Why didn't GoDaddy/TDNAM do this when one of their staff was caught doing something very similar?
Look at the way TDNAM handled their case. I absolutely love GoDaddy but I had emailed my exec account rep, called him, and got transferred to actually speak with the TDNAM team about my suspicions because they were compelling... before the guy was ever caught... but I was told by them theyll check it out and dont worry about it. Then months later after the story blew I called again and cited names I bid on which I was suspicious of and I received no help, answers, or godaddy credit for the names in question. I went from buying names daily/weekly without a break to no longer participating in the TDNAM auctions since then. (I still use GoDaddy and really like them but the experience burned down my use of TDNAM)
Here we have SnapNames actually trying to fix this mess. There definitely needs to be more checks and balances in place but its actually being handled.
We ALL were familiar with halvarez and many of us emailed snapnames or participated in forum discussions about him so they are going to need to address that directly for me to come close to buying they didnt know what was going on story. Right now I like the reaction, they couldve done less and maybe even gotten away with it.... someone else did less and escaped the scrutiny by not making it such a public issue.