Council Minutes - 20 February 2004

Minutes of the General Meeting of the Council of InternetNZ Held at the InternetNZ Council Room, L4, 4 Bond Street, Wellington, Friday, 20 February 2004 at 12.30 p.m.

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

Status: Accepted at Council Meeting 24 April 2004

WELCOME FROM CHAIR

• Keith Davidson (president) opened the meeting at 12.40p.m., welcomed those present and thanked Peter for the tour of the new premises.

ATTENDANCE

a. Present

• Keith Davidson (President), David Farrar (Vice-President), Chris Streatfield (Treasurer), Michael Wallmannsberger (Secretary), Bill Parkin, Simon Riley, Michael Sutton, Grant Forsyth (from 2.34), Jennifer Northover, Jonathan Ah Kit (till 2.34), and Peter Macaulay (Executive Director).
  

b. In Attendance

• Frank March, Chair, NZOC (.nz Oversight Committee Report)
• Debbie Monahan, DNC (.nz Oversight Committee Report)
• Carol Stigley, (Chair NZRS), Donna Hiser, Anne Irwin (NZRS Directors)
• Nick Griffin, Registry Manager NZRS (NZRS Report)
• Johnathan Brewer (member/observer)
• Zofia Krawczyk, Office Administrator - audio recording
• Gale Blikshavn, Minute Taker

c. Apologies

• Apologies were received from David Harris and Nick Wallingford.

MOVED: (President/) "THAT the apologies be accepted."

CARRIED U

d. Declaration of Councillor Interests

• The president stated that his involvement with a registrar and shareholding is ceasing at 31 March. Michael Sutton stated the Yellow Videos conflict is finished, however he still has a conflict in the general area of broadcasting. David Farrar stated a conflict with the proposed registrant poll as he owns a poll taking company.

1. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

MOVED (Northover/Streatfield): "THAT the minutes of the council meeting held on 13 December 2003 be accepted as a true and correct record.

CARRIED U

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

• No matters arising.

2. RATIFICATION OF E-VOTES

2 E-votes the ratification of David attending the Brussels and the appointment of Donna Hiser as a Director.

RATIFIED

3. LEGAL AND REGULATORY

David Farrar spoke his report . PAG have set up the Ipwatch.internetnz.net.nz site which will have its public launch soon.

The cyberlaw fellowship is still outstanding. Although there were three people short listed they weren't seen to be suitable. Cr Riley asked that if any Councillors knew of any avenues to get it out to the wider community that have already been pursued to let him know. It was noted that ISP copyright work would be of huge benefit.

Progress on LLU was requested by Cr Riley, Cr Farrar asked for general expressions of feedback from Councillors on terms of how much of a priority they see this as beyond the submission already done. Cr Riley suggested approaching the Economic Development Agencies. Cr Farrar noted the government's negative signals to unbundling and therefore cost effectiveness of any more involvement.

4. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

The President welcomed Peter Dengate Thrush to the meeting. He spoke to his report and upcoming APTLD AGM and ICAANs meeting in Rome where he noted disappointment of the lack of African or Latin American CCTLD representatives attending. He noted that part of the work for the committee is acting as a clearing house for international activities and asked if other committees are aware of activity (incoming or outgoing) please notify the committee and they will be able to do that job more effectively by coordinating any relevant issues to those activities.

Peter Dengate Thrush noted that if Councilors wish to see individual reports from overseas activities they were invited to read the International Affairs part of the INZ site where they are available. A request was noted to help find and organise as many Pacific CCTLD members to attend the next APTLD meeting in Perth in October, particularly in relation to providing them with extended lead time for them to arrange travel.

Cr Riley asked if there was any controversy with ICAAN meeting. There is an ITU meeting a few days before ICAAN so there will be updates from that. The Government Advisory Committee has just released its by laws which the International Affairs Committee is reviewing and they have some concerns that Governments by negotiation with ICAAN think they can assume control of organisations such as ours which is in opp osition to our ideology.

The President noted concern around a new group of lawyers getting involved in data protection in relation to Whois and Cr Farrar also noted that there is a big push on to do with authentication and anonymity and therefore some big issues around how not to make the cure worse than the disease. The President noted that INZ should continue to bat from its current position regarding international law however that there is increasing discussion on committees regarding limiting Whois or allowing further privacy.

Cr Farrar queried whether a presentation on INZ/Whois and contractual framework would be beneficial to offer to the CCTLD conference. Peter Dengate Thrush acknowledged that they would probably be grateful for a presentation if one was available.

Action: Cr Farrar and Cr Northover to prepare presentation.

Most of the CCTLDs are against government intervention and Cr Farrar noted the importance of INZ ensuring the position INZ adopts is fully representative of the New Zealand Internet Community. It was noted by Peter Dengate Thrush that the Chinese government has called in this forum all CCTLDs to be taken off private or any other organisation and put in the hands of the government which is an explicit call for action from them. This is now working through this WSIS process and the United Nations. There was further general discussion around the issue and it was noted that the real issue is to get the ICAAN model robust enough to be able to resist the challenge when it comes out.

The President welcomed Frank March and Debbie Monahan to the meeting at 1.20pm.

5. NZOC REPORT

Frank March spoke to the reports November to January and updated the Council on the NZOC meeting held the day before. He noted a drop below SLA levels in December, with January being back on track. There were two views within NZOC around the level of detail coming from NZRS and assurances these provided, but there was no question that NZOC overall are happy with how things are going. In terms of measuring performance, there has been some concern about what is being measured and how it is being measured, but this will come up in the SLA review currently being discussed by Debbie and Nick.

Three policies were reviewed: firstly revised draft of zone transfer policy, which required a few amendments and would then go to E-vote; the 2nd Level Domain policy for information and due to go out again on Wednesday for public comment. The third came out of a growing number of issues around registrant conflicts over domain names. There is growing tendency for courts to issue injunctions in favour of the litigant because often the defendant is not present in court to make the case. There is some responsibility to registrants and that there may be need to provide a mechanism other than the courts. NZOC is looking at revisiting and reactivating the UDRP because of this evidence and would be helpful to the registrants.

Communication strategy has been approved in principle to produce three information pamphlets on how .nz works and to use InternetNZ logo: for general public; registrars; and current registrants.

Cr Riley questioned the timeline for completion of the 2TLD review. In response the DNC stated she wants it published by next Wednesday and a final decision would be made at the NZOC meeting in April. Cr Riley noted poor communication and low level of input. In reply it was noted that most media packs were ignored and although it appeared in the DNC newsletter, that not everyone involved in 2TLD were reading the DNC newsletter. It was noted by the DNC that the response received was representative of the entire spectrum of owners. Cr Farrar noted that the consultation is not over and when the specific proposal of changes to the structure that a far greater response could be expected.

NZRS REPORT
Carol Stigley spoke to the third quarter report and introduced Donna Hiser who was recently appointed to the board. The final payment and interest of the loan from INZ will be paid at the end of March. The NZRS AGM will be held at 3.00pm on 30 July, prior to the INZ AGM at 7.00pm. .nz registrations continued to rise and are well above budget. Cr Riley requested a percentage above budget column to be included in future reporting.

The DNSSEC paper ( correct version ) was tabled for consideration by Council and Councilors were invited to review and give feedback. Once this was completed INZ would issue a summary/bulletin on it for members.

NZRS was still awaiting urgent formal response from INZ several issues.
Access to tax loss that might be available to them from Domainz
Shutting down the stabilisation agreement.
The dividend requirement.
Conveying the Domain name fees level decision.

ACTION Executive Director

MOVED (Streatfield/Ah Kit): "THAT the International affairs, NZOC , Legal and Regulatory and Cyberlaw report and NZRS reports be accepted.

CARRIED U

Johnathan Ah Kit left the meeting. Grant Forsyth joined the meeting 2.34pm

6. COMMITTEE REPORTS

Executive Committee
Reports were tabled. Cr Farrar spoke about the Interop Project in light of Project Management issues. The Executive Director updated Council on the appointment of Hilary Carlile to undertake the Project Management Office Guide. Cr Farrar noted the importance of financial reporting within that structure. After discussion around finances concerned with the Interop project, Cr Streatfield noted that we were happy that all payments and documentation are correct and legitimate nor provide any cause for concern and the project is in hand.

It was noted that regarding the Interoperability project that if we went back to the beginning we would do it differently. Lessons have been learnt but the major stakeholders are happy. The capacity of INZ to manage projects will be greatly enhanced through the establishment of the Project Management Office which is in progress under urgency, and it is envisaged that this will address the issues that Council has had on project management for the future with regard to reporting and governance.

Cr Farrar suggested a line of reporting that in the first instance the query be made to the Project Manager who progresses it with the Executive Committee who in turn if required will bring the issue to Council. If there is an issue with regard to the Executive Council then the Project Manager can take this direct to Council.

At this point Johnathan Brewer requested a definition of the project and was told that all public papers are available on the web and that parts the project definition for public domain were available there.

The Remuneration report was then discusses and the President reported that the Executive Director's contract has in the interim been rolled over for another 12 months. Cr Farrar noted that all staff must come under a common harassment policy in the new premises and that Councilors may approach INZ staff to assist them but not DNC staff.

Review panel will consist of no more than four people including Cr Riley as Chair, and one member of the audit committee. He asked for guidance from Council as to membership, however as none were forthcoming Cr Riley noted that he would appoint other panel members at his discretion. He then described to Council the process he would undertake to complete the review.

MOVED (Riley/Northover): "THAT the $1500 budget consultancy fees be accepted.

CARRIED U

MOVED (President/Streatfield): "THAT the Executive Committee reports be received.

CARRIED U

Outreach Committee
Since the last meeting UNESCO Don Hollander who is an INZ member to work with INZ to come up with a joint approach to working with Pacific and that INZ assistance would be along the lines of training and training support. INZ taking a long term view and discussions are continuing and by the AGM hopes to have a joint initiative and those interested to be involved to contact Cr Riley.

MOVED (Riley/Northover): "THAT the Outreach Report be received."

CARRIED U

Constitutional and Governance Committee
Cr Streatfield spoke to the report and recent meetings. There had been a lively discussion on the size of Council considering the difficulty in filling seats.

It was noted that there was an error in the constitution with relation to the AGM which will be put to members so it can be changed prior to the AGM in July. Cr Farrar suggested a change also that Councillors that miss three consecutive meetings lose their seat on Council unless specifically voted to remain by Council. Discussion was then held. It was noted that this is for review only and will have member consultation before any change.

[Johnathan Brewer and Jennifer Northover left the meeting.]

Action: Executive Director to schedule agenda on web-event and that all Councilors are aware of passwords to it.

There was discussion on action where breaches of conflicts of interest are discovered and a question whether we have an internal evaluation of Council and Directors. Cr Streatfield is collating papers to put to Council for formal feedback on Council meetings. Cr Riley noted that evaluation/record expectation for profit and non-profit organisations and information is available out there.

MOVED (Streatfield/Farrar): "THAT the Constitutional and Governance Committee report be received."

CARRIED U

Audit Committee
There was no audit report.

7. TASK FORCE REPORTS

Anti Spam
Cr Farrar spoke to Cr Harris's report and the new antispam website and that there had been positive feedback and links had been taken.

Cr Farrar then updated Council verbally on the OECD workshop which was attended by 28 of the 30 OECD countries including consumer and corporation groups and that a full report will be completed shortly. It was noted discussions included:

• The message very much is that the debate on have law is over.
• Exactly how Spam is defined
• There was international support and cooperation
• 15 search warrants are currently required in US to catch spammers
• Issue of payment for emails (B Gates)
• Good contacts made including Australian government where issue of a Trans-Tasman enforcement agency was raised.

MOVED (Farrar/Streatfield): "THAT the Antispam report be received.

CARRIED U

Patent Advisory Group
The site has been up and running since Christmas. That the advisory service is not up but will be soon and there will be a link from today.

MOVED (Farrar/Streatfield): "THAT the Jim's report be received.

CARRIED U

Roger De Salis left the meeting.

8. INTEROP PROJECT

Executive Director spoke to his report . Key is a project has become more vital for INZ where for the first time the major players acknowledge they need to work together to provide traffic that does common tasks across the internet, i.e. Video conferencing.

After discussion, Michael Sutton spoke to the NZNOG Conference report and advised he was available to help as the Council decided.

MOVED (Forsyth/Farrar): "THAT Cr Sutton be endorsed as the Project Leader for multicast and the Ipv6 components.

CARRIED
Abstained: Michael Sutton

Cr Streatfield sought clarification as to who was the project sponsor, and what INZs role is as far as financial commitment. INZ is not a sponsor in terms of monetary terms but a sponsor in terms of a project sponsor that has a governance role for the project which will be clarified by Hilary's structure of reporting with a true project initiation document.

Cr Forsyth in light of the previous endorsement of Cr Sutton as Project Leader and the INZ role as project sponsor requested the following: That Cr Sutton write to the Ministry of Economic Development, Telecom and the Commission noting that the Commissions recommendations that regulated bitstream will not meet the requirements of this multicast interoperability and therefore will constrain the use and delivery of this service. Exe Director noted that although the letters have not been sent that Cr Sutton has already raised that as an issue.

Cr Riley noted that it was unclear start and end dates and Executive Director noted that again this would be part of the new Project Management structure which would provide the correct definitions for timings.

Cr Sutton fielded questions from Council on defining the project, participants, resourcing issues, requirements and outcomes. Cr Sutton was advised to put in a proposal for resource so it can be entered into the business plan and that he would have complete support from Council for resource as they wanted success with it and that Council endorses his work.

MOVED (Streatfield/Parkin): "THAT the Interoperability reports be accepted.

CARRIED
Abstained: Michael Sutton

9. BUSINESS PLAN AND BUDGET

Cr Farrar spoke to presentation of the business plan progress to date.

• Strategy 1 - no debate required as same as last year.
• Strategy 2 - Noted to add in Internet caucus costs for research into parliamentary submissions
• Strategy 3 - Code of Practice will be biggest issue to be resolved for INZ apart from spam. Noted that there will be some ongoing costs and there was expectations be some industry contributions to these.
• Strategy 4 - Antispam - expecting Government to provide resource 2005-2007. ENUMB - ball park figure and still liaising with cost sharing. Assumption from 3rd year on it should be on a cost recovery basis. Still hinges on whether INZ will be allowed to be an ENUMB player. Whether there is a role there for NZRS to be involved in the 2nd year as a contributor. Cr Riley noted that what we're doing is providing commitment to core funding over the next three years.
• Strategy 5 - Interop Project is still ball park figures, the NGI figures are on Cr Riley's advice. With regard to Communications the major item is the website redevelopment.
• Strategy 6 - Pacific Support, Cr Riley suggested it be given a B rating rather than C because there is an expectation that INZ be seen to be doing more. Cr Farrar noted to seek advice on whether website costs can be depreciated.
• Strategy 7 - The top four items may be split amongst other strategies as it is a shared cost.
• Strategy 8 - Cr Farrar requested that the Technical Committee fine tune the figures. Cr Riley suggested that this would be a good time to increase funding for the multicasting project.

Action: Executive Director to provide the briefing paper on DNSSEC for the Technical Committee

General Project Budget allocated to keep ahead with new products and initiatives There followed a discussion on how it needs to be presented to members. It was seen as a role for Council that twice a year they receive high quality applications and decide on them alternatively. Cr Riley wanted for INZ to move to adopt a more project driven structure than having too much in the general project fund.

During discussion Cr Farrar noted that with the dividend policy even if INZ would increase it over 3 years recognising that if it was asked for immediately, it would put the domain name fees up. It is 1.1m over three years. Cr Riley noted its not how much the costs are, its where the money is coming from and members were seeking a holistic presentation of expenditure. Cr Farrar noted that he suggests that expenditure in year one is too high. Cr Northover queried the future health of INZ with this scenario and where a split could be generated for .nz to pay. It was noted that DNC fee will pay for Strategy 1 and quite a bit of Strategy 6.

Grant Forsyth left the meeting briefly during discussion.

Cr Farrar requested that if Councillors have further input to the budget to give to Cr Farrar and relevant committees for incorporation. It was noted by the President that this was the last call for input to the business plan prior to final approval at the next Council Meeting.

MOVED (Farrar/Streatfield): "THAT the business plan budget presentation be accepted.

CARRIED U

10. PRESIDENT'S REPORT

No Presidents Report.

11. VICE-PRESIDENT'S REPORT

MOVED (Farrar/Streatfield): "THAT the report be received.

CARRIED U

12. EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS REPORT

The new draft website was presented. Peter Macaulay spoke to his report .

There was discussion around the difficulty of Corporate Sponsorship v Corporate discount. It was noted by the Executive Director that involvement of MS products was not sponsorship but that INZ had been offered a discount by Dell. Executive Director offered to obtain a letter confirming that it was not corporate sponsorship.

Cr Forsyth and Cr Riley requested that a paper was required to discuss what kind of discount services we can obtain for our members and how we can obtain savings for our members. The other form of corporate sponsorship for some other INZ initiatives or other organisations we are working with. Cr Farrar thanked Cr Riley for volunteering to draft one.

Action: Executive Director to seek information from Dell re issue of Corporate Sponsorship v Corporate Discount with INZ.

Cr Northover left the meeting 5.25pm. The President noted that there was still a quorum present.

MOVED (Davidson/Farrar): "THAT the Executive Directors report be received.

CARRIED U

Grant Forsyth left the meeting at 5.31pm

13. TREASURER'S REPORT

Cr Streatfield asked for queries to his report. There were none.

MOVED (Streatfield/Parkin): "THAT the Treasurers reports for December and January be received.

CARRIED U

14. SECRETARY'S REPORT

MOVED (Farrar/Streatfield): "THAT the Secretary's report be received.

CARRIED U

15. VICE PRESIDENT'S REPORT

MOVED (Farrar/Streatfield): "THAT the Vice President's report be received.

CARRIED U

16. GENERAL BUSINESS

Cr Streatfield raised previous discussion about Whois and requested that debate remain open so that INZ Council have constant appraisal because there are issues for all involved. Cr Streatfield also proposed that in the future it is noted in the minutes those that were present, apologies and absent.

Action: Executive Director to note on the next agenda that absences with out apologies will be noted.

Cr Farrar noted anyone one booking to come the April meeting, to come the day before for drinks at the new premises, which members will probably be invited to. There was a query as to holding Uniforum meetings at the new offices and it was noted by Executive Director that it will depend on numbers as the meeting room is smaller and will be determined on a case by case basis.

The meeting closed at 5.34pm.

Next Meeting
24 April 2004.

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

© 2001 InternetNZ
Last updated 04 March 2004