David Farrar

Biography for David Farrar

In standing for Vice-President I'd first like to pay tribute to Rick Shera who has done some magnificent work for the society in the last few years. It is only because Rick has indicated he will not be re-standing that I am making myself available. Rick has authored many submissions on our behalf to Government, has been a frequent commentator in the media, chaired the taskforce which determined the stabilising registrar role for Domainz during the SRS transition, was a member of the original SRS Working Group and has also constantly been a great source of advice to InternetNZ.

I was first elected to Council in 1998 and have been Secretary for the last two years. I also have the privilege of being a Director of .nz Registry Services since mid 2002.

I am an active participant in most aspects of the society's work and spend an enormous amount of time on INZ business. I have authored several dozen papers including key ones such as restructuring and governance. I have tried to enhance communications with members by posting council meeting summaries within a day or each meeting. I have served on two very time consuming taskforces - one defining the role of Domainz in the SRS and also on the Domainz Sale Taskforce. I also chaired the Executive Director recruitment panel which was incredibly challenging.

In my current role as Secretary I feel I have accomplished almost everything I have wanted to influence. We've now got a new constitution, a smaller Council, a far better governance/management split, more detailed operating procedures, the nucleus of a strategic and business plan, regular consultation with members, transparent written reporting to Council as the basis for decision making, and far far better management of .nz issues.

While there are some remaining issues I am committed to (sale of Domainz, publication of strategic and business plans, some further constitutional tinkering) I am keen to change my focus from more internal issues to external issues and hence why I am seeking the Vice-Presidency.

I have a real passion for issues such as (stopping) Government control of the Internet, sensible internet-friendly legislation and regulations, a self regulating internet industry, provision of information over the internet, anti-spam initiatives etc. While the Chair of Legal & Regulatory Committee is not automatically tied to being VP, the VP is expected to chair a committee of Council and this would be the logical one I would seek if I am VP.

A key part of being VP is also assisting and where necessary deputising for the President. I believe I have a good working relationship (and friendship) with the current President, and we work well together despite having different views on some issues and different personalities. We tend to complement each other well and I enjoy being part of the leadership team in INZ. I have often deputised for the President in his absence.

Another key part of being VP is that, like the President, you are expected to have a working knowledge of all areas of operations of the Society and I believe I can claim this having been on the Administration, Governance & Constitutional and International Committees, served on the SRS Working Group, involved in many legal and regulatory issues, and keeping up to date on issues within outreach and technical.

If elected Vice-President, the key areas I will be keen to work on are:

• Establishing a monitoring and response system to any parliamentary or government bills, regulations, surveys and inquiries - so that we are constantly representing the interests of internet users and providers.
• Formulating a proposal for INZ to undertake a major anti-spam initiative.
• Producing resources and publications which can be sent to key persons in Government (MPs, Dept CEOs, key advisors etc) to keep them informed of relevant issues affecting the Internet in NZ.
• Arranging regular bi-partisan briefings of MPs on key internet issues.
• Stopping any Australian style ISP content regulation system from being introduced here.

I look forward to another successful year for InternetNZ.

David Farrar