Dan's Journal of Skepticism

The plight of the Australian Vaccination Network, now known as Australian Vaccination-skeptics Network has taken an amusing turn for the worse. The Director of Investigations, Compliance and Enforcement Division, at the department of Fair Trading has ordered the AVN to quit using the acronym ‘AVN’ and instead adopt the acronym ‘AVSN’ to reflect the groups new name.

The reason the anti-vaxxers have inserted a hyphen into their new name is so they can claim that “Vaccination-skeptics” is a single word and can therefore keep the initials AVN. 

They thought they were smart. Until this happened:

If you have been following our saga during the past year you will know the prequel to this post. For those who missed it, we were directed last year to change our name – after 16 years – because our opponents complained that it was misleading. After exhausting our avenues of appeal, it turned out the Minister for Fair Trading had the power to enforce this. In fact, he introduced a new regulation just so that he could see this through!

So we changed our name. We are now “Australian Vaccination-skeptics Network Inc”. The new name was accepted by our members, as well as by NSW Fair Trading.

Now we have a new threat. Director of Investigations, Compliance and Enforcement Division, Mr David Byrne, phoned last Friday to say he requires us to change all instances of the abbreviation “AVN” to “AVSN”. And he has threatened to commence action without further notice to shut us down and remove our domain from the internet. -Australian Vaccination-skeptics Network, 25 March 2014

The AVN/AVSN currently appears on the first page of Google for “Vaccination” their domain name is vital tool for gaining a new audience and they know it. Which is why they tried the hyphen bullshit.

Not only are they trying to avoid changing their website name but they are also refusing to rename their Facebook page, which is still listed as “Australian Vaccination Network” despite yesterdays deadline for the name change. The trick they are trying with the Facebook page is to create a fake account and pretend the page now belongs to someone else.

Once more AVN supporters thought this would be a smart move.

I hope this obvious bullshit gets tested in court, it will be amusing to see them explain how their page now magically belongs to an unidentified person who conveniently resides overseas.

So what next for the AVN/ASVN?

There has been plenty of speculation about the possibility of the organisation going on the run to escape New South Wales authorities. Recently they have registered the business name “Australian Vaccination Network – QLD” fuelling speculation that they may cross the border into Queensland. We will have to wait and see.

The Australian Vaccination Network has surrendered it’s charity fundraising license.

Is this the end?

History is repeating itself and the Australian Vaccination Network is once again being investigated by the Health Care Complaints Commission.

As you probably already know, the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) spent more than a year and a great deal of taxpayer funds investigating the Australian Vaccination Network in 2009 / 2010. This resulted in their being told by the Supreme Court that they had acted illegally and did not have the jurisdiction to investigate our organisation.

Fast forward to 2014 and the AVN is once again facing a lengthy ‘investigation’ and potential public warning by the HCCC. In the the interim, parliament granted the HCCC new powers, so that it can now file its own complaints, investigate them and then, make a judgement based on their own investigation. As a result, a new complaint was recently received by the AVN. -Australian Vaccination Network

Some people just can’t stay out of trouble.

Readers of this blog will be aware that I own the business name “Australian Vaccination Sceptics Network” and also that the Australian Vaccination Network is in need of a new name since the Department of Fair Trading ordered them to adopt a new one.

Rather than adopting a new name they have decided to do the wrong thing and use my business name as their own.

As of Friday, March 7th, the Australian Vaccination Network, Inc. will now officially be known as the Australian Vaccination-Skeptics Network, Inc. We will still have the same domain address (www.avn.org.au) and will still go by the acronym “AVN”.

I already own the business name they want to adopt.

My business registration.

Within a matter of hours, Dr Rachel Dunlop, Mr John Cunningham, Mr Dan Buzzard (against whom our former President, Meryl Dorey, held an interim Apprehended Violence Order [AVO] for 10 months) and Ms Tracey McDermott had registered the following names: 

• Australian Vaccination Sceptics Network (ABN 33 627 009 978)
• Australian Vaccination Skeptics (ABN 82 084 251 657)
• Vaccination Sceptics Network of Australia (ABN 26 113 403 635)
• Vaccination Sceptics Australia (ABN 12 806 631 921)

-Australian Vaccination Network, Newsletter 10th March 2014

So the AVN readily acknowledges that the name is already in use, but continues to use it anyway. The fallout from this will be even more painful for the AVN than they could imagine. After all when was the last time dishonesty worked in their favor?

Supporters of the Australian Vaccination Network have vandalised two billboards in Western Australia that promote vaccination.

Two billboards in Fremantle promoting immunisation of children, have been defaced.

The billboards on South Street share stories of local parents who follow an alternative type of lifestyle but also immunise their children.

The campaign was launched three weeks ago by the Immunisation Alliance of WA in response to figures showing that the Fremantle area had one of the lowest rates of vaccination in the country.

Both billboards have been sprayed with red paint spelling out the website of anti-immunisation group, Australian Vaccination Network. –ABC News

So we can now list Crimminal Damage to the long list of deplorable tactics used by AVN supporters.

Anti-vax top ten tactics:

1. False DMCA reports.
2. False reporting of critics websites to anti-virus vendors.
3. Threatening Politicians.
4. Harassing, abusing, vilifying Grieving Families.
5. Seeking Court orders to silence their critics.
6. Abusing Facebooks report feature to get critics banned.
7. Advocating the use of violence against critics.
8. Calling their critics terrorists. 
9. Registering other people’s business names to confuse the public.
10. Criminal Damage. *New*