Nominet announced it has discontinued its legal action against Mr Graeme Wingate and That Internet Ltd in a statement yesterday.
The decision was taken by the Nominet Board, and by Lesley Cowley, who were the co-claimants, in order that the company can focus on its programme to evolve the .uk namespace and push forward with the wider development of Nominet.
The company continues to refute entirely the untrue allegations made.
Attempts at mediation, initiated by Nominet, preceded and post-dated the commencement of legal proceedings. Both sides met recently to try to find an amicable solution, but this was unsuccessful.
In their statement, Nominet said they had hoped for a swift resolution to this dispute, and that it has taken several months to get to the position they are in today, with the third attempt at a defence now tabled by the defendant.
Having initiated action, protocol requires the company to pay costs of the other party, which will be assessed at a later hearing if not agreed. However, the company judges that this will be a fraction of the costs (both financial and in management time) of continuing with a long-running and increasingly broad-ranging dispute.
“With a major programme of work underway to transform the .uk namespace, this action is now an unwelcome distraction,” said Cowley. “I refute the allegations entirely, but recognise that a far better use of the teamâs time and energy is to focus on steering Nominet safely through a period of unprecedented change.”