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Sex.com: One Domain, Two Men, Twelve Years and the Brutal Battle for the Jewel in the Internet's Crown
With five million page views every day, sex.com was the most valuable piece of virtual real estate on the planet. But the fact that it didn't physically exist didn't mean that it couldn't be stolen. With an ingenious scam-the full details of which have never been revealed until now-lifelong con man Stephen Cohen was able to snatch the domain name and walk into a life of untold wealth and luxury. But Cohen underestimated the determination of Gary Kremen-sex.com's original owner-to get his property back. It took ten years and millions of dollars, but Kremen eventually saw, and, on occasion, forced Cohen to pay for his crimes. This is the inside story of the extraordinary battle between two extraordinary a Stanford scholar with uncanny foresight, and an uneducated, genius con man with an unnatural gift for persuasion. The fight pushed each man to the edge, rewrote the law, and shaped the history and development of the Internet as we know it.
- GenresBusiness
246 pages, Paperback
First published May 17, 2007
7 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 30, 2011
Sex.com is true crime for the internet nerd. It's written in the style of every other true crime story - minus the blood and guts, of course, but with all of the detail and intrigue. There's not quite enough of the technical aspect for my taste, I would have liked to hear more about Ellen Rony's testimony, but it's still an excellent book and a reasonably fast read. The other book on the subject, , is written by one of the lawyers involved in the case - so although it's newer, it's not as neutral as this one. This is an excellent retelling of a groundbreaking, amazing story from the early days of the World Wide Web.
October 9, 2011
Truth is indeed stranger than fiction - an excellent yarn about fraud, ego, and the wild west frontier mentality of the early days of the Internet
June 19, 2012
This true story has everything, speed freak internet entrepreneurs, a slick con man and a Mexican lawyer nicked named "the toad." I have read articles about this but am eager to get the full story.
January 30, 2020
Such a wild true story. The guy who founded Match.com was the first person to buy Sex.com back in 1994. A con man brilliantly stole it from him and pocketed more than $60-100 million during the gold rush of top level domains. It took 12 years of court proceedings to get back the domain. I heard about this story several years ago but I learned so much more by reading this book. Fascinating story.
May 31, 2024
read for work lol, but a wilddddd story.
the legal stuff got a bit boring, but every aspect of this case is bonkers hahaha.
the legal stuff got a bit boring, but every aspect of this case is bonkers hahaha.
March 21, 2015
An incredible story of persistence by the original owner of this domain who had it stolen from him by a master con man. After years of legal battles the domain was finally returned.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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