Originally Posted by
mmmmmmmBacon
Wrong. Blizzard's initial intention was for the BMAH to be a pvp hotspot. There were guards there, but they were for show only: they did not attack you if you attacked the opposite faction. If you had decided you wanted to stop the opposite faction from bidding on items (on a PvP Realm), you had the option of killing any opposite faction players on sight, and if you killed them fast enough, stopping them from bidding on items. The guards would stand there and watch you do it.
With the patch Blizzard has either changed their minds, or it is a bug.