0078CB88/$file/0115899.pdf?openelement]</ref> It is estimated that Cohen illegally earned [[US$]]100 million between October 1995 and November 2000 from his ownership of sex.com.


⚫
According to court documents, Cohen fraudulently obtained the lucrative [[Internet]] [[domain name]] [[Sex.com]] in May 1995 from the original registrant, [[Gary Kremen]], who had registered it in May 1994. Cohen obtained the domain by means of a forged letter to domain registrar [[Network Solutions]], faxed from Kremen's company "Online Classified", fraudulently stating that Kremen had been dismissed and the firm was abandoning the domain and that Cohen could have it. Network Solutions blindly accepted the fax with no verification and transferred the domain to Cohen, an action that would prove grounds for a later civil suit by Kremen against Network Solutions.<ref>Kremen v. Network Solutions, Inc. Appeal from the [[United States District Court]] for the Northern District of California. James Ware, District Judge, Presiding. Argued August 13, 2002. Submitted July 25, 2003—San Francisco, California. Filed July 25, 2003. Before: Alex Kozinski and M. Margaret McKeown, Circuit Judges, and James M. Fitzgerald, District Judge. Opinion by Judge Kozinski. {{cite web|url=http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/999D1D5B0D734B6088256D6D0078CB88/$file/0115899.pdf?openelement |title=Archived copy |access-date=August 21, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203053552/http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/999D1D5B0D734B6088256D6D0078CB88/$file/0115899.pdf?openelement |archive-date=February 3, 2007 }}</ref> It is estimated that Cohen illegally earned [[US$]]100 million between October 1995 and November 2000 from his ownership of sex.com.
In April 2001, the court ordered [[damages]] of $65 million be paid to Kremen. Cohen then fled to [[Tijuana, Mexico]] where he was arrested on October 28, 2005.<ref name="DIN" /> On that same day, the [[United States Attorney for the Southern District of California]] filed federal civil contempt charges in [[San Diego, California]] against Cohen for violation of a court order under [[Title 18 of the United States Code#Part IV - Correction of Youthful Offenders|18 U.S.C. §401]].<ref name="U.S. v. Cohen">U.S. v. Cohen, Case # 3:05MJ01732, Judge Leo S. Papas ([[United States District Court for the Southern District of California|S.D. Cal.]] (San Diego), Oct. 28, 2005)</ref> As of 2005 the amount of damages owed to Kremen had increased to $82 million with interest.<ref name="DIN" />


In April 2001, the court ordered damages of $65 million be paid to Kremen. Cohen left the United States in 2001 and was living in [[Tijuana, Mexico]], when he was arrested on October 28, 2005.<ref name="DIN">Dineen, J. K. Updated Nov. 4, 2005, 1:10 p.m. ET.</ref> As of 2011 the amount of damages owed to Kremen had increased to $82 million with interest and Cohen to this date, has refused to pay one penny towards the judgment.<ref name="DIN" />
Cohen was released from custody on December 5, 2006, by [[James Ware (judge)|Judge Ware]] because Kremen's lawyers had been unable to uncover Cohen's offshore bank accounts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/09/stephen_cohen_released/|title=Sex.com thief released from prison|publisher=The Register|date=2006-12-09|accessdate=2012-07-11}}</ref>


Since then, Cohen has not paid the $67 million judgement, and pleads poverty. Courts have ruled in Kremen's favor several times since 2006, with evidence that seven individuals, including some of Cohen's family members, and twelve companies were used to help him hide the money.<ref>{{cite web|last=Pardon |first=Rhett |url=http://www.xbiz.com/news/news_piece.php?id=142487 |title=Former Sex.com Owner Still Chasing $65M Unpaid Judgment |publisher=XBIZ.com |date=2011-12-23 |accessdate=2012-08-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Pardon |first=Rhett |url=http://www.xbiz.com/news/news_piece.php?id=143017 |title=Kremen Can Continue Claims Against Cohen's Cousin |publisher=XBIZ.com |date=2012-01-09 |accessdate=2012-08-03}}</ref>
Cohen was held in a civil contempt for failure to disclose his assets. He was released from custody on December 5, 2006, by [[James Ware (judge)|Judge Ware]] because "Kremen has failed to locate evidence of hidden bank accounts or other assets.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/09/stephen_cohen_released/|title=Sex.com thief released from prison|publisher=The Register|date=2006-12-09|accessdate=2012-07-11}}</ref> Courts have ruled in Kremen's favor several times since 2006, with evidence that seven individuals, including some of Cohen's family members, and twelve companies were used to help him hide the money.<ref>{{cite web |last=Pardon |first=Rhett |url=http://www.xbiz.com/news/news_piece.php?id=142487 |title=Former Sex.com Owner Still Chasing $65M Unpaid Judgment |publisher=XBIZ.com |date=2011-12-23 |access-date=2012-08-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004214236/http://www.xbiz.com/news/news_piece.php?id=142487 |archive-date=2013-10-04 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Pardon |first=Rhett |url=http://www.xbiz.com/news/news_piece.php?id=143017 |title=Kremen Can Continue Claims Against Cohen's Cousin |publisher=XBIZ.com |date=2012-01-09 |accessdate=2012-08-03}}</ref>

==EarthStation 5==
{{main|EarthStation 5}}
Cohen was involved in EarthStation 5.<ref name=eco />


== References ==
== References ==
{{reflist}}


==External links==
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
* (BOY) Boyle, Matthew. December 8, 2005, 4:33 PM EST. "Sex.com, drugs and a rocky road: Tracking down the millions owed after the theft of a tangled web domain". CNNMoney.com. /Fortune/News/Technology. [https://money.cnn.com/2005/12/08/technology/sexcom_fortune_121205/].
| NAME = Cohen, Stephen M
* (GLA) Glasner, Joanna. August 14, 2002, 2:00 AM. "Sex.com Takes Aim at Registrar". Wired. /Tech Biz/Media. [https://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2002/08/54514].
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
* (SWA) Swartz, Jon. Posted March 31, 2005, 8:33 PM. Updated 1 April 2005, 8:21 AM. "Appeals court upholds Sex.com ruling". USA Today. /Money. [https://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2005-03-31-sexcom_x.htm].
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American fraudster
* (VIO) Violet Blue. December 21, 2006. "Sex.com: A URL—All Crime And No Sex". SFGate.com. /Open Source (Column). [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2006/12/21/violetblue.DTL].
| DATE OF BIRTH =
*http://www.davidkushner.com/book/the-players-ball/
| PLACE OF BIRTH =

| DATE OF DEATH =
== Additional reading ==
| PLACE OF DEATH =
<nowiki>*</nowiki>David Kushner, ''The Players Ball''. ' NY:Simon& Schuster, 2019 {{ISBN|9781501122149}} (an account of the conflict between Gary Kremen and Stephen Michael Cohen for control of the internet domain sex.com).
}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Stephen M}}
<br />

⚫
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Stephen}}
⚫
[[Category:American expatriates in Mexico]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Orange County, California]]
⚫
[[Category:American fraudsters]]
[[Category:Van Nuys High School alumni]]
[[Category:Van Nuys High School alumni]]
[[Category:American people convicted of fraud]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:1948 births]]

Latest revision as of 20:39, 28 November 2024

For other persons with a similar name, see Stephen Cohen.
His Sex.com business card
Business card

Stephen Michael Cohen is an American who gained notoriety after acquiring control of the domain name Sex.com in 1995. He also has citizenship in Mexico, Israel and in the principality of Monaco.[1] He was later implicated in involvement in running the controversial peer-to-peer service EarthStation 5.[2]

Cohen was born in Los Angeles[3] and attended Van Nuys High School in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles. Cohen obtained his Juris Doctor degree at the University of Southern California Law School in 1972.[4]

In the 1980s, he operated a paid-membership bulletin board system (BBS) called the French Connection, geared toward swinging and other sexual topics,[3][4] and by the late 1980s, he organized swinger get-togethers at a home in Orange County, California. In 1990, he was arrested for operating a sex club in a residential zone; he was found not guilty by a jury verdict.[4]

Sex.com

[edit]

According to court documents, Cohen fraudulently obtained the lucrative Internet domain name Sex.com in May 1995 from the original registrant, Gary Kremen, who had registered it in May 1994. Cohen obtained the domain by means of a forged letter to domain registrar Network Solutions, faxed from Kremen's company "Online Classified", fraudulently stating that Kremen had been dismissed and the firm was abandoning the domain and that Cohen could have it. Network Solutions blindly accepted the fax with no verification and transferred the domain to Cohen, an action that would prove grounds for a later civil suit by Kremen against Network Solutions.[5] It is estimated that Cohen illegally earned US$100 million between October 1995 and November 2000 from his ownership of sex.com.

In April 2001, the court ordered damages of $65 million be paid to Kremen. Cohen left the United States in 2001 and was living in Tijuana, Mexico, when he was arrested on October 28, 2005.[6] As of 2011 the amount of damages owed to Kremen had increased to $82 million with interest and Cohen to this date, has refused to pay one penny towards the judgment.[6]

Cohen was held in a civil contempt for failure to disclose his assets. He was released from custody on December 5, 2006, by Judge Ware because "Kremen has failed to locate evidence of hidden bank accounts or other assets.”[7] Courts have ruled in Kremen's favor several times since 2006, with evidence that seven individuals, including some of Cohen's family members, and twelve companies were used to help him hide the money.[8][9]

References

[edit]
[edit]
  • (BOY) Boyle, Matthew. December 8, 2005, 4:33 PM EST. "Sex.com, drugs and a rocky road: Tracking down the millions owed after the theft of a tangled web domain". CNNMoney.com. /Fortune/News/Technology. [1].
  • (GLA) Glasner, Joanna. August 14, 2002, 2:00 AM. "Sex.com Takes Aim at Registrar". Wired. /Tech Biz/Media. [2].
  • (SWA) Swartz, Jon. Posted March 31, 2005, 8:33 PM. Updated 1 April 2005, 8:21 AM. "Appeals court upholds Sex.com ruling". USA Today. /Money. [3].
  • (VIO) Violet Blue. December 21, 2006. "Sex.com: A URL—All Crime And No Sex". SFGate.com. /Open Source (Column). [4].
  • http://www.davidkushner.com/book/the-players-ball/

Additional reading

[edit]

*David Kushner, The Players Ball. ' NY:Simon& Schuster, 2019 ISBN 9781501122149 (an account of the conflict between Gary Kremen and Stephen Michael Cohen for control of the internet domain sex.com).


  1. ^ Blue, Violet. Sex.com: A URL - All Crime And No Sex SF Gate, 2006-12-21. Retrieved on 2007-08-09.
  2. ^ Anderson, John Ward. Techno-Rebels in West Bank?: File Swapping Firm Claims Odd Hide Out[dead link‍], Washington Post, 2004-02-22, pp. A29 via washingtonpost.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
  3. ^ a b McCarthy, Kieren. Sex.com and a web of intrigue: Two men’s battle over a domain name shows how far the net has come. The Sunday Times, 2007-05-27, via timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-08-09.
  4. ^ a b c Bicknell, Craig. The Sordid Saga of Sex.com. Wired, 1999-04-15.
  5. ^ Kremen v. Network Solutions, Inc. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. James Ware, District Judge, Presiding. Argued August 13, 2002. Submitted July 25, 2003—San Francisco, California. Filed July 25, 2003. Before: Alex Kozinski and M. Margaret McKeown, Circuit Judges, and James M. Fitzgerald, District Judge. Opinion by Judge Kozinski. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 3, 2007. Retrieved August 21, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ a b Dineen, J. K. Updated Nov. 4, 2005, 1:10 p.m. ET.
  7. ^ "Sex.com thief released from prison". The Register. 2006-12-09. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
  8. ^ Pardon, Rhett (2011-12-23). "Former Sex.com Owner Still Chasing $65M Unpaid Judgment". XBIZ.com. Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
  9. ^ Pardon, Rhett (2012-01-09). "Kremen Can Continue Claims Against Cohen's Cousin". XBIZ.com. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
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