Minutes of Council Meeting - 28 April 2006

WELCOME FROM CHAIR: The President opened the meeting at 1pm and introduced Doug White from the Computer Society, to give a brief presentation on ICT NZ.

Doug started by giving its background, noting that Sean Weekes of the InternetNZ Council played a part in the formation of the group.

He spoke about potential issues for the larger ICT groups such as the Computer Society and InternetNZ, most important being the need to retain identity.

The floor was opened to questions.

There were several questions raised concerning the impact to InternetNZ. Doug told the group that as InternetNZ is a membership organisation that this is an opportunity to do further outreach to the ICT community. This is potentially an opportunity to double membership.

There were some unanswered questions about the structure of the ICT NZ that left some Councilors concerned. The Executive Director and Cr Riley agreed that there is a need to engage with the development of ICT NZ, that there looks to be opportunity to shape InternetNZ’s role to what fits InternetNZ.

Doug White left the meeting at 1.28pm

1.   ATTENDANCE:

a.   PRESENT

• Colin Jackson (President)
• David Farrar (Vice President)
• Chris Streatfield (Treasurer)
• Michael Wallmannsberger (Secretary)
• Simon Riley
• Michael Sutton
• Jennifer Northover
• David Harris
• Mark Harris
• Peter Macaulay

b.   IN ATTENDANCE

• Keith Davidson (Executive Director)
  
• Jordan Carter (Research & Policy Officer)
• Nick Wallingford (Technical Analyst)
• Susi Fookes (Project Administrator, minute taker)
• Debbie Monahan (Domain Name Commissioner)
• Frank March (Chair NZOC) – for NZOC and NZRS reports items
  
• Ann Urlwin (Chair NZRS) – for NZOC and NZRS reports items
• Nick Griffin (General Manager NZRS)

2.   APOLOGIES

Apology received from Cr Mazenier, Cr Weekes and Cr Prescott. Cr Forsyth’s resignation was noted.

RN 23/06 (Treasurer/President) “THAT the apologies be received.”

CARRIED U

3.   Declaration of Councilor interests

Councilor interests are as published.

4.   Consideration of In-Committee items:

Three items may go into committee if required: NZRS Company Plan, ICANN debrief report and the Broadband Campaign.

5.   Consent Agenda Item

Change to be made to previous minutes, Cr Mark Harris was not ‘engaged’ with the DIA.

The Executive Director noted that the audio recordings of Council meetings are back on line.

(President/ )

RN 24/06 “THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 4 March 2006 be received and adopted as amended as a true and correct record.”

RN 25/06 “THAT the President’s Report be received.”

RN 26/06 “THAT the Vice President’s Report be received.”

RN 27/06 “THAT the Treasurer’s Reports (Financial Statements to 28 February 2006) be received and adopted.”

RN 28/06 “THAT the report of the Executive Committee be received.”

RN 29/06 “THAT the report of the Public Policy Committee be received.”

RN 30/06 “THAT the report of the Technical Committee be received.”

RN 31/06 “THAT the proposed criteria for the consideration of applications to the Technical Capability Development Fund be adopted.

RN 32/06 “THAT Technical Committee be authorised to spend up to $10,000 from the TCDF to commission a report on the feasibility of and options for broadband monitoring.

CARRIED U

6.   Matters Arising from the Minutes

There were no action points outstanding and therefore not presented. It was agreed that in the future the status of action points will be documented in Council papers even when completed.
The Cleanfeed Report needs to be discussed by the Public Policy Committee.

The Executive Director asked Council for direction on the next Annual Report. Should the report stay the same, be better or does it not need to be as good as it is.

The group was generally happy with the current look of the Annual Report, if more money is to be invested in the publication, it should be on content development and better editing. Cr David Harris suggested using more colour and a few colour photographs.

7.   NZOC Report

Frank March spoke to the report. It has been a quiet period for NZOC. He noted a strategic retreat on 26 May; it will be the first planning session in over 18 months. Topics to be covered:

• Continuity planning
• Policies that are in and to be tested (apart from DRS)
• Stability, including:

o  What the DNC’s role should be in this environment

o  What form should NZOC take

• Consideration of the group structural review and formation of an NZOC view
• NZ political environment – discussion on formalising a relationship with the NZ Government
• Accountability frameworks with ICANN
• International activity
• SRS/DNS review
  

It is Frank’s view that NZOC should form their own view, for example on the Accountability Framework, as an independent part of InternetNZ. He noted that the view arrived at by NZOC is not to prevail necessarily, but to be stand as an informed view.

The floor was opened to questions.

The President commented that he is interested in the conclusions on ICANN accountability, and recalled that the decision lies with Council. Frank responded that all final decisions go through Council.

The Secretary noted the tension between two ambitions; the narrow focus of the .nz registry versus becoming more independent of .nz registrants for money. He asked if NZOC had a view on this. Frank answered by saying it is not appropriate for NZOC to formulate a stance. However it does take a wider view and brief than its responsibility for the .nz delegation which is increasingly well received. His personal view is that he would like to see a wider financial base.

Cr Mark Harris noted there was much interest in .nz at ICANN, and asked if there has been much conversation. The Domain Name Commissioner answered that yes, they have had many joint meetings held at their office, she has given presentations and at least two registrar applications have emerged as a result.

The President thanked Frank and Debbie for their report.

8.   NZRS Report

Company Plan, SRS Review, ICANN Sponsorship

Merv Delaney introduced the Company Plan to Council. He passed on Anne Urlwin’s apologies. He described the plan as very vanilla flavoured; it is business as usual, keeping .nz running. He noted that the timing of the cycle is an issue, waiting on input from the NZOC (after the Strategic Retreat).

He stated that InternetNZ has made it clear that provided the management of the core business is 100% under control, they are happy for the company to explore other related business opportunities for revenue generation. The plan is set in stone for the year, however if a business opportunity came up, a business plan would be put together and brought to Council.

Cr Riley noted that it is obvious much work has gone into the plan and that it is very good. Council unanimously thanked NZRS for a good plan.

Merv Delaney and Frank March left the meeting at 1.57pm

Nick Griffin and Doug Mercer gave short presentation on the purpose, current status, scope and approach of the Technical and Business Systems review.

Simon Stokes has joined the meeting as an observer at 2.09pm

The floor was opened to questions.

Cr Riley asked if part of the review will put past issues under the microscope. Doug answered that past issues have been dealt with. There may be some issues, replication for example, that are ongoing, which will be addressed. Cr Mark Harris commented that it is good that Doug knows the Company and wished him luck with the work ahead.

It was noted that a big challenge in the review is having people participate as the current model has generally worked.

The President asked if a rewrite is included in the review will it be in open source. Doug said not necessarily and that is not relevant for this review.

The President thanked NZRS for their report.

Nick Griffin, Doug Mercer and Debbie Monahan left the meeting at 2.14

RN 33/06 (President/Cr Mark Harris) “THAT the NZDNRL Company Plan for 2006-07 to 2008/09 be received.”

CARRIED U

RN 34/06 (President/ ) ”THAT the Terms of Reference for the TBSR of NZRS be agreed.”

CARRIED U

RN 35/06 (President/ ) “THAT the NZOC Reports for February and March 2006 be received.”

CARRIED U

9.   Business Plan and Budget Signoff

The Executive Director introduced the item by thanking the Secretary for making the Auckland Members Meeting a success with the turnout of 23. The Executive Director outlined the bottom line and asked that the Budget be adopted.

RN 36/06 (Cr Macaulay/Cr Mark Harris) “THAT the revised Business Plan and Budget be adopted for submission to the members at the AGM.”

CARRIED U

Council thanked the Executive Director for the Business Plan and Budget; he directed the thanks to Jordan who wrote the papers.

10.   Structural Review – Terms of Reference, Task Force appointments

The President introduced the item and noted that the there has been a lot of work on this since the previous Council meeting. The scope and Task Force have been set and is to be lead by Roger Hicks.

The Vice President said that Anne Urlwin has offered in a personal capacity to serve on the Task Force. She would bring a wealth of governance and corporate experience which would be extremely useful.

In discussion it was clarified that nobody in the Task Force is there with organisational hats on. It was also felt that there is no apparent conflict between any roles and their membership in the Task Force.

The Vice President apologised for raising this late.

The Treasurer was in support of having Anne on the Task Force, noting that there will be various people involved in the review that are not part of the Society. He said that she has much to offer and an external view will also be of use. The Executive Director agreed and saw it to be a nice balance having both the NZOC and NZRS chairs on the Task Force.

The Secretary and President stated that it is about their skills rather than what organisation they are with, and both have huge respect for Anne’s abilities.

RN 37/06 (President/Cr Northover) “THAT the scope, time-table, budget and Task Force membership (as amended) for the structural review of InternetNZ be approved.”

CARRIED U

11.   Executive Director’s Report

The Executive Director spoke to his report. He commented that while Councilors are generally getting their reports in on time, some a slipping back into habits of being in late. He asked that reports be prompt, otherwise they will not be included on the Agenda.

He mentioned a couple of smaller but noteworthy points in the report:

• INZ is about to change ISPs and that there may be some disruption during the change over.
• New Vodafone data limits and prices in place; now have higher speeds and better coverage.

There are still outstanding ICANN reports; the Executive Director asked that these be in by 5 May at the absolute latest. The President noted that IAC intends to create a summary of these reports and also asked that they be in as soon as possible.

The Executive Director talked briefly on the World Internet Project; someone is coming to NZ in May, he will post more information about it to the Council list. He asked that if Council knows of appropriate organisation or people to attend the meeting(s) to provide all details including name, organisation and contacts.

There was discussion on the Internationalised Domain Names project.

The Vice President asked if Maori IDNs is for .nz only or for Maori characters in all TLDs. The Executive Director answered that it is for purely .nz, but may not be restricted to Maori characters. The President said that INZ has a special responsibility for Maori as it is a New Zealand language, he sees it our responsibility to ensure it is included in the IDN implementation and design. We have a special responsibility to Maori language, but also to other Pacific Island countries. The Executive Director said that the issues to be solved are enormous, however when they are, the Pacific Island languages will fall into place.

Cr Daivd Harris noted that IDN is not specific to a language, it’s a rendition of UNICODE made available from a registry; it is a policy issue what characters and scripts you accept.

Cr Macaulay asked if there are legal requirements under the National Language Act? Cr Mark Harris looked into this when he was a .govt.nz moderator, he remembered the Act to state that where technical nature doesn’t allow, fine. However where it can occur then it should be available. It was agreed that it this should be looked into further.

The Vice President asked where this would fall in the budget. He suggested it should be in the .nz budget not INZ and was not happy for it to come under the project fund. Cr Riley agreed. The Secretary noted that budget lines need to be identified.

The Executive Director withdrew his funding recommendation. He is to consult with the Domain Name Commissioner and move a future resolution by E-vote if required.

Cr Sutton asked that all projects be included in the Executive Director’s Report. When there has been no activity, it would be appropriate to note ‘nothing to report’.

There was brief discussion on the ‘Your Internet is our concern’ advertising. The Executive Director believed this to be a resolution; the Vice President stated that it was a request. It was agreed that the Executive Director will seek direction from Council next time as to whether to run the advertisement again.

RN 38/06 (President/Cr David Harris) “THAT Don Hollander and Keith Davidson represent InternetNZ at the PACINET Annual Conference in Samoa, and that $2,500 budget each (from the PIP budget line) be authorised for travel and accommodation.”

CARRIED U

RN 39/06 (President/Vice President) “THAT the report of the Executive Director for April 2006, including the Project Status Reports to 31 March 2006, be received.”

CARRIED U

12.   NZRS Board Tenure

RN 40/06 (Cr Sutton/Treasurer) “THAT the NZRS policy that its 2 longest serving Board members retire each year be re-endorsed, AND THAT the terms of Board appointments that Council made in 2005 and 2004 be rescinded.”

CARRIED U

13.   Returning Officer Appointment for 2006 Elections

There was a discussion on the 2006 Returning Officer Appointment. Cr David Harris noted this was discussed at the Governance and Constitution Committee and that this proposed resolution is eminently suitable. The Secretary said that the Executive Director is ideal for this role.

The Treasurer gave a background on the proposed Scrutineer, Maureen Milburn noting that she is a Justice of the Peace heavily involved with Volunteering Wellington. He recommended her for the role.

RN 41/06 (President/Cr David Harris) “THAT the Executive Director be appointed the Returning Officer for the 2006 Council elections.”

CARRIED U

RN 42/06 (President/Cr Mark Harris) “THAT John Vorstermans and Maureen Milburn JP be appointed as Scrutineers for the 2006 Council elections.”

CARRIED U

14.   Appointments Panel establishment

The President outlined the role of the panel. The Panel recommends members for appointment to NZOC and NZRS. Roger Hicks, Anne Urlwin and Simon Riley have been approached to join the panel.

RN 43/06 (Cr Macaulay/Cr David Harris) “THAT an Appointments Panel be convened, with the purpose of appointing members of NZOC and the NZRS Board, chaired by the President.”

CARRIED U

RN 44/06 (Cr Northover/Treasurer) “THAT the Executive Director support the Appointments Panel.”

CARRIED U

RN 45/06 (Treasurer/Cr David Harris) “THAT the three other members of the Appointments Panel be Roger Hicks (from NZOC), Anne Urlwin (from the NZRS Board) and Simon Riley.”

CARRIED

Abstentions: President, Simon Riley.

3 - 3.39pm – The group broke for afternoon tea.

15.   International Affairs Committee Report

The President introduced the report. He brought Council’s attention to the Regional At Large Organisation recommendation and gave some background to the application. Cr Mark Harris spoke in support; he noted that there is very little representation in the Pacific at the moment and said that as InternetNZ is a membership organisation which makes it an ideal ‘at large’ organisation. Also there is no financial obligation by joining. The Executive Director said that a number of ICANN board members have come through the At Large constituency. Cr Mark Harris noted Cr Prescott and his interest in being involved.

 

The President then gave an update on the Internet Governance Forum, noting the Executive Director’s nomination to the IGF Advisory Group.

The President noted Alistair Dixon’s proposed cooption to the IAC. Cr Mark Harris raised a query to which the Vice President responded. There was some discussion by the table. The Vice President noted that Telecom is welcome to participate in InternetNZ’s Public Policy committee as well. The President noted that InternetNZ is not anti- any company; there are certain issues that InternetNZ and Telecom have disagreed on, but that there is agreement on many others and work together in a range of forums.

RN 46/06 (Cr David Harris/Vice President) “THAT InternetNZ apply to be recognised as an at-large structure by ICANN, so it can join the Asia Pacific Regional At Large Organisation which is in the process of forming.”

CARRIED U

RN 47/06 (Cr Northover/Vice President) “THAT Alistair Dixon be coopted as a member of the International Affairs Committee through to the 2006 AGM.”

CARRIED U

RN 48/06 (President/Secretary) “THAT the report of the International Affairs Committee be received.”

CARRIED U

The report then moved onto the ICANN debriefing, the Executive Director spoke to it. He reiterated the need to get all input from Councillors by 5 May, to allow circulation to providers and comments before presenting the final report to Council on 16 June.

He noted that the ICANNZ Task Force on 27 April considered the financial statements of the ICANN meetings.

RN 49/06 (Cr Macaulay/Cr Mark Harris) “THAT the ICANN meeting financial statement be received.”

CARRIED U

The President noted an enormous vote of thanks to Keith Davidson for his work in organising an excellent meeting. This carried by applause and acclamation.

The Executive Director noted the huge lift in profile for InternetNZ; the press coverage massive as was the reporting by main stream media. He also noted the behind-the-scenes meetings with Vint Cerf and Steve Crocker with key government and business decision-makers which should prove valuable to InternetNZ’s ongoing work in the coming months.

The Secretary noted that the report was very good. He thought the tone could be adjusted for a public audience, not watered it down, but perhaps more constructive in tone.

Cr Macaulay noted the success of the governance of this project. He said that the Vice President should take credit for this and proposed a vote of thanks for his role as Chair.  This was carried with acclamation.

16.   Broadband Campaign Update

The Vice President introduced the item by saying you develop a war plan, and as soon as the first shot is fired it goes out the window.

The latest work down on the campaign is a letter signed by Consumers Institute and businessmen, reiterating that LLU is not enough.

He noted that research papers are under way, OECD comparison in much of the OECD, a range of data points. Andy Williamson’s consulting firm is doing this. There is still some finalising in negotiations for rural access and property rights in telco regulation.

Paul Budde is coming for a half-day seminar on 23 May, with the topic to be agreed by Public Policy on Thursday 4 May.

He informed the group that the debate idea is off; it is too late in the process.

The OECD statistics came out and showed that we would fail to meet the government’s target on current growth. He continued that is also worth noting what happened in the UK with separation, and also international investment into the UK is up in telco.

Lastly, Simon Moutter is going to be speaking to NZCS. InternetNZ staff and volunteers will be in attendance.

17.   General Business

The Treasurer requested that Council papers be spiral bound not plastic bound in future.

RN 50/06 (Vice President/Cr Macaulay) “THAT the Council of InternetNZ congratulate Liz Butterfield on her new Internet safety project, and warmly thank her for the enormous contribution not just with the Internet Safety Group but the Internet in New Zealand during her tenure of Executive Director of NetSafe.”

CARRIED U

by acclamation

Next Meeting:    Friday 16 June 2006 in the afternoon, 1.00 to 5.30pm.

Meeting closed:  4.35pm

Action Points:

Number	Action Point	Responsible	Status
	Action Points list to be added to each Council minutes.	ED
	Cleanfeed Report to be discussed by the Public Policy Committee.	Pub Pol Ctte
	Legal Advice on whether we have an obligation for Maori.	ED
	All budget requests need to be tied back to a budget line and should be front end in the ED’s report.	ED
	Spiral binding for council papers in future.	ED