Board Minutes - 16 August 2010

Public Version
Meeting of the .au Domain Administration Board

16 August 2010 - 11.00am
Maddocks. Level 7, 140 William Street. Melbourne VIC 3000

Present:
Tony Staley (Chair), Kim Heitman, Chris Disspain, Julie Hammer, Graham McDonald, Dwayne Varey, Josh Rowe, Marty Drill, Cheryl Langdon-Orr, Amin Kroll and George Pongas

Observers:
John Higgins (Hayes Knight), Brenton Thomas (DBCDE), Peter Nettlefold (DBCDE), Jo Lim (auDA), Jacki O’Sullivan (auDA-Minutes) and Derek Whitehead (item 1-3)

Apologies:
Rosemary Sinclair


1.  Apologies

Rosemary Sinclair was an apology.

 

2.  Continuous Disclosure

There were no matters to disclose.

 

3.  Policy Development

3.1     2LDs Advisory Panel

Derek Whitehead, chair of the 2LD’s Advisory Panel, attended and provided a summary of the Panel’s final report and recommendations.


The board passed the following resolutions (proposed TS, seconded by the Board):


• That the board accept recommendation 1:  That auDA amend its new 2LDs process to give the evaluating Panel the discretion to conduct its own research with respect to new 2LD proposals.  Carried

• That the board accept recommendation 2A:  That the proposal for blog.au should not be accepted by auDA at this time.  Carried

• That the board accept recommendation 2B:  That the proposal for event.au should not be accepted by auDA at this time.  Carried

• That the board accept recommendation 2C:  That conf.au should not be reactivated by auDA.  Carried

• That the board accept recommendation 2D:  That info.au should not be reactivated by auDA.  Carried

• That the board agreed to grandfather linux.conf.au, with the CEO to determine the most appropriate operational arrangements.  Carried.

   

3.2    2010 Names Policy Panel:

Derek Whitehead, chair of the 2010 Names Policy Panel, attended and provided a summary of the panel membership nominations received and the Panel recommendations.


The board passed the following resolutions (proposed TS, seconded by the Board):


• That the board appoint the recommended panel members as proposed in Attachment A of the 2010 Names Policy Panel Membership Recommendation document.  Carried.

• That board members Amin Kroll, George Pongas, Josh Rowe & Graham McDonald also be appointed as panel members.  Carried.

 

4.  Confirmation of June 2010 Minutes

The minutes of the 10 June 2010 board meeting were confirmed.

 

5.  Finance Report

• The board noted the June 2010 end of year accounts and that the accounts were due to be audited late August 2010.

• The board noted the July 2010 accounts.

• J Higgins explained a number of methodologies for disclosure of foreign currency account balances and gains and losses in the financial statements. It was agreed for the purposes of future monthly reporting that foreign currency accounts would be stated at their purchase cost and that foreign exchange gains and losses would be recognised at the time of expenditure of the foreign currency funds. It was also agreed that the current $A value of the foreign currency accounts would be shown as a note to the monthly financial report.

 

6.  CEO Report

• The CEO report was noted.

• The Chair acknowledged the Court of Appeal’s judgment in the Australian Style Pty Ltd t/as Bottle Domains matter, which completely vindicated auDA’s position regarding the termination and subsequent court case..  

• The CEO gave a summary and update on DNSSEC implementation.  The DBCDE observers requested the CEO send an email to them clarifying the reference to the Australian Government in auDA’s media release of 12 August.

 

7.  2010 AGM

• The board was advised that the AGM and Best Practice Awards presentation Dinner would be held in Melbourne on Monday 18 October 2010.  Tentative venue and timings were advised and will be confirmed in due course.

 

8.  Membership Applications

The membership applications below were approved in the classes indicated:


• Internet Shop (Demand)

• David Priest (Demand)

• Troy White (Demand)

• Every Ounce Counts (Demand)

• Publishing Australia (Demand)

• Sean Fogarty (Demand)

• Rabbit Tracks Pty Ltd (Demand)

• Emma Weekly (Demand)

• Vicki Gottliebsen (Demand)

• Shaun McGowan (Demand)

• Michael Purse (Demand)

• Ross Walsh (Demand)

• Shaun Tipson (Demand)

• Edward Keay-Smith (Demand)

 

9.  Board Correspondence

There was no board correspondence.

 

10.  Other Business

Board sitting fees:

• auDA research on other company board sitting fees was conducted with no comparable fee structures found.  The board agreed to roll this matter forward pending a formal recommendations paper to the board.

Rafferty case:

• K Heitman noted the legal costs in the Rafferty case had exceeded the $20,000.00 authorized by the previous board resolution.  The final account has now been provided and is $5,814 plus GST in excess.   Motion (KH proposed, TS seconded):  That the board authorize the CEO to pay the balance of the final account in this matter.  Carried.

 

11.  Next Meeting

The next board meeting will be held on Monday 18 October 2010 in Melbourne.