Board Minutes - 22 November 2004
Public Version
Meeting of the .au Domain Administration Board
22 November 2004 - 10.00am
.au Domain Administration Limited, 107 Faraday Street. Carlton VIC 3053
Present:
Larry Bloch, Greg Crew, Chris Disspain, Cheryl Langdon-Orr, Peter Nissen, Bennett Oprysa, Elspeth Ross, Peter Shilling and Tony Staley
Teleconference:
Kim Davies, Kim Heitman and Greg Watson
Observers:
Allan LeBusque (DCITA), Craig Ng (Maddocks), Derek Whitehead and David Thompson
Apologies:
Josh Rowe
1. Continuous Disclosure
There were no matters to be disclosed.
2. Confirmation of Minutes
The minutes of the October 2004 meeting were confirmed.
3. Report from DCITA
ALB advised the board of DCITA's work on spam legislation.
4. Election of Chair
TS (nominated GC, seconded CD) was elected Chair unopposed.
5. Election of Deputy Chair
KH (nominated CD, seconded CLO) was elected Deputy Chair unopposed.
6. Appointment of Board Committees
Finance Committee: KH, GC, JR, PS, CD with John Higgins (Hayes Knight)
Education and Media Committee: Was still in place.
Technical Committee: This is not a board committee, but an advisory committee of technical experts that assists auDA with technical issues and reports to the board from time to time.
The board noted that the Membership Committee had completed its work.
7. Name Policy Review Panel
DW presented the Panel's final 8 recommendations on domain name policy rules.
1. Retention of current policy rules relating to verification of registrant identity, other than the proposed change in recommendation 6. Agreed.
2. Retention of the current rule that registrants must, with three exceptions, be Australian. Agreed
3. Licence periods be 1, 2 or 3 years and synchronization of expiry dates for multiple domain names – In abeyance. The Board reserved its decision and requested further research on the implications of this recommendation.
4. Remove the restriction on registration of domain names that match TLDs. In abeyance. The Board requested DW to provide the reference documentation upon which this recommendation was based.
5. Retention of the eligibility criteria for net.au. Agreed.
6. Eligibility criteria for org.au and asn.au be combined and applied to both 2LDs and strengthening of the registrant warranty. Agreed
7. Allocation criteria for asn.au, com.au, net.au and org.au be either of two categories and strengthening of the registrant warranty. Agreed.
8. Policy rules for id.au be amended to allow registration of any personal name by which they are known (ie. Nickname). Agreed.
The Boardthanked DW and the panel members for their work.
Action: auDA staff to conduct research on the implications of a change in licence periods.
8. Registry Competition Review Panel
DT presented the Panel’s final 4 recommendations on the provision of .au 2LD registry services. All 4 recommendations were agreed unanimously.
1. Current competition model that allows for multiple 2LD registry operations be retained.
2. Current periodic open tender process for provision of registry services for existing 2LDs be retained.
3. For new 2LDs:
a. Determine a threshold of projected volume registrations and the Registry Competition Review Panel suggests 200,000 registrations in the first 12 months.
b. The new 2LD selection panel advise the auDA Board if registrations of the new 2LD be above or below the threshold.
c. If registrations of the new 2LD are estimated to be below the threshold, then the incumbent registry operator can provide registry services under terms of its registry licence agreement (post 2006).
d. If registrations of the new 2LD are estimated to be above the threshold, the provision of registry services should be contestable through a competitive tender process.
e. The start of the periodic registry tender process should be the cut-off point for introducing new 2LDs within the term of the current registry licence agreement.
4. auDA should synchronise the new 2LD registry licence term with the registry licence term for existing 2LDs.
The board emphasised that the figure of 200,000 registrations is a suggestion only.
The Board thanked DT and the Panel members for their work.
9. Community Geographic Domain Names and Geographic Names in com.au and net.au
Community Geographic Domain Names
The board approved in principle that
An organisation be formed consisting of its own board and management team independent from auDA but under auDA’s control initially.
The organisation be charged with the responsibility of facilitating the development of the community geographic names
auDA will provide capped funds from the release of the commercial geographic names to fund the organization.
Action: auDA staff to prepare a detailed proposal to be submitted to the Board for final approval.
Commercial Geographic Domain Names
The board approved the plan for the release of the commercial geographic domain names. Elements of the plan include a “lottery” type release whereby one winner would be randomly selected from all applications received for a particular geographic name.
Supply class directors suggested there may be an alternative method with greater registrar involvement and agreed to provide a proposal by 15 January 2005 for consideration by the Board.
13. Board Correspondence
No correspondence was received.
14. Membership
The members listed below were accepted in the classes indicated.
WestNet Pty Ltd (Supply)
2 Monkeys (Demand)
15. Other Business
There was no other business.
16. 2005 Meeting Schedule
The next board meeting will be held on Monday 14 February 2005 in Melbourne.
The board will meet on 11 April in, 14 June, 8 August, 10 October at venues to be advised.
Board meetings commence at 10am.