Board Minutes - 5 June 2000

Public Version
Meeting of the .au Domain Administration Board

5 June 2000 - 1.00pm
Melbourne IT. Level 2, 120 King Street. Melbourne VIC 3000

Present:
Chris Chaundy, David Keegel, Erica Roberts, Greg Watson (Chair), Kevin Dinn, Kim Davies, Kim Heitman

Advisory Panel Discussions:
Derek Whitehead and George Michaelson

Teleconference:
Michael Malone

Observers:
Jo Lim and Paul Walsh

Apologies:
David Thompson


1. Minutes of previous meeting

Motion that if no comments were received in the next week, the minutes of the previous meeting be accepted. Moved: GW, Seconded: MM. Carried.

2. Action items

List of action items was not presented.

3. Corporate governance

1. Independent Directors

KH reported on behalf of the Independent Directors Sub-Committee (IM, MM and KH).

The sub-committee proposed a short list of 5 names and proposed that these individuals be approached in that order to see if they were willing to serve as an auDA director.

Discussion about the importance of independent directors being supported by all major stakeholders.

Discussion about the issue of board independence, and NOIE's request for an auDA to have an independent chair. Paul Walsh confirmed that the definition of 'independent' was a person who was not, or was not an employee of:

    a Registry
    a registrar
    a domain name administrator
    a delegate

Agreed that each director has until Monday 12 June to advise KH of any concerns they have about any of the proposed independent directors. KH would advise the board list of any proposed independent directors who were not acceptable to a board member.

5. Treasurer's Report

Treasurer's report was tabled.

6. Membership report

Motion carried that the following be accepted as demand class members.

    Geoff Mullis
    Simon Stainsby
    Tracey Bedford

7. Acting CEO's report

1. Contracts

All existing contracts were forwarded to board members for comments, and to the ACCC. A discussion on the MIT contract in relation to the auDA funding model.

2. Domain Name Database

NOIE has approached auDA with regard to use of the domain name database for statistical analysis such as country vs metro, state comparisons, etc. The auDA board previously approved making the domain names available to third parties. Acting CEO proposes the following extension to the policy: auDA will make the domain name database available to selected third parties. Information available to be used is:

    domain names at detail level
    geographic information - postcodes to be used at summary level only
    creation date - to be used at summary (month minimum) level only

8. Advisory Panels

1. Name Policy Panel

To be set up:

    Email list for panel members
    Open email list for domain name policies - panel chair has responsibility of moderating the list.
    Web archive for working papers
    Web archive for submissions

General discussion about whether in principle board members should be allowed to participate in panels, and whether this created a conflict of interest as board members would have to approve the outcome of panels.

Motion carried that board members are not eligible to be members of Advisory Panels.

Membership Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility and Name Allocation Policy Review in Second Level Domains

auDA Advisory Panel No. 1

Membership Selection Criteria

Members of the Name Policy Advisory Panel are selected on the following criteria:

1. Ability to represent a specific stakeholder group - the Panel should include a balance of representatives from:

    Consumers including commercial and non-commercial users.
    Domain name holders
    Registrars
    ISP and web hosting entities
    Intellectual property

2. Understanding of the issues being reviewed by the panel.

Motion that board members be ineligible for membership of auDA panels. Moved GW, seconded KD. Motion is carried.

DW to contact MIT and ask for new nominee.

Membership short list

Short list of panel members tabled.

Motion to accept the panel membership carried. Proposed KD, seconded KH.

2. Competition Panel

Draft Terms of Reference circulated to auDA board and ACCC:

Competition Model

auDA Advisory Panel No. 2 Terms of Reference

Revision Date: 1 June 2000

This document is the Terms of Reference for the auDA Policy Advisory Panel Number 2, for the development of a Competition Model for the .au namespace.

1. Activity and outcome

This Advisory Panel is set up to develop a Model to be used to introduce competition in the provision of domain name services in the .au namespace.  auDA believes that the introduction of competition will deliver the best result for:

    quality of service
    user choice
    lowest cost

The model will review different options for the operations of / interfaces between Regulatory Authority, Registry, Registrar, and User levels, and the relevant issues and effect of the options for:how registries, registrars, and users operate and interact, including issues of:

    single/multiple registries
    location and content of registry / registrar data
    access, ownership and IP of registry data
    communication between registry and registrar, and between Users and registry / registrar
    security
    transfer of users between registrars
    service levels - quality and timeliness
    licensing and accreditation of registry / registrar
    barriers to entry
    dispute resolution between various levels
    equality of access
    registry and registrar fees

The panel's operations will have multiple stages, with a separate report from each stage:
Stage 1:    Define existing environment
Stage 2:    Review current practices worldwide in other domains
Stage 3:    Recommend competition model for .au, and an implementation strategy for introduction of competitionStage 1 and 2 may run concurrently.

2. Duration
The estimated timeline for the panel is subject to change.  The current estimate is:

Elapsed Time
    

Activity

5 June
    

auDA board to confirm Terms of Reference

1 week
    

Call for participants

4 weeks
    

auDA board to confirm participants

6 weeks
    

First meeting; confirm Panel operational procedures; start Stage 1 and Stage 2

10 weeks
    

Stage 1 Documentation Draft complete

14 weeks
    

Stage 2 Draft complete; start Stage 3

22 weeks
    

Stage 3 Draft complete; start first public consultation period

26 weeks
    

End first public consultation period; start Proposed report.

28 weeks
    

End Proposed report; start second public consultation period

31 weeks
    

End second public consultation period; start final Report

33 weeks
    

Complete final Report; submit to auDA board

3. Chair

The panel Chair is George Michaelson.

4. Members

The panel should include representatives from all areas of the community including:

    Consumers
    General domain name users
    Registrars
    ISP & Web Hosting entities
    Government

Panel membership will be limited to 30.  auDA will issue a general invitation via the auDA members and discussion lists to interested parties to participate in the panel.

5. Operations and budget

Members of the panel will determine their method of operation.  auDA will provide email list server, web site including archived submissions provided to the panel, documentation of work, will arrange meeting venues, and provide teleconference support for meetings.  auDA also plans to provide resources to enable a consultant to carry out a substantial part of Stage 2.

Discussion on whether the TOR should include general principles regarding competition.

Motion that board members and Competition panel chair should review the TOR and suggest addititions/improvements via email for one week with revised TOR to be approved via email list.

Moved KH, seconded GW. Motion Carried.

9. Next meeting / Meeting closed

Meeting closed at 18:00.

Next meeting 13:00 3 July at Connect.com.au Level 9, 114 Albert Road South Melbourne