Opinion: auDA recklessness damages Australian domain industry

Although auDA denies there is any link between the announcement of the sudden de-accreditation on the day after the BrisConnections resolution threw Bolton under the media gaze, Bloch sees a link between the two events.

auDA would not normally gain mainstream publicity for its activities, but with Nick Bolton already being pilloried in the press, it not only provided an easy media story but automatically cast Bolton as the villain and Disspain and auDA as the white knight providing a come-uppance.

This alleged security breach has been under investigation for months now, so the timing of the announcement is extremely curious at best.

Bolton strenuously denied any wrongdoing and took the matter to the Supreme Court on Thursday last week.

After Bolton won a temporary injunction, auDA appealed the decision on Friday last week.

The Supreme Court rejected the appeal, ordering auDA to reinstate Bottle Domains' accreditation. auDA has now informed affected customers while preparing to fight in court to reinstate the de-accreditation next Wednesday, April 22.

The turmoil in domains has caused confusion among domain holders - mostly businesses - as well as those companies reselling Bottle's services.

We have already received many calls from confused customers asking for help and clarification, and many resellers have already transferred their business to us, unable to wait for the outcome of the court proceedings.

This leaves auDA exposed to pay significant damages should the de-accreditation be permanently overturned by the courts, as much of the damage to Bottle is irreversible, regardless of the legal outcome.

What that means for auDA financially - which runs a tightly balanced budget and how a bankrupt administrator would impact the entire Australian domain industry, is anyone's guess.

auDA has a constitutional objective to maintain the integrity and stability of the entire industry.

Such integrity and stability has been severely compromised by its actions these last three days and there is potential for further disruption to affect every Australian registrar and domain holder.

This action by Chris Disspain and auDA sets another dangerous precedent of overbearingly harsh and ill-considered action to the detriment of registrars, domain name holders and the Australian domain name system in general.