Website attack brings court sequel and deadline

Michael Stiassny

The tangled story of a website, billboards, company receiver Michael Stiassny and a Silverdale businessman "with a mission" took another twist in the High Court at Auckland yesterday.

Vince Siemer has been told to remove material attacking Stiassny - a senior partner at accountancy firm Ferrier Hodgson and a chairman of companies Vector and Metrowater - from a website devoted to just that purpose. Siemer has been in a legal dispute with Stiassny over the placing of his company into receivership, which has since been revoked.

Stiassny's lawyers were in court yesterday saying the website was still online, meaning Siemer was in contempt of court.

Julian Miles, QC, said Siemer had shown a "clear and blatant contempt", by not removing material from the website.

It was a "cynical, wilful and deliberate breach" of a court order.

Last month, the High Court issued an injunction stopping Seimer from displaying billboards and running the website.

Siemer's lawyer, Howard Witten-Hannah, said his client - without taking legal advice - had sold the disputed website to a Milan-based company.

Siemer had cleared all the material from it first, but then sent material to the new owners for posting online.

It would be difficult for Siemer to do anything about the website if he was "incarcerated in Mt Eden".

Witten-Hannah said that Siemer, in his "own misguided way" believed that by selling the website, he had absolved himself of responsibility for it.

Siemer did not understand the legal definition of "publish".

"He's a man with a mission," said Witten-Hannah.

Justice Ellen France agreed to give Seimer 72 hours to show he had made every endeavour to get the material off the website.

If this cannot be shown by tomorrow, he could be jailed or fined.