As the owner Escom failed to pay off its debts, Sex. com, the Internet's costliest address, is up for grabs.

In a 14million dollar deal Sex. com had changed hands only four years ago.

Labeled as the "jewel in the internet''s crown", the domain name of the site, will be auctioned on March 18. The auction will take place at law firm Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf in New York.

According to reports of the Independent, an insider close to the sale said the website was "unlikely to bring in what it did in 2006, although it really depends on how much someone wants it."

The website was so popular that it became the subject of two books: "Sex. com: One Domain, Two Men, Twelve Years and the Brutal Battle for the Jewel in the Internet''s Crown" by journalist Kieren McCarthy in 2007, and "The Sex. com Chronicles: A White-Hat Lawyer''s Journey to the Dark Side of the Internet" by Charles Carreon the following year.

Sex. com received five million hits a day and generated 100million dollars a year in its first five years. According to McCarthy it was the "most valuable piece of virtual real-estate on the planet".

A Stanford University scholar and the founder of dating site Match. com, Gary Kremen, registered the domain name in 1994. In 1996, the ownership was transferred to Stephen Cohen through a scam.

A Californian judge award 65million dollars in damages to Kremen after a legal battle. He was also given back the rights to Sex. com, but the lawsuits continued and Cohen finally fled the country. He was later caught and jailed.

Escom reportedly paid 14million for its rights when Kremen put the site for sale in 2006. Including a distribution agreement with Playboy, the new owners of Sex. com had plans to revolutionise the online adult industry and signed numerous content deals. (With Input from Agencies)