"Yes, I'm aware of it," says Chuck Cannon, spokesman for Denver International Airport. "I know that if you type in that address, you don't get to Denver International Airport. You get to a pornographic site." Denver airport's official Web site is www.flydenver.com. Cannon says airport officials have been aware of the alternative Web destination for some time, although they have not received any complaints from confused travelers.
Denver's airport is not the only one that shares its name with a lot of skin in cyberspace. Travelers seeking flight information at losangelesairport.com, phoenixairport.com, bostonairport.com, seattleairport.com, portlandairport.com, dallasairport.com, chicagoairport.com and newyork airport.com all end up at the same place as denverairport.
That destination is PamCam, which features an easily accessible side trip to "Nudelink, the hottest site on the net." While visitors generally must pay to enter the site, it is offering a special for the month of November: "5 Days Free Enter Now! Cum Inside."
Although geographically spread across the country, all of the airport/porn sites are registered to one person: Saeid Yomtobian, a Sherman Oaks, California, businessman. (Saltlakecityairport.com is registered to Stephen Yomtobian, same address.) Yomtobian owns a company called domain 4 sale, which advertises itself as a broker for Web-site names. But much of his business seems to be focused elsewhere.
For example, while the Yomtobians own domain sites that sound benign, even educational, such as elviscam.com, whitehousefile.com, kidssearch.com and governmentcam.com, they also have registered brownpussy.com, blowcam.com, breastcam.com and titcam.com. Also: fatgirls.org, mrsex.org and mrssex.org, alldick.com, bestofblowjob.com and dogporno.com. A computer search turned up 256 domain names registered to Yomtobian.
Westword was unable to reach Yomtobian at three separate phone numbers. One was disconnected, one was picked up by a person who claimed not to recognize the name--other than that it was Persian--and a third didn't answer. But Yomtobian has provided short interviews in the past. When contacted by the Los Angeles Times, Yomtobian asked if he would be paid for the interview. When told no, he said, "I don't have time for you" and hung up.
The Los Angeles paper has taken more than a passing interest in Yomtobian and his Web sites. "We began getting e-mails from readers asking, 'Is the Los Angeles Times in the business of pornography?'" recalls Karlene Goller, a lawyer for the paper. That's because, until recently, the Sherman Oaks entrepreneur also owned the name latime.com, another hard-porn site. (The legitimate site, which features news--rather than nudes--is latimes.com.)
Yomtobian offered to sell the domain name to the paper, but the Times declined, opting instead to fire off a cease-and-desist letter claiming trademark infringement. Yomtobian voluntarily shut down the porn site, but, Goller says, that wasn't good enough: On March 2 the paper sued. Yomtobian quickly agreed to turn the name over to the Times--for nothing.
Like Denver among airports, the Los Angeles Times is not alone among newspapers dogged by Yomtobian's near-accurate domain names. He still owns the site nytime.com, as well as the Dow Jones (publisher of The Wall Street Journal) soundalikes owjones.com and dowones.com.
DIA spokesman Cannon says that flydenver.com is working out just fine and that the airport is not interested in acquiring the domain site that bears its name but is owned by Yomtobian. (On the other hand, he says, it would be great if DIA owned dia.com; unfortunately, it is already registered to the Design Institute of America in Jasper, Indiana.) Cannon adds that he doesn't think there is a danger of any visitors to denverairport mistaking it for the genuine site.
Indeed, a visit to both sites confirms there are significant differences to indicate where visitors have landed. For instance, the real DIA site offers a "Traveler's Guide" and "Maps and Locations." The fake one offers "Live Sex Shows #1, 2 and 3," as well as an online Adult Products catalogue. And even though both Web sites feature testimonial letters from satisfied clients, they, too, have distinct dissimilarities that should tip off most Internet surfers.
"Thank you for being our tour guide," reads one letter from a Wyoming elementary schoolgirl posted on the authentic DIA site's "Fun Pages" section. "One thing I didn't enjoy on the tour was when I got searched for medal in the medal detector. One thing I did like was when we got to ride on the underground train. It was cool, you know."
"Dear Sir: Enclosed in cash $10 for which please send me (1) band complete plus (3) new rings extra," writes Dave from McMinnville, Tennessee, whose letter is posted on Yomtobian's site. "I am well pleased with my Iron Man Personal Workout [penis extender]. Have gained one inch to date with it.
