Council Minutes 26/05/00

MINUTES OF THE GENERAL MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF THE INTERNET SOCIETY OF NEW ZEALAND INC HELD IN THE PENTHOUSE ROOM, MUSEUM HOTEL, WELLINGTON MAY 26 2000

NOTE: The entire meeting was audio recorded. Taping was stopped for breaks only.

Status: Minutes adopted at Council Meeting 7 July 2000

1. WELCOME

Peter Dengate Thrush opened the meeting at 16:00 and welcomed those present.

2. PRESENT

• Peter Dengate Thrush (Chair), Frank March (Secretary), Keith Davidson (Treasurer), John Vorstermans, Liz Dengate Thrush, Don Stokes, Richard Bourne, Mark Harris, Jean Park, John Hine, Howard Frederick, Roger De Salis, Jennifer Northover, Jim Higgins, Andrew Mason, Sue Leader (Executive Director).

3. IN ATTENDANCE

• Gail Cornell (Executive Assistant), Patrick O'Brien CEO Domainz (for the duration of his report)

4. OBSERVERS

• Michael Stevens, Perce Harpham

5. APOLOGIES

• ABSENT: Jim Shaw, Deb Struthers
• LATENESS: Richard Bourne, Howard Frederick

(00/79) MOVED: (Chair) That the apologies be accepted.

CARRIED U

6. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

A list of amendments had previously been received from Cr Hine.

(00/80) MOVED: (Chair) THAT the Minutes of the meeting of 27 April 2000 as amended be accepted as a true and accurate record.

CARRIED U

7. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

There were no matters arising from the minutes.

8.REPORT FROM THE ISOCNZ CHAIR

Chair spoke to his report as circulated.

WHOIS Service

• Chair drew the attention of Council to the letter circulated from Chair ISOCNZ to Chair Domainz regarding the concerns of the Council at Domainz delay in implementing WHOIS.

Telecommunications Inquiry

• The Chair congratulated Don Stokes on his submission.

Final Council Meeting

• The Chair thanked all present for their help during the year, again urging existing councillors to re-stand and also to encourage members to stand where replacements were necessary.

The Chair noted, on the subject of confidentiality, that once a report is sent to the Executive Assistant prior to the Council Meeting, it will be considered as available for the membership.

Executive Director advised that due to current resource problems, it would not be possible to continue with the volume of printed matter necessary for a council meeting if the documents needed to be put up on the web as well.

Cr Harris and Cr Davidson did not see the need for both; URL's could be posted to councillors who could then print the material if they wanted to.

16:28 Michael Stevens (Observer/Member) arrives.

00/81 (Moved Chair) THAT the report from the Chairperson be accepted.

CARRIED U

9.REPORT FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Report as circulated.

Cr Park referred to the previous meeting Motion ...

" 00/53 (Moved: Chair/Harris) THAT the original tender be confirmed;

• that the Council protest the manner in which this has been handled and note that it will be formally seeking an explanation at the next ccTLD Constituency meeting; and
• that the tender comply as far as possible with the tender format provided by the AdCom

CARRIED U

Clarification sought by Cr Park as to who was to do the work and it was agreed that the Chair would complete the tender."

Cr Park asked why the Executive Director had carried out this work? Chair advised that the reasons for the work to be carried out by himself were that the tender needed to be completed by the following day and was a very long and complicated document. When these conditions were found not to exist then the completion of the task returned to the Executive Director.

Executive Director noted that the Government E-Commerce document has been referred to the International Affairs Committee.

Executive Director drew the attention of the council to the circulated document regarding Cyber insurance.

16:39 Perce Harpham (Observer/Member) arrives.

There was general discussion about the offering of discounted Insurance from Willis to ISOCNZ members. Concerns were raised that any offer advertised by ISOCNZ could be seen as an endorsement. Cr Mason said we would only be drawing the attention of our members to the offer. Cr March advised that this could be seen as an endorsement but this might not be a problem. He was concerned however that the Society has no policy in this area. Cr Harris worried about the legal implications.

00/82(Moved Higgins/Northover) THAT the Council work with the Willis Group to provide discounted insurance to members.

LOST

00/83 (Moved Chair/Mason) THAT the issue of ISOCNZ offering professional services as a membership benefit be referred to the Policy Committee.

CARRIED U

Executive Director spoke to her budget report asking council for their feelings regarding the matter of new premises. Where were their spending priorities? Any change in premises will mean a significant increase in costs. Cr Vorstermans believed that clarification on the direction of the Society was needed before a decision could be made.

Chair asked what were the time frames involved for the properties already viewed. Executive Director advised that good ones would go quickly. We had a number of agents waiting to hear from us as we had advised them that a decision would be made at this meeting.

Cr Northover asked if we would be able to sub lease. Executive Director said yes and also pointed out that council meetings could be held in the new premises if it were large enough. Cr De Salis asked if we had advertised to ask for options. Executive Director advised no but that was a decision for the council. Cr Harris pointed out that though there was a lot of property available the size we were looking for was not common and he also questioned whether subletting to generate revenue was something the Society should be getting involved with?

Cr Park asked if there were room to cope with a new staff member now. Executive Director advised that even with a new member of staff there was no immediate space issue. Cr De Salis suggested the subject were left until it was necessary to move.Executive Director replied that she was seeking guidance only. Chair suggested that this topic were left for discussion under the budget item.

00/86 (Moved Chair/Park) THAT the report of the Executive Director be received, that she be thanked for all her work and wished bon voyagefor a well deserved holiday.

CARRIED U

10. DOMAINZ MODEL REVIEW PRESENTATION (Convenor - Cr Hine)

Cr Hine spoke to his report as circulated before the meeting.

Highlights

• Current policy and background to the situation.

Input

• Disappointing
• The registrant is the ultimate beneficiary
• Developing market in Domain Names
• Minimal support

On the subject of billing timing Cr Higgins stated that he did not understand the dissatisfaction with the new system. What did the community want? Cr Hine replied that flexibility was the prime requirement, ISP's had good reasons for not wanting a strictly annual subscription.

Cr Harris suggested that in general it was better to try and fit the outside world and not expect the world to fit you. The registry is organised to support the registrar.Cr Higgins asked if they were referring to billing? 80% are billed directly.Cr Stokes said that Xtra do not bill because if the billing were monthly they could absorb the costs.

A significant number of the registrars could be persuaded to bill if the frequency were flexible.If a person runs out on a one year bill that the ISP has already paid then they are stuck with the bill for the whole year.

Domainz is not perceived as operating in a co-operative manner to promote the Internet.

Choices

Cr Hine advised that there are 3 main choices.

1. Status Quo, to stay as it is.
2. Single registry
3. Shared registry.

He noted that the current model could be fixed to meet requiements but that the user community lacked confidence it.

Cr Higgins and Cr Harris asked where the nameholder came in all off this, they are fundamental and have not been mentioned.

There was extensive discussion about the nature of a SRS and how it compared with the present system.There was concern that if ISOCNZ created an independent registry, ISOCNZ could still end up with 95% of the present system.

Cr Higgins noted that under the recommended system any nameholder wishing to move a name between registrars would require arbitration. Cr Stokes said that the transfer would need some information to be included in the registry but only a small number of cases would be a problem. Cr Harris asked if the nameholder has never had a relationship with the registry who do they go to?

Chair asked how the thin layer system would resolve the problems of different interfaces required by ICANN (chapter 2 of WIPO)if information on the nameholder should be held in the registry but does not have the registrant's address.

Cr Stokes answered that this was Not the ICANN model. Information would be held in the Registry.

Cr March, speaking to his paper, said the report clearly laid out the issues but that much more dicussion is required.There is a need to focus on the process leading up to the AGM.Cr Hine that he had not brought he report to the Council for approval but was seeking comment. There is a short time span with the AGM being in June.

Cr Higgins noted that the report states that consultation hasd taken place with Domainz but his has never happened.

Cr March took issue with the process, noting that there were many questions requiring answers. The report does need to go to the AGM but not in its current form, rather it should be seen as a work in progress.

Cr Northover stated that our priority is to the database then the nameholder. Cr Dengate Thrush suggested more consultation is needed. This is an excellent first step and something should be presented to the AGM. Cr Davidson stressed that this only a first step.

Chair ISOCNZ asked Cr Higgins how long it would take for the Domanz Board to respond to the report.As the report impacts on the business of Domainz their impout is required.Cr Higgins undertook to respond within two weeks.

Cr Mason expressed his concern at this report going out in its current form, much more work is needed.

Chair suggested that the report should be re-written in less strong terms ie should report and NOT recommend. Cr Hine advised that he had no more time at the moment however if it would take two weeks for the Board of Domainz to come back then that would create a breathing space.

Cr Higgins noted that it was unusual for a report of this type to make recommendations.

Noted by the Executive Director, that it has been only 6 months since the AGM and that time included Y2K, Christmas and Summer holidays.The Chair suggested following on from this that the Council asks for more time.

Cr March asked that it be re-written as a discussion paper NOT a draft.

00/87 (MovedMarch/Mason):THAT the Working Group report be rewritten, with the recommendations deleted and replaced by a number of key questions on which further input and discussion is invited, and presented at the AGM.

CARRIED U

18:00 Break for Tea

12. ADMIN REPORT

Cr Harris reported on progress with UNIFORUM. There has been discussion as to what the Internet Society would achieve with closer links to UNIFORUM. UNIFORUM is aimed at UNIX users with a technical bent, whereas ISOCNZ is more involved with lawyers and the Government etc. So there would seem to be value in bringing the two together.

00/84 (Moved Harris/Higgins)THAT ISOCNZ combine its annual conference with the Uniforum conference in October.

CARRIED U

Executive Director flagged that the proposal to UNIFORUM had to be sent in immediately. She is to email Cr Harris with details of who to talk to.

13. REPORT FROM DOMAINZ - CEO & CHAIR

Patrick O'Brien as invited to present a report from Domainz. He noted that there had been considerable effort put into getting the Domainz point of view into the media. A media evening was held in Auckland which had resulted in some positive spinoff.

He emphasised that throughout the rollout the domain name system has continued to function smoothly and DN registrations have continued.

The DRS rollout had placed a high level of strain on staff. There was much negative comment and many telphone and email queries to deal with. It was apparent that ISPs had not actually carried out very much live testing prior to the launch of the new system.

Cr Dengate Thrush asked if the Council could have a list of improvements and timeframes for when they would be done. Cr Mason advised that most would be fixed in 2 weeks but new bugs were being found all the time, which might jump to the top of the queue.

Cr De Salis asked how much over budget Domainz were. Patrick advised that the figures had not changed, changes were included in the original contract budget.

Cr March asked if someone was dealing with the list of points that had been collected by David Farrar. Cr Mason advised that he was now dealing with this list. Cr Bourne asked exactly how many problems there were. Cr Mason could not give an exact figure but estimated one to two dozen.

Cr March noted that the DRS rollout had been a public relations disaster. Patrick O'Brien advised that any change in the community is difficult and that looking back, the negative publicity had not been dealt with at all well. Cr Higgins agreed but also pointed out that they had held a forum on Auckland and of the 22 people invited only 2 had turned up. Cr March asked if the Communication people hired by the Internet Society had been used. Patrick replied yes they had arranged the Auckland meeting and sent out a press release.

Chair asked if those members observing wanted to comment.

Perce Harpham stated that he was utterly bemused by the level of stuff up, that the cost was excessive and it was appalling that noone could even now give a count of the actual level of bugs in the system. Michael Stevens as a software developer would have sacked half of his staff under these circumstances. He thought it was a whitewash.

Cr Davidson asked if Domainz had changed holder information. Patrick advised that holder information is changed everyday, this is a cyclic thing that has continued over the last 3 years.

14. REPORTFROM THE TREASURER

19:30 Patrick O'Brien and Perce Harpham leave the meeting.

00/88 (Moved Davidson/Chair)THAT the Council, through the Executive Director, send its condolences and a card to Lyudmyla for her recent bereavement.

CARRIED U

Cr Davidson commented briefly on the annual accounts. Profit of $40 thousand as opposed to loss last time.

00/89 (Moved Davidson/Chair)THAT the monthly accounts for March be approved.

CARRIED U

There was general discussion related to the motions put forward on notice by Cr Davidson. Cr Northover and Cr Davidson had been working together to come up with a monthly financial report format from Domainz, a summary of which would be produced for Council meetings.

Cr Higgins was concerned about the level of detail being asked for in Cr Davidson's report format. Cr Park pointed out that from a Governance point of view the Council needed to know if an excessive profit or loss were being made. Cr March asked if the report requested by Cr Davidson was similar to the level of information provided to the Board. The Chair advised that the Board did not get this detail but it was available if requested.

Cr Davidson gave examples of far larger corporations in which the level of reporting were even higher on a daily basis. Also that for historical purposes this information would be useful. As things stand at the moment he cannot give any profit figures for Domainz any more recent than 15 months ago.

00/90 (Moved Northover/L Dengate Thrush) THAT the Treasurer liaise with the Chair and CEO of Domainz to obtain financial information monthly in the format which the Treasurer has suggested. This information is to be provided in summarised form to the Council at two monthly intervals and published to members after Council approval.

CARRIED U

00/91 (Moved Chair/ De Salis) THAT Domainz constitutional amendments proposed by the Treasurer relating to the Issue of Shares be referred to the Domainz Board with a view to making any amendments as deemed appropriate. After further consultation with the Shareholder representative these should be referred to the July AGM of Domainz with a view to amending the Domainz Constitution.

CARRIED U

Cr Higgins advised that the Domainz audited accounts could not be produced in the timeframe requested.

00/92 (Moved Davidson/Northover) THAT in future financial years, the audited Domainz annual accounts are to be presented to ISOCNZ not later than the 10^th (tenth) working day of May.

CARRIED U

20:10 Cr Higgins leaves.

15. Committee Reports: (Chair reports as circulated)

a. Administration Committee

Frank March (Chair), Keith Davidson, Mark Harris, Peter Dengate Thrush and Sue Leader (ex officio).

The Admin Committee report was circulated prior to the meeting. Cr March spoke to his report noting that the Executive Director had indeed slowed down and reduced her hours as directed by the committee in point (i).Point (ii) "the employment of an Administration assistant" was then discussed. The Treasurer expressed his view that he was happy about the impact on the budget of a new member of staff. He also noted that this person would take over the duties of Lyudmyla how had already been accounted for and this was not therefore the employment of a whole new person.

00/93 (Moved March/Park) THAT the Executive Director be asked to proceed with the employment of an Administration Manager as soon as possible.

CARRIED U

Executive Director expressed her thanks that this new member of staff had been authorised.

Cr Dengate Thrush talked about the ICANN registration post, and interim appointment, names had been submitted to Council and the recommendation is that Dr Nii Queyner be endorsed

00/85 (Moved Chair/Davidson) THAT the Executive Director exercise a vote on behalf of the .nz delegation in favour of Dr Nii Queyner as (interim/three months) representative for Pacrim on the ICANN Names Council.

CARRIED U

This is an interim appointment or the process would have been more formal.

b. Policy Committee

Jennifer Northover (Chair), Liz Dengate Thrush, Richard Bourne and David Farrar.

Cr Northover asked more people could be assigned to the committee due to workload. Chair advised that this would be dealt with after the new council had been elected.

The Policy Committee report was circulated prior to the meeting.

Draft Communications Policy

00/94(Moved Mason/ L Dengate Thrush) THAT the Chair immediately sign the Internet Code of Practice on behalf of ISOCNZ.

CARRIED U

It was noted that the draft policy attempted to bind Domainz and that this was not appropriate.

00/95 (Moved Northover/ L Dengate Thrush) THAT the draft Communications Policy (as amended by the deletion of reference to the staff and directors of Domainz) be adopted by Council.

Cr Northover expressed her concerns at internal ISOCNZ policy being sent out for public comment.

00/96 (Moved Chair/L Dengate Thrush)THAT the Communications Policy be published for Members comments for two weeks.

CARRIED
Opposed: Northover

Complaints Board

After some general discussion:

00/97 (Moved L Dengate Thrush/Northover) THAT the paper outlining a proposal for the establishment of on the ICOP Complaints Board be adopted and further that:

1. the recommendation for ISOCNZ meet the costs of the Board for the first two years, after which funding should be reviewed; and
2. the paper be circulated for comment to all ICOP signatories asking for comment.

CARRIED U

Acceptable Use Policy

• Already have on new lists. Cr Harris has agreed to put together.

Attendance at Council Meetings

• Set of protocols for anyone attending.

ISOC Chapter/ Federation

• Chair suggested this be referred to the Policy Committee.

Disclaimer 00/66 (Moved: Park/Chair)

• This has been done.

Cr Dengate Thrush added in reference to the Offensive names policy that there had been little comment on this so we can adopt the policy to drop the policy.

00/98 (Moved L Dengate Thrush/Northover) THAT the ban on registration of offensive names in .nz should be lifted as of 1 June 2000 and that the Secretary should notify the CEO of Domainz accordingly.

CARRIED
Opposed:De Salis, Davidson

00/99 (Moved Northover/Harris) THAT the proposed agreement for moderators of second level domains be adopted.

CARRIED U

c. Technical Committee

John Vorstermans (Chair), John Hine, John Shaw, Don Stokes, Roger De Salis and Mark Davies (external member)

The Technical Committee report was circulated prior to the meeting. Cr Vorstermans spoke to his report noting:

Zone Transfer Policy

• Not done yet

00/101(Moved Vostermans/Hine) THAT the report be adopted.

CARRIED U

d. "Social Impact" Committee

Howard Frederick (Acting Chair), Andrew Mason, Jean Park, Deb Struthers

00/100 (Moved Park/Mason) THAT Domainz be asked to make a presentation to the Electronic Commerce Summit representing itself as a successful ecommerce start up and essential to the well functioning of ecommerce in New Zealand.

CARRIED
Opposed: Hine

e. International Affairs Committee

The International Affairs Committee report was circulated prior to the meeting. Chair spoke to his report noting that Executive Director has reportedon progress for preparations for the Summit. A letter was prepared and dispatched to the Minister.

There are no recommendations yet on ICANN funding: there is no urgency from our point of view and there is no indication from ICANN what the reciprocal benefits would be. The Executive Director noted that the meeting has been postponed till September 15^th. Cr De Salis advised that he would be there at that time anyway and may be able to attend.

00/102 (Moved Chair/March) THAT one airfare and three nights accommodation be allocated from the budget (amounting to approximately $1500) for one person to attend the Fiji Internet Seminar Tour.

CARRIED U
(noted that Roger de Salis may be available.)

• Executive Director and Chair to attend Yokohama ICANN meeting. Budget yet to be approved.Cr Dengate Thrush suggested that broader consultation was needed. Cr Hine suggested that more discussion could take place on the lists before the Summit.

00/103 (Moved March/Park) THAT the Executive Director and the Chair represent ISOCNZ at the meeting of ICANN in Yokohama in July.

CARRIED
Abstained:Chair

00/104 (Moved Chair/Northover) THAT a grant in aid of $1500 be made to Joop Teermestra so that he can attend the Yokohama meeting on the condition that he provide a report to Council on his return.

CARRIED
Opposed: Davidson

00/105 (Moved Chair/Hine) THAT a member of ISOCNZ be funded to attend the Beijing MDNS meeting and that Ray Brownrigg be invited to attend.

CARRIED
Abstained:Park

00/106 (Moved Chair/Hine)THAT a member of ISOCNZ be funded to attend the ASO meeting in Yokohama and that Nevil Brownlee be invited to attend.

CARRIED
Abstained:Park

16. Working Group Reports:

(Convenor Reports as circulated)

a. Political Liaison

• (Convenor - Andrew Mason)
• No report.

b. ISOCNZ-Domainz Relationship

• (Convenor - Cr P Dengate Thrush)
• No report.

c. 0867

• (Convenor - Don Stokes)

Don Stokes spoke to his report as circulated at the meeting. The work of the Working Group on 0867 issues is starting to wind down. There is a suggestion that the name of the Group be changed as a lot of none 0867 related work has been done. Cr Stokes asked that new members be assigned to the group and also would like to approach the Chair off line about getting legal advice.

00/107 (Moved Chair/March) THAT the report be accepted and that Don Stokes be thanked for his hard work in getting a late submission in to the Telecommunications Enquiry.

CARRIED U

00/108 (Moved Chair) THAT the name of the Working Group be changed to reflect a wider focus deal with telecommunications issues as they affect the Internet.

CARRIED U

d.. Constitutional Review

• No report.

e. Methods of Electronic Participation

• (Convenor- Mark Harris)

A verbal report was given by Cr Bourne as Cr Harris had to leave early.

1. Details how to use participation
2. Motions
3. Chat rooms as mechanism for AGM while in chat room no need to wait for responses. Password needed for entry. E-mail can also be submitted. streaming audio cast 2x streams WINZ media/real audio.
4. Video was looked at but no benefit could be found maybe revisited later.

Executive Director noted at this point that there were only 5 online participants last time and video would be expensive for so few people. Chair suggested we look again in the future as the society should be seen as leaders in this field.

00/109 (Moved Chair) THAT the verbal report from Richard Bourne be accepted.

CARRIED U

f. Open Relay

• (Convenor - Richard Bourne)

Cr Bourne reported that the first meeting of the Open Relay Working Group was held this afternoon. The report should be finished in time for the AGM.

00/110 (Moved Chair)THAT the verbal report from Richard Bourne be accepted.

CARRIED U

16.General Business

BUDGET

The budget needs to be presented to the AGM for reference to the incoming Council.

Cr Hine expressed his concern at the 130% increase in spending and asked how thiscould be justified to the membership, especially in light of the fact that the Society has no clear view of its future.

Chair disagreed, noting that there hasd been a great increase in output in the last year. The budget allows for an administrative assistant

Executive Director advised that most of the additional money is needed to cope with existing workloads, allows for to communication with our members as they have asked, some increases in Honoraria.

Cr March asked if we could still be assured that the Board of Domainz would allocate the necessary dividend to fund the proposed budget.Cr Davidson advised that we did not need it all from Domainz but still a large amount. If we took this from Domainz we would end up with a double tax bill again.

Chair noted that others disputed this view.

Draft 20

00/111 (Moved Davidson/March)THAT the draft budget be approved in principle for presentation to the AGM, to be deemed approval in full should this motion not be rescinded by electronic vote by 6 June.

CARRIED U

19:44 Meeting ends

©2000 The Internet Society of New Zealand
Last updated 13 July 2000