Board Minutes - 14 December 2009
Public Version
Meeting of the .au Domain Administration Board
14 December 2009 - 2.00pm
Maddocks. Level 7, 140 William Street. Melbourne VIC 3000
Present:
Tony Staley (Chair), Kim Heitman, Chris Disspain, Julie Hammer, Graham McDonald, Dwayne Varey, Amin Kroll, Josh Rowe, Marty Drill, Cheryl Langdon-Orr, George Pongas
Observers:
Craig Ng (Maddocks), John Higgins (Hayes Knight), Brenton Thomas (DBCDE), Peter Nettlefold (DBCDE), Jo Lim (auDA), Paul Szyndler (auDA), Jacki O’Sullivan (auDA-Minutes)
Apologies:
Rosemary Sinclair
1. Welcome to new Directors
T Staley welcomed George Pongas and Rosemary Sinclair on their election to the board and congratulated Josh Rowe and Amin Kroll on their re-election to the board following the AGM in October 2009.
2. Apologies
Rosemary Sinclair was an apology.
3. Continuous Disclosure
G Pongas advised that he is CEO of two auDA accredited registrars, Domain8 Pty Ltd and Domain Candy Pty Ltd.
4. Confirmation of Minutes
The minutes of the 19 October 2009 board meeting were confirmed.
5. Election of Chair
The Vice Chair (K Heitman) called for nominations for Chair.
Nominated: Tony Staley (moved J Hammer, seconded G McDonald).
Elected: Tony Staley (unopposed)
6. Election of Vice Chair
The Chair called for nominations for Vice Chair.
Nominated: Kim Heitman (moved J Rowe, seconded C Langdon-Orr).
Elected: Kim Heitman (unopposed)
7. Reconstitution of Board Committees
· Finance & Audit Committee – continue with Amin Kroll to replace retired director Alex Woerndle.
· Board & Membership Committee – continue unchanged.
· Strategic Plan Committee – does not require to be reconstituted at this time.
· Remuneration Committee – continue unchanged.
8. Finance Report
The board noted the November accounts.
9. CEO Report
· The CEO report was noted.
· Craig Ng gave a summary on current membership issues (Privileged item). George Pongas left the meeting for this item due to a conflict of interest.
· The CEO Review document was noted and the board agreed to proceed as per the review recommendations.
10. Policy Development
New 2LDs Advisory Panel:
· The board approved the New 2LD Advisory Panel Terms of Reference and Panel membership. George Pongas, Kim Heitman and Graham McDonald agreed to be the board representatives on the panel.
· DBCDE expressed its view that auDA should conduct a broad community consultation about whether to introduce new 2LDs in general. The board affirmed its preferred approach, which is to conduct broad community consultation (including advertising in newspapers nationally) on specific new 2LD proposals. However, at the CEO’s suggestion, it was agreed that any consultation on specific new 2LD proposals would also invite people to comment on new 2LDs in general. The board noted that the Panel may decide that the new 2LD proposals fail at the first hurdle and therefore do not warrant any further consideration, in which case, there would be no need to hold a public consultation.
· DBCDE advised it would not be appropriate for them to participate on the Advisory Panel, because it would make it difficult for them to critique the process afterwards. The board noted that Departmental officials have previously held observer status on Advisory Panels, and encouraged DBCDE to continue this practice. B Thomas will confirm and advise DBCDE attendance as an observer.
Name hijacking:
· The auDA board noted DBCDE’s advice regarding concerns about the misuse of personal names. It was agreed to refer this issue to the auDA Names Advisory Panel in 2010. The board will request the Panel to begin consideration of improvements to domain name identity verification, eligibility, allocation and enforcement arrangements as a matter of priority, and the board will make a decision on improvements if required by the end of 2010.
· DBCDE will provide auDA with current id-checking mechanisms information as a resource for the Names Panel.
11. auCD Report
The board noted the auCD report.
12. Membership Applications
The membership applications below were approved in the classes indicated:
· Jim Davies (Demand)
· Alan Isherwood (Demand)
· Mercury Retail Pty Ltd, Jethro Marks (Demand)
· Michael Purse (Demand)
· Michael Sojevic (Demand)
· Paul Klerck (Demand)
· Glen Mylne (Demand)
13. Board Correspondence
There was no board correspondence.
14. Next Meeting
It was confirmed that the next meeting would be held on 1 March 2010 in conjunction with the auDA board retreat.
15. 2010 meeting schedule
The proposed dates for the 2010 auDA Board Meetings are:
· Monday 1 March 2010
· Monday 19 April 2010
· Tuesday 15 June 2010
· Monday 16 August 2010
· Monday 18 October 2010
· Monday 13 December 2010
The meeting schedule for 2010 will be circulated via email for confirmation by all.