Council Minutes 22/05/96

Minutes of a Meeting of the Council of The Internet Society of New Zealand Inc.held in the Rotorua District Council Headquarters, Rotorua on 22 May 1996

Status: These minutes have been approved as accurate by the Council.

PRESENT

• Roger Hicks (chair), Jim Higgins, John Hine, John Houlker, Neil James (late), Phillip Lindsay, Brenda Lobb, Andy Linton, Simon Lyall, Ian Mitchell, Donald Neal, Elizabeth Probert, Jenny Shearer

APOLOGIES

• Stephen Bell, Colin Jackson, Frank March, Ken Spagnolo, John Vorstermans, Celia Wade-Brown

The meeting was opened at 10:50am.

MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF 29 FEBRURARY 1996

It was noted in discussion that the official minutes of an email meeting consists of the archive of all postings made to the meeting mailing list during the meeting.

Motion: That the minutes of the meeting of 29 February 1996 are a true and accurate record.
Hine/

CARRIED
NC, Abst: Chair, Lobb

Matters Arising from those Minutes Not Otherwise Covered in the Agenda

There was discussion of the publication of the minutes.

Motion: That minutes be made available electronically following approval by the Chairperson.
Chair/

CARRIED NC, Abst: Chair

ADMINISTRATION

FINANCIAL

Neither the treasurer nor deputy treasurer was present. No financial report was received.

PROPOSED STRUCTURE FOR SUB-CLASSES OF ORGANISATIONAL MEMBER

Motion: That the proposed structure be circulated to members for comment.
Neal/

The proposal presented by the administration subcommittee was discussed at some length. The full text of the proposal was as follows:

"The Council's Administration Subcommittee proposes that:

Prospective Organisational Members are invited to apply for Gold, Silver or Bronze membership as they see fit. We suggest annual subscriptions as follows
(excluding GST):

Gold $2,500
Silver $1,000
Bronze $250

All three subclasses of membership to entitle the organisation's CEO to free individual membership, silver and gold also to entitle another named representative to free individual membership.

There would be no change to the Industry Advisory Group. It would continue to be elected on the basis that each Organisational Member gets one vote, regardless of membership sub-class."

The use of objective measures of a member organisations' size was proposed, but the original proposal was also supported, with Jenny Shearer among those advocating voluntary selection by organisations of their membership sub-class. Elizabeth Probert proposed that schools pay a much reduced rate, with which Jenny Shearer agreed. Concern was expressed that large organisations paying a larger fee might expect a higher degree of control over the society.

Amendment: That the proposal be amended so that the suggested annual subscriptions read:

Internet Service Providers $5,000
Organisations with one hundred or more active IP numbers $2,000
Organisations with fewer than one hundred active IP numbers $500

Lindsay/

Andy Linton asked how an ISP could be defined. After brief discussion the amendment was withdrawn.

Jim Higgins advocated subscriptions based on the ability of an organisation to pay. John Houlker agreed, on the basis that the Internet is or will be of importance to everybody.

Amendment: That the proposal be amended as follows:

$250 to read $150

A final sentence be added reading "The society will investigate ways of providing additional value to Gold and Silver organisational members."

Lobb/

CARRIED
NC, 10 in favour, Abst: 2

Andy Linton proposed that the society suggest which organisations would fit into each category.

Amendment: That the substantive motion be amended to read "That the administration subcommittee prepare bye-law changes to implement the proposal."
Mitchell/

CARRIED
(Voices)

The amended motion was then put and

CARRIED
10 in favour, 1 against, Abst: Chair

Use by Dr. Lobb in Research of the Record of Council's Electronic Meeting

Dr. Lobb outlined the nature of her research, which deals with communication structures rather than with the content of the communication.

Motion: That Dr. Lobb be given approval to have access to the archived of the electronic comunications of the Council for the term of this Council, provided that confidentiality is maintained.
Neal/

CARRIED
NC, Abst. Chair

PROPOSED BY-LAW CHANGE RELATING TO INFOMATION ABOUT MEMBERS HELD BY THE SOCIETY

The Chairperson noted during brief discussion of the proposal that changes to the Society's Bye-laws must be presented to one Council meeting for approval to take place at a subsequent meeting.

Motion: That the proposed addition to the Bye-laws of the Society be received.
Neal/

CARRIED
NC, Abst: Chair

CORRESPONDENCE

There was no discussion of the correspondence.

MEDIA AND EDUCATION

Elizabeth Probert presented a brief report on the activities of the Media and Education Subcommittee. Since Council's meeting of 29 February this subcommittee had written a flyer which has ben circulated by subcommittee members and which can be read on the society's web pages. It has put out a press release regarding changes to the administration of the nz DNS domain, and is responding to a letter to the Listener criticising the use of the Internet in education.

Further, Elizabeth Probert had, on the Society's behalf, chaired the session devoted to the Internet at the 'Media96' Conference organised by the Magazine Publishers' Association.

The subcommittee had also developed two proposed logos, which were presented to the Council and were briefly discussed. The council then voted on the adoption of a logo for the society. Six members voted for the logo proposed by Jim Higgins, four for that proposed by Jenny Shearer with two abstentions.

The administration subcommittee were asked to organise the production of stationery.

Motion: That the Council thanks Jim Higgins and Jenny Shearer for their work in producing these logos.
Chair/

CARRIED U

Roger Hicks raised the matter of a request from International Credit Card Investigators for a "discovery" discussion session with ISOCNZ members who are ISP's. He proposed that the invitation be circulated to members, which was agreed.

The meeting was adjourned for lunch at 12:30pm. Neil James arrived during the lunch break. The meeting resumed at 1:10pm.

OPERATIONS

Structure of Agreement with DNS Registry Provider and Procedures for the Issuing of Names and Resolution of Disputes / Cost Recovery for the Operation of the DNS System in New Zealand

Andy Linton began by outlining discussions held with The University of Waikato regarding the operation of a DNS registry service. Pressure for cost recovery was coming, he said, from the university, which in turn is under pressure from its auditors.

There are now over four thousand names in the DNS for the nz domain. These must continue to be operational.

"The big issue is the commercial domain, the co domain". He expressed the view that we need to establish the basis on which we're to see the existing registry recover its costs and continue operating. The University of Waikato had been persuaded at a meeting with Andy Linton and Roger Hicks not to implement charging itself at 1 June 1996, but to wait until 1 July 1996, conditional on a decision by ISOCNZ.

Andy Linton advocated a principle on which changes are covered by an recurrent ongoing charge rather than making individual charges for changes, since that might result in necessary changes not being made. He proposed that an individual or a small group of people be authorised to negotiate an agreement with The University of Waikato.

In response to a question, Roger Hicks explained that charges would apply to all domains equally, with sponsorship for a given domain being effected by payments to ISOCNZ. This makes it possible to define clearly the service being offered by the registry.

Andy Linton proposed a registry function which begins of receipt of a submission (with payment) of a web form, with as much as possible of the process automated. A response from the registry byemail would either confirm that the submission had been accepted or state why it had not been accepted. Consultancy services to customers would be separate from the registry function.

Roger Hicks noted that the collection of money would be another separate service, which could be contracted to a separate organisation from that operating the registry.

John Houlker observed that the services excluded from the registry function by this definition can be competitively provided by many organisations, for example by ISP's. The registry function, he said, should be "irreducibly small" and "very stable". He would like to see competitive, open "DNS consulting".

Jim Higgins said that users of the DNS service cannot be expected to indemnify the society against problems caused by their use of the service. We must, among other actions, hold reserves allowing us to use legal services.

Roger Hicks described the need for a disputes resolution procedure separate from the registry service.

John Hine suggested providing a list of consultancy services as part of the rejection message generated by an automatic registry function. Andy Linton objected to this, saying that he did not wish to be seen to endorse particular consultants.

There was some discussion of possible reasons for a request to be rejected, and of difficulties in putting into effect the proposed procedure.

The term for which a transitional arrangement should be agreed was discussed. John Houlker stated that The University of Waikato viewed twelve months as a minimum contract term for itself, given its need to employ clerical staff to do the registry's work. John Hine expressed doubt at ISOCNZ's ability to move to a re-tendering process which would see re-tendering occur in less than twelve months. John Houlker said that the university will employ staff whether or not an agreement with ISOCNZ is reached.

There was discussion of the process by which tender documents could be drafted prior to a tendering process to select an agent to provide the service after expiry of the initial term.

John Houlker expressed a desire to see the DNS, "a basic piece of bedrock for the Internet", function in a stable and reliable manner. "There's a small kernel function on the Internet there that we've got to keep reliable", he said. Ian Mitchell described it as being ISOCNZ's role to ensure an open and reliable Internet.

Andy Linton then described the decisions reached at a meeting with The University of Waikato. It was agreed that the university will bill for additions to the DNS, while ISOCNZ would collect annual charges. The university would be required to operate both master and caching DNS servers, and to provide a whois server providing information from the name register.

Discussion then moved to the functions which it will be necessary for the ISOCNZ and for its agent to carry out. It was agreed that policy set by ISOCNZ must specify what details are to be required for a DNS registration. Both services delivered by the agent to ISOCNZ and by ISOCNZ to users of the service must be the subjects of agreements specifying the levels of service being provided.

There was some discussion of exactly which parts of the registration process are properly functions of ISOCNZ. It was agreed that the agent will

• receive a request
• receive payment for that request, whether from the requestor or from ISOCNZ
• action or reject the request with advice of the reason for a rejection
• operate DNS master and caching servers and a whois server

and that ISOCNZ will

• set policy for the issuing of names
• draft contracts
• perform the necessary administrative tasks, including the holding and maintenance of the service's customer database
• provide dispute resolution
• bill for ongoing charges
• provide initial documentation, and will be responsible for the advertising and mailing costs associated with that be responsible for the handling of retrospective issues arising from actions taken before the agreement came into effect.

The need to extend and tighten up existing policy on the issuing of DNS names was discussed.

Motion: That Andy Linton, Roger Hicks and Ian Mitchell negotiate with The University of Waikato and Victoria University of Wellington an interim agreement for a minimum of twelve months to provide a DNS function to ISOCNZ, including registry, servers and administration functions as necessary. And that they keep the Council informed electronically. And further that they seek Council approval for end-user charges.
Chair/

CARRIED
NC, J. Higgins temporarily absent, Abst: Chair, J. Houlker, D.Neal

Motion: That we request The University of Waikato to abide rigorously by the guidelines contained in the ISOCNZ web pages. Pending finalisation of a contract, disputes shall be referred to the operations subcommittee of the ISOCNZ Council.
Mitchell/

CARRIED
NC, Abst: Chair, D.Neal

RELATIONSHIPS AND STRATEGY

John Hine reviewed the list produced by the relationships and strategy subcommittee of things which the society could be doing:

• Management of the .nz domain
• Production of timely and factual information
• Education - making people available to talk to various groups
• Reach agreement with the international Internet Society on ISOCNZ's relationship with them (this will be pursued at their 1996 AGM in Montreal)
• Promotion of standards - ensuring that there are RFC's on things which happen in New Zealand
• Promotion of new services e.g. fax over the Internet
• Clearing-house for information - possibly as a service for members only
• Act as an Arbitrator or Facilitator
• Explore affiliation with other New Zealand organisations, possibly offering a stream at one or more conferences run by other organisations
• Lobbying political parties to commit to a policy regarding access to the Internet

He noted that the various items related to information "can all be placed under the heading of" providing a publication. With regard to education, he observed that we have responded to requests for speakers, but have not been proactive. He asked whether the society should prepare material for use by speakers, whether or not those speakers were from the society. He observed that FAQ's might be produced as well as RFC's, possibly starting with an explanation of what to do if the DNS registry rejects your request. He also raised the question of our role regarding provision of conferences. A list of questions to politicians has been prepared.

John Hine expressed a willingness himself to investigate the possibility of an Internet-related group for schools.

There was some discussion of a possible email publication.

Motion: That John Hine and Elizabeth Probert will seek to arrange for someone to produce an electronic publication for society members, and may spend up to $500 for that purpose.
Hine/

CARRIED
NC, Abst: Chair

It was noted in discussion that the publication should also be capable of reproduction on paper.

There was some discussion on contributions to conferences. It was reported that a venue has been booked for a one-day forum to be held on 13 November 1996 at the James Cook Centra, Wellington. It was agreed that the relationships and strategy subcommittee will discuss with conference organisers the possibility that ISOCNZ offer a stream at a conference in 1997.

The mechanics of sending to political parties the list of questions prepared by the relationships and strategy subcommittee on policies relating to the Internet was discussed.

CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT

Roger Hicks made brief comments about his report, and raised the matter of ISOCNZ's relationship with the Internet Society. He asked whether the society would fund his travel to INET '96 if his employers are not willing to do so. There was some discussion of the value and nature of this relationship.

Motion: That we pay Roger's reasonable costs to attend INET '96.
Mitchell/

CARRIED: 6 for, 1 against, Abst: 5

The meeting closed at 4:19pm.

©1997 The Internet Society of New Zealand