Council Minutes 24/08/00

MINUTES OF THE GENERAL MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF THE INTERNET SOCIETY OF NEW ZEALAND INC HELD AT THE MUSEUM HOTEL ON THURSDAY 24 AUGUST 2000

Note - for links to papers etc, see the Agenda.

Status: Minutes adopted at Council Meeting 22 September 2000

1. WELCOME

Peter Dengate Thrush opened the meeting at 4.10pm and welcomed those present and especially welcomed Jennifer Northover back to the Council. The Chair noted that Councilor Gray had to leave by 5:30 and Councilor's Frederick and Northover by 7:30 and so the Agenda would be reordered.

2. PRESENT

Peter Dengate Thrush(Chair), Frank March (Secretary), Keith Davidson (Treasurer), Simon Blake, Richard Bourne, Jordan Carter, Roger De Salis, Howard Frederick, Bob Gray, Steven Heath, Andrew Mason, Jennifer Northover, Jean Park, Rick Shera, David Zanetti, Sue Leader (Executive Director).

3. IN ATTENDANCE:

Beverley Irvine (Administration Manager)

00156 MOVED: (Gray/De Salis) THAT the Council move into Committee to discuss the Domainz Financial Report.

CARRIED U

Council moved out of committee at 5:07pm and observers were invited to return

00157 MOVED: (Chair/) THAT the in committee section of the Domainz Board report be received

CARRIED U

4. OBSERVERS

P. Harpham, C. Streatfield, James Scott, Tiopira Hape (Presenting a report),Grant Forsyth

5. APOLOGIES

Absence: Arron Scott

Lateness: John Hine

Early departure:Bob Gray, Jennifer Northover, Howard Frederick

00/158 MOVED: (Chair/) That the apologies be accepted.

CARRIED U

6. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

00/159 MOVED: (March/Zanetti) That the minutes of the Council Meeting held on 28 July 2000 be signed as a true and correct record.

CARRIED
(Abstention J. Northover)

7. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

No matters were arising

The previously circulated results of E-votes EV010800-EV110800 were tabled

00/160 MOVED: (March/Park) THAT E-votes EV010800-EV110800 be recorded into the Minutes.

CARRIED U

8. REPORT FROM DOMAINZ BOARD

Cr Gray is confirmed as the Chair.The Board will be signing the Certificate of Solvency and the dividend will be paid forthwith, less the advance already given.

Two Market Research proposals have been received for a survey of user satisfaction - in progress

A Report from the CEO had only just been received and will be e-mailed council area.A written report will be a available for Council Meetings in the future.

The lease for the Greenock House space is up for renegotiation for the next three years and the lease will be renewed

The Chair asked the Observers if they had any comments. James Scott(Domainz Director) stated that the Board was looking for resolution on outstanding technical issues. The Chair asked the Domainz Board members if they had a vision yet of where the Company was going, as directed by the AGM.

Cr Gray pointed out they were only interim board members and wanted to wait until the SRS Working Group report was out before any changes were made.

The Chair asked the SRS Working Group for comment, Cr Heath said they were still looking at models and continuing the debate between "thick" and "thin" models.They are still aiming for their report to be at the September Council meeting, although this time frame may not be practicable.

The Chair stated that whatever the outcome an economic impact report was needed.Cr De Salis pointed out that as Domainz is an effective monopoly some decisions need to be made about level of profit.Cr March reminded the Council that a year ago he had predicted that the economic life of Domainz as it is currently structured would be about 24 months – giving another 12 months by which time a different income model could well be needed.Cr Frederick pointed out that an assessment of the assets owned by the shareholder should be made and if possible re-invested for the benefit of the users.There was discussion about the timing of an economic impact report, contractual arrangements entered into by the Board and the impact on the SRS Working Group report. Cr Gray confirmed that the Board had simply run out of time at it's meeting to deal with the hiring of a Technical Manager. The Board would report back further in a week's time.

00/161 MOVED: (Chair/)THAT the report be received and the Board members thanked for their work

CARRIED U

9. INDUSTRY ADVISORY GROUP

At this stage the Chair asked Grant Forsyth from Clear Communications who was present as an observer if he wanted to address the Council.

Mr Forsyth expressed Clear Communication's interest in moving forward IAG (Industry Advisory Group) appointing a Councilor. He indicated that there had been discussion on the IAG mailing list but that the process seemed to be stalled. The Executive Director confirmed that the By-Laws requirement for all Organisational members to first constitute another group of four-twelve members as the IAG was slowing the process down and suggested that the By-Laws may need revision. Mr Forsyth said the time was right to encourage wider participation and Clear was therefore offering to host a teleconference of the Organisational members so that the process could move forward.He suggested he could put out this offer onto the IAG list tomorrow.Cr Frederick asked if the Organisational members/IAG wished to have participation by Councilor's and Mr Forsyth said he would take that back to the group.

Cr De Salis reported to the meeting that there were major developments in Australia where Telstra had put up a proposition to central Government which in effect buys out any obligation Telstra has to improve services in remote areas.The implications of this could be very important for future developments in the industry in New Zealand.

00/162 MOVED: (Chair/Northover)THAT The Council record its thanks to Clear Communications for this offer and expresses the hope that this will lead to a representative from the IAG joining the Council.

CARRIED U

10. ISOC RELATIONSHIP REPORT

Cr Frederick referred the Council to the ISOC/ISOCNZ report prepared by himself and Dr Jenny Shearer.He asked that the resolutions contained in the report be put.

00/163 MOVED: (Frederick/Davidson) THAT ISOCNZ not become a Chapter of ISOC (Recommendation One)

There was discussion on the extra costs of membership and that there appeared to be very little benefit for the extra costs.

MOTION PUT

CARRIED U

The in order to move ISOC forward on the "Associate Membership", ISOCNZ should resolve to apply for Associate Membership and give ISOC 6 months to make a decision. (Recommendation Two)

There was discussion on the merit of trying to force ISOC to move along the track of establishing "Associate Membership" by applying for it.The current proposalswere mooted last October but not acted on, the report lacks any real sense of benefits and maybe our application will force developments of the benefits.

MOVED: (Carter/Northover)THAT Recommendation Two be amended by the substitution of "negotiate" for "apply"and a clarification in the wording to insure which organisation is being referred to. The amendment was accepted by the mover and seconder

00/164 MOVED: (Frederick/Davidson)THAT ISOCNZ negotiate with ISOC to develop an ISOC Associate Membership category with the intention of ISOCNZ joining in that capacity in at a later date

CARRIED U

00/165 MOVED: (Frederick/Blake)THAT "That ISOCNZ provide administrative support for the formation of an ISOC Chapter in New Zealand by members." (Recommendation Three)

Cr Blake leaves the meeting at 6:08 pm

There was discussion about the form of administrative support that could be offered.

P Harpham arrives 6:15pm

Cr March took the Chair as Peter Dengate Thrush wished to speak for the motion.

There was discussion about the nature of support being in the re-branding of the organisation. Other help that could be given would be in the areas of list management, assistance with e-voting etc.

Executive Director suggested the motion should lie on the table until the next meeting to get clarification as to what is meant by "administrative support" including hours, priority, costings

James Scott left the meeting at 6.25pm

Peter Dengate Thrush resumed the Chair

There was discussion about the support requested by the AGM resolution and as it was not clarified at the AGM it was felt that by supporting the first 2 resolutions above, the Council has complied with the AGM Resolution., however the sense of the AGM was that something should be done and by offering practical support this is seen to be done.

00/166 MOVED: (Northover/Park)

THAT this motion lie on the table until The next Council Meeting to allow definition of 'Administrative Support'

CARRIED
In favour: Bourne, Zanetti, Park, Northover, Dengate Thrush, Shera, Mason, Carter, Davidson
Against: Heath, Frederick
Abstention: De Salis, March

Council adjourned for a meal break at 6.30pm and resumed at 7pm

11. RESEARCH PROJECT - "MAORI IN THE DIASPORA"

The Society sponsored research into Maori and the Internet in 1999 via the then Education and Research Committee. The research forms part of the study being undertaken by Mr Tiopira Hape, Principal, Akiwa Mäori Resource Analysts, for his Masters in Communication degree. Tiopira Hape was welcomed to the meeting by Executive Director and presented an update on the research project. The report is with the Council for two weeks for comment before going out for comment via the New Zealand Maori Internet Society - Te Whanau Ipurangi.

In discussion the Executive Director undertook to put the first progress report on the website for the benefit of new Councilors. Mr Hape stressed that the Council had to be satisfied that the report met the needs of the Council as sponsors of this section of the research before it went out for comment. Mr Hape was thanked for an excellent presentation and for his patience with the delay because of equipment problems.

12. REPORT FROM ISOCNZ CHAIR

The Chair did not present a report.

13 . REPORT FROM THE TREASURER

The Treasurer presented his report comprising Statement of Financial Position at 31 July 2000 and Statement of Financial Performance at 31 July 2000. He noted the size of the loss and explained that the costs of the Summit and AGM appeared in the July month.He reported that the cash reserve of approximately $48K had not had to be broken into because of the receipt of the advance on dividend from Domainz .

00/167 MOVED: (Davidson/Heath) THAT the Treasurer's report be received.

CARRIED U

Crs Frederick and Northover left the meeting at 7.50pm

14. REPORT FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Executive Director presented her report as an OHP transparency, noting that for the first time she had not had sufficient time to produce a written report. The Executive Director apologised for not having time to complete the full report on review of the 1998 Business Plan, and the 1998 and 1999 Strategic plans. She intended to have that completed next week.

The Executive Director discussed the achievements of the past month and set out the planned activities for the next.

1. Budget and Business Plan

There was discussion as to whether the budget and business plan as requested at the AGM could now be prepared. Executive Director explained the background to previous budgets and planning and asked that Council clarify how a business plan for 2000-2001 could be produced when there was no strategic plan in place.

It was clarified that what was required was expansion and detailed notation on the budget as presented to the AGM.Executive Director undertook to produce this after reworking the zero-based Budget the Society has been operating under since the AGM to the anticipated income (which is lower than that presented to the AGM) It was agreed that the Executive Director would initiate the process of developing a new Mission Statement for Council discussion for the October Council meeting, with the Council to then move into a SWOT analysis and Strategic Planning Session, so that members could be consulted, and then a Budget and Business Plan prepared in a timely manner for the next AGM.

Cr De Salis departs??

Meeting Dates and Airfare Rises

Executive Director asked the Council to decide on the date for the next meeting in view of the clash with the NetForum 2000 conference.It was decided that the next meeting will be on 22 September from 1 – 4 pm.

Executive Director suggested that the timetable for meetings be set for the first 6 months of 2001 as airfares are about to dramatically rise, so prebooking fares could allow a considerable saving.

Member's List AUP Enforcement

(Cr Davidson left the meeting at 8.15pm)

The Council discussed the issue of the current suspension of a member for breaching the AUP who then "spoofed" the Executive Director's email address.This member has a temporary ban of 2 weeks imposed for the original AUP breach.The question was raised of how to deal with the "Spoofing" infringement. In addition the suggestion that the Executive Director should also enforce the AUP on the isocnz-l list was raised as the list is currently gatewayed to a newsgroup.

Discussion was wide ranging and included:

• the inability to stop a determined offender
• that there is a published policy in place at the moment for all lists.
• Unless the public list isuncoupled from the newsgroup, no enforcement of AUP's is practicable and breaches are already out in the global arena via the newsgroup.
• Council could set penalties for breaches of the AUP.
• It is not practicable to create policy to cover all eventualities, so full discretionary powers need to be given to the Executive Director.There was discussion about suitable penalties.
• It was important to formalise the appeal process - the Chair had suggested a Committee Chair's group.

Members present as observers were asked for their opinions and suggestions.Both Chris Streatfield and Perce Harpham agreed that exponential bans should be used.Emphasis should be on education rather than punishment.

Cr Hine raised that the Executive Director should have discretion with the guideline of doubling penalties for subsequent offences again the AUP.Cr Shera pointed out that "Spoofing" is much more serious and the Constitution working group should be asked to look at the matter.

00/168 MOVED: (Hine/Bourne)
Guidelines for Enforcement of mailing list AUP's

THAT the Executive Director be delegated responsibility for enforcement of the AUP's for all ISOCNZ mailing lists and suspensions are at the Executive Director's discretion with the following guidelines

• a two week suspension for a first offense
• for the second and following offense the suspension period double each time
• a suspension of six months will be referred to the Chairs' Committee for confirmation
• for a serious breach which requires more than six months suspension will be referred to the Council for approval
• the person suspended has the right to appeal to the Chairs' Committee within one week of the suspension
• the Chair's Committee, comprised of the current Chairs of all Council Committees plus the Chair of the Society, will respond to the appellant within one week.
• that a second offense of 'spoofing of headers' result in an automatic permanent ban from all lists

Although the issue has already been extensively discussed on the Council mailing list, as a number of Council Members had left the meeting it was decided that the Executive Director should finalise the wording and send it to Council for an Evote within the week.

Cr De Salis departs??

The Council discussed a specific penalty for the current member who was suspended for breaching the AUP and then "Spoofed" the Executive Director's address.Opinions about the severity of the penalty to be impose covered the range from four weeks suspension upwards.

Chris Streatfield commented that if he "Spoofs" again he should be taken off the lists permanently.

00/169 MOVED: (Bourne/March) THAT the Chair write to Alan Brown noting that the Council regards the spoofing of anyone's email address as an extremely serious breach of the AUP and imposes a penalty of four weeks suspension from the member's list to begin when the original two week suspension finishes on August 31 2000.

CARRIED U

After discussion on gateways, discontinuance of the public list, reviewing AUP's generally, it was agreed that the MEP working group would undertake the review - Cr Hine indicated an interest in taking part.

In relation to the original AUP breach which lead to the suspension of the member, and the subsequent spoofing of the Executive Director's email address, there was also the issue of the suspended member then repeating the original posting on the public list, under an abusive heading directed at the Executive Director. The Executive Director wished to have her written statement to the Council list about the enforcement of AUP's on the public list noted.She explained that she felt being called an offensive name on the members list could be ignored, however when it was made on the -l list it no longer "in-house" and appears on newsgroups. When it appeared in the news media (both online and in print) it affects her professional reputation. The Executive Director made it clear that she did not wish to have to seek alternative forms of redress, but wished to ensure that the AUP could be effectively used to enforce appropriate standards of expression.

00/170 MOVED: (Carter/Hine) THAT the previous decision with respect to the members list apply to isocnz-l listand that in the gateway newsgroup be removed immediately and the members be informed at the same time.

CARRIED
In favor: Hine, Shera, Park, Mason, De Salis, Carter, Bourne, March, Dengate Thrush
Abstention: Heath

The Executive Director is not expected to adjudicate on issues concerning herself.Cr Park asked the Council to note that the particular nature of this offence could well be argued to be sexual harassment.

The Executive Director stated for the record that after the spoofing episodeshe had decided to "hold for moderator's approval" postings from the offenders' mail host. She acknowledged that this inconvenienced one list member. The Executive Director had explained to the list at the time that it was the only technical solution which was available at the time for the breach of trust caused by the spoofing which didn't inconvenience all the other 270-plus list members. The Executive Director regretted inconveniencing even one list member, but felt that given the Council Meeting was only a few days away that it was the best option. As there are now clear penalties for breaching the AUP's the moderator's approval requirement for postings from the member is no longer necessary. An alternative technical mechanism for breaches of trust was requested by the Executive Director.

00/171 MOVED: (Heath/Chair) THAT the 'block' which holds postings from Ms B Ruby be removed immediately.

CARRIED U

00/172 MOVED: (Heath/Chair) THAT the policy set at the last meeting of not notifying the list members of a suspension be rescindedand the exercise of penalties be notified to list in which it happens.

CARRIED U

Cr Heath said that Cr Carter had breached the member's list AUP and disagreed with the Executive Director's decision not suspend Cr Carter. In response to a question that by the time she had read the email Cr Carter had already apologised. In any event she would have considered it marginal. Cr Park noted that Councilors should be acting as role models to members by setting high standards of expression.

00/173 MOVED: (Heath/Park) THAT the Executive Director's decision regarding the enforcement of the member's listAUP with respect to Jordan Carter's posting be disagreed with.

LOST
In favor: Heath, Park, Zanetti
Against: Bourne, March, Shera, Mason
Abstention: Carter, Dengate Thrush, Hine

15. REPORT FROM THE ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE

The Admin Committee Chair stated that the Executive Director's contract has been renegotiated amicably under the terms circulated to Council.

00/174 MOVED: (March/Carter)THAT the Admin Committee report be adopted

CARRIED U

16. SRS WORKING GROUP REPORT

See report. Cr Hine reported that he was finding it difficult to find the time to drive the report at the moment. Cr Heath noted that he had unexpectedly been sent overseas regularly for the first months of the WG, and was looking forward to finishing his part of the work this week.

The draft report was circulated to over 150 organisations by post and also on the mailing lists. There had been minimal feedback from the draft report to date.

There has been much internal work despite time pressures on working groupmembers and three to four models will be circulated for public comment in the next three to four weeks

Because of the time constraints and the desire to open models for comment, the working group cannot guarantee a report will be available at the meeting on 22 September. The Working Group therefore requested agreement to present thedraft of the Final Report to the October 27 Council meeting,

00/175 MOVED: (Chair)That the report be received.

CARRIED U

00/176 MOVED: (Hine/Shera)THAT the Executive Director, in consultation with the SRS WG and the Domainz Board draw up a draft Job Description for the Implementation Manager for comment.

17. Political Liaison Working Group

Convenor Cr Mason reported that the Group is dormant following loss of most of it's members post-AGM and suggested that it be reconstituted.The Chair will discuss with interested councillors.

18. Constitution Review

Convenor Chris Streatfield reported to the meeting that terms of reference has been circulated for comment, and if there is no further comments he will publish them for Council ratification..There is now a need for a face to face meeting of the group. Mr Streatfield soughtclarification regarding who is on the group as this has apparently changed but he has not had notification.The Chair will advise the make up of that and other working groups tomorrow The Chair thanked Mr Streatfield for once again attending a Council meeting and for his report.

00/177 MOVED: (Chair/Shera)THAT the report be received

CARRIED U

19. TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

Cr Hine asked who is on the Technical Committee.Executive Director will forward the outstanding policy request again and include a list of member's names.

20 . GENERAL BUSINESS

Cr Heath raised the issue of the election of new Directors for the Domainz Board to replace the interim board, since the interim Board's tenure was intended to expire at the end of October.

After discussion it was agreed that the present Directors tenure should be tied to the outcome of the presentation of the SRS Working Group report so that potential candidates knew what type of Board they would be standing for.

It was agreed that the usual procedure should be followed – advise members and call for nominations accompanied by biographies to be submitted to Council (as the Council, not the Membership elects the Board Members).It was felt informal talks could begin but the call for nominations was not needed yet..The number of Board Members is 5.

Meeting closed at 9.35pm

Note change to next Council Meeting date - now Friday September 22, 1300-1800

Note - for links to papers etc, see the Agenda.