Pressure on society over suit

By MICHAEL FOREMAN

Twenty-six members of the Internet Society of New Zealand (ISOCNZ) are trying to force the society's executive to change its course over the Patrick O'Brien v Alan Brown defamation case.

Judge Gregory Ross reserved his decision on the landmark case on Thursday.

Since then, the society has received a petition for a special general meeting to vote on three motions, including a call to "fully fund" Alan Brown's defence of the defamation action brought by Patrick O'Brien.

The petition also calls for the council to take legal action against Patrick O'Brien in his capacity as former chief executive of its wholly owned subsidiary Domainz, seeking damages for any alleged "failure to act in the best interests of the company."

And the petitioners have demanded the commissioning of a public report to "evaluate the IT work and business development performed by Mr O'Brien."

ISOCNZ chairman Peter Dengate-Thrush said he did not want to comment other than to confirm there had been a valid call under the regulations.

"It's not really a topic until the judgment arrives," he said.

ISOCNZ is expected to formally announce the meeting this week, but a provisional date of May 25 has been set.

The petitioners are furious that ISOCNZ and Domainz initiated and then paid for legal proceedings against Mr Brown, one of the society's founding members, after Mr Brown allegedly defamed Mr O'Brien in postings to a society e-mail discussion group on December 23, 1999.

During cross-examination by Mr Brown at the hearing in the Palmerston North District Court, Mr O'Brien testified that Mr Dengate-Thrush had called him and another Domainz representative to a meeting to discuss bringing a defamation suit.

Mr O'Brien said he "was not sure" if he would have considered bringing the defamation action on his own.

When Mr Brown asked him who was responsible for the funding, Mr O'Brien replied that as the plaintiff he was responsible, but Domainz had agreed to pay the legal expenses of its former CEO.

When Mr Brown suggested that Mr O'Brien had been advised by the Domainz board that it had withdrawn its financial support last Tuesday, Mr O'Brien replied: "There are some issues that still have to be negotiated."

But last Thursday, Domainz director Roger De Salis told ISOCNZ members in a public statement circulated on a mailing list that Domainz withdrew its funding last Monday at 5 pm, after failing to secure an agreement from Mr O'Brien that he would not gain personally from the action.

The "no personal gain" was central to ISOCNZ councillors permitting the action to go forward, Mr De Salis wrote.