auDA blames Sapia Pty for its own censorship procedure abandoning

.com.au domain Australian registry company Sapia Pty has been accused of abandoning its own procedures to censor a website satirising communications minister Stephen Conroy's ISP filtering regime.

Friday afternoon, Sapia Pty Ltd, the company behind stephenconroy.com.au, was told by auDA, the Australian domain name administrator, that they had three hours to explain its use of the domain or it would be withdrawn.

Stephenconroy.com.au was subsequently dismissed by 5pm.

The move has prompted accusations of censorship against auDA. It denied any political interference.

Groups opposed to the Australian government's ISP filtering regime were particularly outraged by the three-hour deadline imposed by auDA.

As Sapia Pty noted it was an "unusually short period of time for domain eligibility complaints to be arbitrated". "This time frame was manifestly inadequate to obtain representation and prepare an appropriate response."

On Sapia Pty's new site, outside auDA's control, Conroy is satirised as "minister for fascism".