Nominee for Vice President 2005-07 : David Farrar

InternetNZ has been incredibly successful in the last few years in resolving the issues around the management of .nz, and turning its energies to the many other areas of Internet policy and issues. I've greatly enjoyed playing my part over the last few years, and if the members are willing would like to continue for a final 2-year term as Vice-President.

I believe I have played a key role in three major areas of InternetNZ.

1. .nz - Having been a proponent of the move to an SRS, I worked closely with out implementation team to make it happen, and latterly been privileged to serve on the Board of NZRS where we continually strive to provide world-class service at an affordable cost. The customer satisfaction surveys show a very high level of job approval from registrars - a huge turnaround for InternetNZ from a few years ago.

2. Internal Restructuring - InternetNZ has internally undergone major change, with constitutional changes allowing online voting, direct election of officers and several others. We have also invested considerable more authority in the Executive Director to hire staff and manage the society to produce the outcomes we want. I have also been the primary author of InternetNZ's 'virgin' strategic and business plans.

3. External Representation - As the Chair of the Legal & Regulatory Committee, I've helped lead InternetNZ into a far more activist organisation with action on spam, patent law, censorship law, privacy issues etc. I have also been active, with many others, on the international front in our dealings with IANA, ICANN and our fellow ccTLDs.

But I am not standing just on a record of the past, but on what I would like to be able to still contribute towards over the next two years, if re-elected. My top ten list is:

1. Ensure .nz policy and management remains top class. It is too easy to be complacent, and the improvements we have made will not remain, if we do not keep working on them.

2. Have InternetNZ host a great ICANN meeting in March 2006, which enhances our reputation both locally with Government and stakeholders, but also internationally.

3. Work with our partners in the Telecommunication Carriers Forum on trialling, and then introducing, Enum into New Zealand.

4. Work with all parties in Parliament to form a non-partisan Parliamentary Internet Caucus

5. See a sensible anti-spam law passed, which does not place extra burdens on ISPs, and has a properly resourced enforcement agency

6. Continue our work to encourage peering, working with like minded stakeholders

7. Build up InternetNZ's reputation in the area of Internet law, through the cyberlaw fellowship and other initiatives

8. Maintain our presence with ICANN to ensure we get excellent service from IANA, while keeping the costs of such service reasonable.

9. Generally, try to keep the ITU and UN as far away as possible from trying to govern the Internet

10. Increase the InternetNZ membership so that we have greater credibility

I have been involved in almost all aspects of the Society's work in the last few years, spending on average one to two days a week on InternetNZ business. As well as being Vice-President, I have the following formal involvements:

• Chair of the Legal & Regulatory Committee, the Anti-Spam Taskforce and the Executive Appointment Panel.
• A member of the Executive, International Affairs, Governance & Constitutional and ICANNZ06 Organising Committees
• A member of the Patent Advisory Group, the Enum Taskforce, the Peering Taskforce and the Digital Opportunities Trust Taskforce

Externally I represent InternetNZ on several bodies both domestically and internationally, work closely with key stakeholders such as Netsafe, and also liaise with various MPs and Government Officials in the IT area. I am also a regular spokesperson for the Society on relevant issues.

A good summary of work I am involved in can be found in my last three reports to Council - June 2005, April 2005 and February 2005.

I am keen to stay involved in the many worthwhile activities of InternetNZ.

David Farrar
david@farrar.com

David Farrar was nominated by David Harris.