TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Man Accused of Stealing sex.com Web Site Finally Captured, Arrested

Man Accused of Stealing sex.com Web Site Finally Captured, Arrested

Associated Press News Wire (ap@telecom-digest.org)
Sat, 29 Oct 2005 10:55:58 -0500

A man accused of stealing a pornographic Web site and making millions
of dollars from it was arrested by Mexican authorities.

Stephen Michael Cohen, 57, was taken into custody Thursday as he
applied for a work permit and was turned over to U.S. authorities,
said Tania Tyler, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals Service, which
tracks down fugitives.

At a hearing Friday in San Diego federal court, Magistrate Judge Leo
Papas ordered Cohen transferred to Northern California, where a
warrant was issued for his arrest.

"It's good that justice is served," said Gary Kremen, 41, who fought
Cohen for years over the sex.com Web site. "It actually says something
about border cooperation."

The lucrative Web site primarily hosts ads for other sex-related
sites. Kremen said he spent $4.5 million in legal fees trying to
regain control of it.

A federal judge in 2000 found that Cohen had hijacked the domain name
by forging a letter from Kremen's company. The judge ordered Cohen to
return the site and pay Kremen $65 million.

Cohen failed to appear in court after the judgment was entered and the
judge in 2001 issued an arrest warrant charging him with contempt of
court. Since then, he had been living in Tijuana, according to court
records.

The warrant orders Cohen to remain imprisoned until he returns $25
million that the judge said was illegally transferred out of the
country.

Through the courts, Kremen obtained several of Cohen's assets in the
United States, including a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, a San Diego
suburb.

Kremen also founded match.com, a dating Web site he has since sold.

Cohen has previously served time behind bars. He was sentenced to 46
months in federal prison in 1993 after he was convicted of bankruptcy
fraud in San Diego federal court.

Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune, http://www.uniontrib.com

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

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