Sex.com domain thief appeal denied

The man found guilty of fraudulently obtaining the Sex.com domain name has had his appeal case thrown out.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco yesterday dismissed Stephen Cohen's appeal on the ground that he is a fugitive from justice.

Cohen has not made an appearance in court during the five-year court battle after the initial ruling that found him guilty of fraudulently obtaining the domain.

Gary Kremen, the real owner of the domain, is also appealing against a lower court decision that domain name registrar VeriSign, previously known as Network Solutions, should not be held responsible for allowing the fraudulent transfer of the domain.

He is arguing that VeriSign's poor security measures surrounding the domain registry database mean that the company should be held financially liable.

A panel of three judges previously questioned VeriSign's lack of responsibility and likened the domain registry, also known as the Whois database, which links owner information and IP addresses to a domain name, to a stock certificate.

VeriSign was found not guilty of poor maintenance of the registry, but internet governing body the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) thinks differently.

Earlier this week Icann threatened to pull VeriSign's ability to sell domain names unless it smartens up its act and maintains a more accurate registry database.

It has given VeriSign 15 days to improve its system.