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Dateline: 16 February 2000 Early Edition Read The Previous Edition A permanent link to this page can be found here
Editorial
Firstly, I maintain a "domain name news" page for Domainz on a commercial
basis. Secondly, I am a customer of Domainz, I have several domain names
registered with them.
Now on with the story...
Patrick O'Brien, Chief Executive Officer of Domainz is threatening to sue Alan Brown,
ISP operator and well-known member of the New Zealand Internet community.
Mr O'Brien is planning to sue Mr Brown for defamation -- alleging that statements made on
an ISOCNZ mailing list have:
The legal document, copies of which have been delivered to Mr Brown list
the grounds on which the defamation suit is brought and they include
(amongst others) assertions that Patrick O'Brien:
Now, it's not my job to be judge and jury in this matter but I think some of these
allegations need examining.
1. uses Domainz money for private gain
Who was responsible for making that decision I wonder?
Would not the Chief Executive of Domainz be the one with the power to authorise
that expenditure? And who is to benefit from this defamation action?
Does this prove the veracity of Mr Brown's allegations? -- you decide.
2. is threatening
It should be noted that this is reportedly not the first time such a threat of
legal action has been made by Mr O'Brien in order to extract an apology for
criticisms leveled at him in a public forum.
Is Mr Brown's allegation substantiated? -- you decide.
3. has attempted to gag public criticism
4. is a buffoon
One of the definitions offered up for the word "buffoon" by my dictionary is:
"A loutish or inept person." To establish the veracity of Mr Brown's claims
in respect to Mr O'Brien's status as a buffoon -- it should be noted that
the legal document -- doubtless drafted under the direction of Mr O'Brien,
shows a total lack of understanding the distinction between a mailing list,
a usenet newsgroup and the World Wide Web.
Inept? You decide.
I'm afraid it would appear that by
bringing this action, Mr O'Brien has achieved exactly what he sought to
avoid -- bringing himself and his actions into public scrutiny in a manner
that might not reflect at all favourably on him.
I for one, call on ISOCNZ -- as the majority shareholder in Domainz to
look carefully into the manner in which this matter has been handled by
Domainz and Patrick O'Brien. In particular it must be asked --
why are Domainz funds seemingly being used to fund this legal action?
Please don't try to offend my intelligence by suggesting that it is also
to protect the reputation of Domainz -- I don't buy it.
Despite the erroneous allegations made in the legal papers, the comments made
by Mr Brown were posted using a mechanism that restricts their regular dissemination
to only a very small number of people -- and it would appear that subsequent
discussion amongst those who have read the comments overwhelmingly claim that
Mr Brown's comments have not affected their perception of Mr O'Brien or Domainz.
Surely if Domainz has enough money to fund a frivolous law suit,
seemingly designed solely to repair the perceived personal wounds of its CEO,
then why does it apparently not have enough money to address the demands of
the Industry? -- demands that, on far too many occasions, it ignores or treats with
a level of contempt that can only be offered by a monopoly supplier.
Mr O'Brien appears to have dug himself quite a deep hole. His action
in threatening this suit is seen by many to add veracity to the claims
made against him -- truly unbelievable!
Now we must wait to see whether ISOCNZ are prepared to take control of this
situation and bring some common-sense to bear -- and as majority shareholder,
ask some questions about why Domainz money is apparently being poured into
what appears to be little more than a knee-jerk reaction by O'Brien to
someone's opinion and criticism.
For your interest, copies of the documents served on Mr Brown
can be found here.
As always, your comments are gladly received.
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Aardvark Daily is a publication of, and is copyright to, Bruce Simpson, all rights reserved
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