Internet Governance in New Zealand

Management of the New Zealand Internet

The Internet in New Zealand is self managed. There is no specific government legislation with regards to Internet matters, which are covered under general government legislation.

InternetNZ has responsibility within New Zealand for the .nz domain name space (DNS) and maintains a shared registry system (SRS) for the management of .nz domain name registrations and the operation of the DNS.

The SRS provides a single register for registering domain names and associated technical and administrative information. .nz Registry Services (NZRS), owned by InternetNZ, operates the registry. There is a competitive environment for registrations with a number of registrars on the market.

Registrars are responsible for managing their relationship with registrants. There is no communication between NZRS and registrants.

The Role of InternetNZ

InternetNZ is the guardian of the Internet in New Zealand. Formerly The Internet Society of New Zealand, InternetNZ is a not-for-profit organisation fostering coordinated and cooperative development of the Internet in New Zealand.

The mission of InternetNZ is to promote and protect the Internet, ensuring that it operates in an open and uncapturable environment.

Representing a membership including Internet Service Providers, web designers, academia, public information groups and Internet users, InternetNZ provides commentary and advice to politicians, industry influencers and the media. We also represent New Zealand on global Internet organisations, having the delegation for the .nz Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD).

As part of the delegation of .nz InternetNZ owns the Domain Name Commission Ltd which oversees the management of the .nz domain name space.

InternetNZ also owns the New Zealand Domain Name Registry Limited, trading as .nz Registry Services (NZRS), that operates the .nz register.

As well as the .nz delegation, InternetNZ is concerned with technical matters such as IPv6, and anti-spam efforts.

Structure of InternetNZ

InternetNZ is governed by a Council (elected by InternetNZ members). The Council is made up of four officers (the President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer) and ten Councillors, all of whom serve two year terms.

The Council is responsible to InternetNZ members for conducting the affairs of the Society. It has a set of bylaws to guide its processes and policies.

There are six permanent committees of Council. They are:

• Executive Committee
• .nz Oversight Committee
• Public Policy Committee
• Technical Policy Committee
• Audit and Risk Committee
• Fellowship Committee
  

The Council or one of its committees often sets up special purpose limited duration task-forces or groups.

InternetNZ Membership

Any person or organisation can join InternetNZ. The members have ultimate authority in the Society. They have the right to amend the Constitution (by two thirds majority), to elect and sack Officers and Councillors and to instruct the Council on matters that they see fit.

InternetNZ Membership Information

Domain Name Registration

The country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) in New Zealand is .nz. The .nz namespace has twelve 2nd level domains (2LDs), four of which are moderated.

The 2LDs in New Zealand are:

• .ac ­ - used by tertiary educational institutions and related organisations.
• .co ­ - the most common 2LD ­ used by companies with commercial aims and purposes.
• .cri ­ - ­ used by Crown Research Institutes (moderated).
• .gen ­ - used by people and organisations not covered under any of the other 2LDs.
• .geek ­ - used by many technology-aware people.
  
• .govt ­ - ­ used by government organisations (moderated).
• .iwi ­ - ­ used by traditional Maori tribes (moderated).
• .maori ­ - used by Maori people, groups and organisations.
• .mil ­ - ­ used by military organisations of the New Zealand government (moderated).
• .net ­ - used by organisations specifically related to the New Zealand Internet.
• .org ­ - used by not-for-profit organisations.
• .school ­ - used by primary, secondary, pre-schools and related organisations.

More information on 2LDs in New Zealand is available on the Domain Name Commission website:

Domain Name Commission website