Board Minutes - 16 April 2007
Public Version
Meeting of the .au Domain Administration Board
16 April 2007 - 1.00pm
.au Domain Administration Limited. 1 Queens Road. Melbourne VIC 3004
Present:
Chris Disspain, David Goldstein, Julie Hammer, Kim Heitman, Cheryl Langdon-Orr, Jo Lim, Bennett Oprysa, Josh Rowe, Peter Shilling and Tony Staley
Teleconference:
Marty Drill and Brett Fenton
Observers:
Craig Ng (Maddocks), John Higgins (Hayes Knight), Brenton Thomas, Don Williams and Paul Szyndler (DCITA)
Apologies:
Nil
Action Items:
• auDA staff to advise registrars of the fee reduction, and publish the new fee model.
• The board to set up a sub-committee to consider demand class membership issues.
1. Continuous Disclosure
DG advised that he is doing consulting work for Domain Directors, an auDA accredited registrar.
2. Confirmation of Minutes
The minutes of the February 2007 meeting were confirmed.
3. Policy Development
• 2007 Names Policy Panel
Derek Whitehead gave a progress report on the Panel’s first two meetings. The attendance rate at both meetings was high. The Panel has held general discussion of all three issues under review, with a particular focus to date on direct registrations. The Panel’s first public consultation paper is expected to be released in May/June.
DW noted that this is the first Panel that will have evidence-based input, ie. the market research being conducted by auDA.
4. Finance Report
The board noted the March accounts.
5. 07/10 Budget and Fee Model
The board approved the proposed 07/10 Budget. The following points were noted:
• the education and media budget may need to be increased if there are significant changes to policy arising from the Names Panel
• the basis for calculating the annual ICANN fee may change in future
• the international travel budget will be split into ‘meetings’ and ‘other’
• the internet traffic budget is still to be determined, but has been estimated using the current deal with AAPT as a guide
• it is highly unlikely that there will be any future windfall gains from one-off domain name allocations like the generics auction in 2002.
It was noted that one of the first responsibilities of the Stability and Security Advisory Committee (currently being formed) will be to provide the board with advice on a suitable allocation for the security and stability contingency fund. Until then, a notional amount has been allocated. Once the ‘correct’ amount is known, the board will then be in a position to calculate the available remaining surplus and decide what steps to take to reduce it.
The board agreed the proposed new auDA domain name fee model, with the fee to be set according to the number of domain name registrations. It was noted that the model would provide greater certainty and transparency to the industry, and better guidance to the board for future budget deliberations. Pursuant to the model, the board agreed to reduce the fee to $3.00 ex GST (subsequently amended to $3.00 ex GST) on 1 May 2007 .
Action: auDA staff to advise registrars of the fee reduction, and publish the new fee model.
6. CEO Report
The following issues were noted:
• edu.au
auDA has granted a further 3 month extension to the Sub-Sponsorship Agreement, until 30 June 2007. A representative from AICTEC has been invited to attend the June board meeting to present the proposed changes to edu.au policy.
7. auDA Foundation Report
CD advised that reports from the current grant recipients will be provided at the June board meeting.
8. auCD Report
The board noted the report from auCD, and requested more detailed reports in future.
The board also noted that auDA will hold a review of the community geographic domain names policy later this year.
9. Constitutional Review
The board discussed a paper drafted by CN outlining possible changes to the auDA Constitution to address three issues:
1. potential supply side capture of demand class
2. supply related person standing as a demand class director
3. related entities holding multiple supply class memberships.
The board affirmed the need to ensure that the Constitution is effective and achieves auDA’s objectives. The board also noted the importance of achieving a fair and reasonable balance between supply and demand, obesrving that there will always be a tendency for demand class to be under-represented.
The board agreed changes to address issues 2 and 3 above, as proposed in paras 4.2, 4.4 and 4.5 of the board paper. It was decided that the change proposed in para 4.3 of the board paper to address issue 1 may not be effective, and further consideration should be given to options for increasing demand class membership and making it more representative.
Motion (proposed JR, seconded Julie H): That the proposed new definition of ‘Supply Related Person’ and proposed amendments to clauses 9.4 and 18.3 be put to members at an EGM. Carried unanimously.
Action: The board to set up a sub-committee to consider demand class membership issues.
12. Membership Applications
The members below were approved in the classes indicated:
Brad Winton (demand)
Get Started (Australia) Pty Ltd (supply)
Emerging IT Pty Ltd (supply)
Velocit Business Systems Pty Ltd (supply)
Connectivity Australia Pty Ltd (supply)
13. Board Correspondence
There was no board correspondence.
15. Next Meeting
The next board meeting will be held on Tuesday 12 June at 10.30am in Sydney.