By ADAM GIFFORD
The Internet Society wants the head of its domain-name registry, Domainz, to back off a defamation action filed against a Manawatu ISP operator.
But the move may be too late. The operator, Alan Brown, from Manawatu Internet, wants to countersue Domainz chief executive Patrick O'Brien for what he claims is $70,000 in cancelled contracts.
Mr O'Brien, backed by Domainz' ISOCNZ-appointed board, is suing Mr Brown for allegedly defaming him in a posting to the ISOCNZ mailing list.
At its most recent meeting, ISOCNZ's council decided to ask the parties to try alternative dispute resolution rather than the courts.
Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush, who also sits on the Domainz board, said the council felt this might provide a more cost-effective and culturally sensitive way to deal with internet disputes.
The council was conscious that it should not attempt to second-guess the board, which had taken advice before deciding on its course of action.
However, it would be taking its wish for this matter to be resolved by alternative dispute resolution to both the plaintiff and the defendant, he said.
Mr Dengate Thrush, a lawyer, said there were some internet problems only the courts could deal with, including criminal offences and prosecutions for dealing in unsavoury content.
But the O'Brien-Brown dispute was part of a wider debate over how the internet should be run as it becomes a mainstream tool of business and the wider community.
However, the council did not consider personal abuse, which Mr O'Brien alleges Mr Brown's posting amounted to, was acceptable.
Mr O'Brien said he had not heard anything formally from the council and he would not comment while the case was before the courts.
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