Report of the Legal & Regulatory Affairs Committee 01/02/02

Report Adopted by the Council Meeting of 01 February 2002

1.  There has been little response to the issue of the DNDR WG's discussion paper on 1 November 2001.  It is hoped that the informal survey form to be issued shortly will elicit further response.  The WG is also conscious of the UDRP review which is in train at present and, depending on the timeliness of that review being concluded, the WG may delay finalisation of its consultation until that is finished. The WG will also work with the SRS implementation team to ensure, as far as possible, that rollout of any LDRP coincides with the rollout of the SRS.

2.  The Crimes Amendment Bill No 6, in respect of which the Society made submissions and met with the Minister, was not passed in last year's parliamentary session.  It languishes somewhat near the bottom of the Parliamentary order paper along with the Electronic Transactions bill.

3.  The major work accomplished by Committee in recent times has been in relation to the Consumer Protection (Definition of Goods and Services) Bill on which a submission was made on 17 January 2002.  It is anticipated that the Society will make oral submissions on the bill at the select committee hearings.  The Society's position was usefully picked up by the NZ Herald

4.  On the horizon now is the draft Electronic Information Privacy Code which has the potential to impact ISPs and other conveyers of electronic communications/providers of directories.  The Committee will draft a submission on this for consultation in due course and members of the Committee will attend the public meetings scheduled to be held in major centres.

5.  The last minute nature of the submission on the Consumer Protection legislation highlights the urgent need for the Society to put in place early warning systems to catch legislation having the potential to affect members and/or use/development of the internet. As the internet and electronic information becomes more pervasive, more and more legislation is likely to have this potential.  The Committee therefore proposes that the Executive Director be asked to come forward with a suggested process, in conjunction with this Committee, by which the earliest possible warning can be given.

MOTION:  That the executive director be charged with working with legal & regulatory affairs committee to develop an early warning system to catch legislative or quasi-regulatory developments likely to have an impact on members and/or the use and development of the internet in New Zealand.

6.  Finally, (although this may more properly fall into international affairs' realm) Council may like to note that Rick Shera has been seconded to represent the ccTLD constituency on the ICANN DNSO task force which is looking at issues around the transfer of domain names between registrars and/or between registrants.

Rick Shera
Chair
Legal & Regulatory Affairs Committee
23/01/02

© 2002 The Internet Society of New Zealand
Last updated 24 January 2002