Board Minutes - 14 April 2008
Public Version
Meeting of the .au Domain Administration Board
14 April 2008 - 1.00pm
Maddocks. Level 7, 140 William Street. Melbourne VIC 3000
Present:
Chris Disspain, Marty Drill, Julie Hammer, Kim Heitman, Amin Kroll, Cheryl Langdon-Orr, Jo Lim, Graham McDonald, Josh Rowe, Tony Staley, Tony Steven, Alex Woerndle
Teleconference:
Bennett Oprysa
Observers:
John Higgins (Hayes Knight), Paul Szyndler (DBCDE)
Apologies:
Nil
1. Continuous Disclosure
There were no matters to be disclosed.
2. Confirmation of Minutes
The minutes of the 18 February 2008 meeting were confirmed.
3. Finance Report
The board noted the March accounts.
4. 08/09 Budget
The board noted that the 08/09 budget is almost break-even, in line with the agreed budgetary policy to reduce auDA’s operating surplus over time. Accordingly, auDA is not in a position to further reduce its domain name fee at this time.
In approving the 08/09 budget, the board noted that the Industry Competition Advisory Panel’s recommendations (due at the end of 2008) may have an impact on auDA’s expenses in 2009 and its ongoing cost structure.
Motion (proposed Kim Heitman, seconded Marty Drill): That the board approve the 08/09 budget. Carried.
5. CEO Report
The following items were noted:
• Cyberstorm II
auDA participated in Cyberstorm II during March, which reinforced the need to establish an appropriate communications protocol with Australian ISPs to improve auDA’s disaster recovery planning.
• auDA Foundation
The board noted that all 2006 grant recipients have now provided their final reports.
6. Policy Development
• Industry Competition Advisory Panel appointments
auDA received 22 nominations for the Panel. The board:
o agreed to increase Panel membership from 15 to 16
o appointed Amin Kroll and Alex Woerndle from supply class, and Cheryl Langdon-Orr and Tony Steven from demand class
o approved the other recommended appointments.
Motion (proposed Josh Rowe, seconded Kim Heitman): That the board approve the recommended appointments to the Panel. Carried.
• New transfers policy (secondary market) implementation progress report
The board was advised that the new policy will take effect on 1 June 2008.
The board noted that registration activity by domainers has steadily increased since the intial announcement in December 2007 that the transfers policy would be relaxed. auDA staff are monitoring the situation and taking appropriate action where there has been a breach of policy.
• Reserved List Policy
The board noted that auDA has recently published a revised Reserved List Policy that enables auDA to place a name on the reserved list for technical security reasons, with the approval or ratification of the board.
Motion (proposed Marty Drill, seconded Josh Rowe): That the board ratify the decision to place “wpad” on the reserved list for technical security reasons. Carried.
7. auDA Strategic Plan
The board noted the final version of the Strategic Plan.
In relation to action 1(a), establishing an appeals mechanism for complaints to auDA, Graham McDonald agreed to chair a sub-committee to consider options and provide recommendations to the board.
Action: Board sub-committee to report on options for an appeals mechanisms by the end of the year.
8. Security Review
The board noted the proposed topic structure for the security review. Given the highly specialised nature of the review, the board agreed that it would be inappropriate to run a standard commercial tender process. The review will need to be conducted by a person or organisation with TLD DNS and registry operational knowledge, most probably from another ccTLD.
Action: Chris Disspain to identify suitable candidates to undertake the review and report back to the board.
9. auCD Report
The board noted the report.
10. Membership Applications
The members below were approved out of session following the meeting, in the classes indicated:
Simon Johnson (Demand)
Khajaque Kortian (Demand)
11. Board ‘Retreat’
The board agreed that it would be useful to hold a one day ‘retreat’ to discuss the future role of auDA.
Action: Chris Disspain to make arrangements for the board retreat.
12. Board Correspondence
There was no board correspondence.
13. Other Business
There was no other business.
14. Next Meeting
The next board meeting will be held on Monday 16 June 2008 at the Maddocks office in Melbourne.