auDA, the.AU policy and regulatory body, has terminated the registrar
accreditation of Australian Style Pty Ltd, who trades as Bottle
Domains, following a the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of
Victoria dismissing Bottle Domains' appeal in proceedings against auDA
on 23 July 2010.
The termination came about following a serious breach of its obligations under the Registrar Agreement by Bottle Domains.
In February 2009, auDA was notified by the Australian Federal Police
that there had been a security incident which affected customers of
Bottle Domains. Refer to auDA Announcement 10/02/09.
auDA subsequently discovered that Bottle Domains was the subject of an
earlier security incident in April 2007, which auDA believes may have
caused or contributed to the security incident in February 2009.
Bottle Domains failed to notify auDA at the time of the April 2007
security incident, which was a breach of its obligations under the
Registrar Agreement. Bottle Domains also failed to take appropriate
remedial security action and alert customers of the incident.
These failures led to auDA's decision to terminate Bottle Domains'
registrar accreditation on 15 April 2009, however the termination had
been suspended pending the conclusion of legal proceedings.
Following Friday's decision in its favour, auDA has today re-initiated
the termination process. Approximately 8,900 domain names registered by
Bottle Domains have been transferred to auDA, and the registrants of
these names will be sent instructions on how to transfer to another auDA
accredited registrar.
"The domain names of Bottle Domains' customers are NOT at risk. auDA is
in the process of contacting all those whose domain name is registered
through Bottle Domains to provide them with all the information they
need" said auDA CEO, Chris Disspain.
In its decision, the Court of Appeal recognised the importance of the
system governing domain name allocation and use in Australia and that
"protecting the system against unauthorised entry is therefore of
paramount concern".
The Court also endorsed the actions of auDA, and its CEO, Chris
Disspain: "Given the importance of the .au domain name system as a
public resource to be administered in the public interest, it is in my
opinion appropriate that this Court say clearly that it endorses the
approach taken by Mr Disspain."
In his judgement, Justice Harper also said Bottle Domains "sought to
persuade the trial judge that what on careful examination was clearly
one thing, was actually another. His Honour was not persuaded."
However despite the damning judgement, Bottle Domains is claiming there
are no problems anymore and the company sought to have their registrar
accreditation reinstated in a statement they issued late Friday
according to IT News.
A spokesman claimed the company was "now operating at or above industry
standards for internet security following a series of system
improvements in line with auDA requirements," reported IT News.
"We have complied with auDA's requirements and remedied all of the
problems that had concerned the authority," the spokesman said.
He also claimed auDA-appointed security auditors had reviewed Bottle
Domains' security environment and "had been satisfied with their
findings."
"Given [our] commitment to the highest possible security standards, [we
call] on auDA to now remove any doubt about the future of the registrar
agreement which allows Bottle Domains to operate," the spokesman said.
The full court decision is available from:
www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/vic/VSCA/2010/184.html
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