Lilith
11-05-2002, 06:52 PM
Nearly 60,000 South Koreans are competing for the right to own an internet sex address.
They want to buy www.sex.co.kr which is among more than 8,000 domain names put up for sale since the South Korean government lifted a ban on site names they thought could be abused.
Of the 193,000 applications so far received for the domain names, 58,000 have been for the sex address, the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported.
An official spokesman said applicants for the sex domain were from all walks of life, including university students, office workers, homemakers. There had even been applications from children.
The winning applicant will be chosen by computerised lottery.
Im Man Su, president of the Internet Adult Culture Association, told the paper: "The US company with sex.com as its domain name, for example, makes an average of 10 billion won (£9.22 million) every year through advertising banners."
He believed the South Korean domain winner of www.sex.co.kr could easily make around £3 million a year from owning the site name.
A spokesman for a local adult site said he had submitted eight different applications using names of his family members and relatives.
He said: "As far as I know, many have submitted at least three to five different applications by using other people's names.
"People are trying to maximise their chances of winning by submitting multiple applications with different dates and company names."
They want to buy www.sex.co.kr which is among more than 8,000 domain names put up for sale since the South Korean government lifted a ban on site names they thought could be abused.
Of the 193,000 applications so far received for the domain names, 58,000 have been for the sex address, the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported.
An official spokesman said applicants for the sex domain were from all walks of life, including university students, office workers, homemakers. There had even been applications from children.
The winning applicant will be chosen by computerised lottery.
Im Man Su, president of the Internet Adult Culture Association, told the paper: "The US company with sex.com as its domain name, for example, makes an average of 10 billion won (£9.22 million) every year through advertising banners."
He believed the South Korean domain winner of www.sex.co.kr could easily make around £3 million a year from owning the site name.
A spokesman for a local adult site said he had submitted eight different applications using names of his family members and relatives.
He said: "As far as I know, many have submitted at least three to five different applications by using other people's names.
"People are trying to maximise their chances of winning by submitting multiple applications with different dates and company names."