Today, we received a reply from Richard Schreier, CEO of Pool.com in response to our recent article referring to accusation that the dotAsia Registry and Pool.com of foul play during the .asia auction process last year. Mr. Schreier wrote...

"Dear Chief Editor,

I would like to provide a response to the false and defamatory statements posted at www.dotasia-complot.org by Thomas Reucker and Madunia Modellbau GmbH. It should be noted that we believe the actions taken by Thomas Reucker and Madunia Modellbau GmbH  are a retaliation by Reucker/Madunia as a result of their exclusion from certain DotAsia auctions (which Reucker/Madunia itself discloses on the “notes” section of the website). This exclusion was the result of the investigation by Pool.com and the DotAsia Organisation into possible bid rigging (ref. here), which in Canada is a criminal act punishable by fines and imprisonment...

In regards to specific allegations made on the website, the following are irrefutable facts.
 
First, www.dotasia-complot.org  contains numerous false, misleading and defamatory statements that are intended to harm the reputation and goodwill of Pool.com and Richard Schreier.  Richard Schreier nor Pool.com do not have any ownership interest in Drake Domains Corporation, Drake Ventures Limited or Throne Ventures Pty. Ltd.  The materials on the Website that state otherwise are factually incorrect and designed to injure Richard Schreier and Pool.com’s business relations with the DotAsia Organisation.  Other statements on the Website - for example, that Mr. Schreier is a “cheat” and/or is engaged in fraudulent or improper conduct – are untrue and derogatory and malicious in the extreme.  They also accuse Richard Schreier and Pool.com of criminal behavior, a statement that is patently false and highly prejudicial.

Second, it is a matter of record that Drake Ventures did submit bids in the .ASIA sunrise auctions during the Sunrise 2 phase supported by their prior rights. These prior rights were verified by an unbiased third party agent to DotAsia Organization as were all Sunrise 2 submissions.  All bids were submitted in strict compliance with conflict-of-interest procedures agreed to by DotAsia Organisation.  As a Pool.com customer, Drake Ventures bids were deposited with a third party attorney as a safeguard against even the appearance of impropriety.
 

Third, it is also a matter of record that bids were placed by Drake Ventures at the start of an auction and no further bidding was made once the pre-established bid had been placed.  To act on “inside information” would suggest that bidding continues once competitive bids are known.  Auction history records, publicly available to all auction participants, show that Drake Ventures one and only bid for each auction were submitted on the first day of an auction and no further bidding occurred.  Indeed, Drake Ventures lost 18 of the 21 domain auctions in which they were a participant.  This is hardly an indication that somehow Drake Ventures secured an unfair advantage in auction bidding.

I trust this clarifies and addresses the issues raised by Mr. Reucker.  I can assure all .ASIA participants that I and Pool.com are committed to the integrity of .ASIA auctions as we are with all auctions held at Pool.com.

Regards,

Richard Schreier
CEO, Pool.com"

We thank Richard Schreier for taking the time to send us these comments and clarifications.

Source: E-mail submitted to DomainNews.com by Richard Schreier, CEO of Pool.com - May 15th, 2008