Report of the Legal & Regulatory Affairs Committee 17/10/03
Version 1.0 : 10 October 2003
For: Council on 17 October 2003
Status: Accepted at Council Meeting 17 October 2003
1. MEETINGS
1.1. The Committee met face to face after the last Council Meeting to consider the draft strategic plan and made significant changes to appropriate sections.
1.2. There has not been any other meetings but regular e-mails, considerable bilateral interactions between members and also worth noting all bar one member is also on the Spam Taskforce which has been very active.
2. SPAM
2.1. The Spam Taskforce has met and been very active. A separate report from the Taskforce covers activities
2.2. The Kidsmail initiative proposal has been the subject of discussion and ongoing dialogue between interested parties..
2.3. A very successful anti spam workshop was held in Wellington with around 50 people in attendance. There was wide support for the broad outline of InternetNZ's proposed campaign.
2.4. Have had acknowledgments of letters on Atkinson spam issue but no formal response yet.
3. ENUM
3.1. At the initiative of Grant Forsyth discussions have been held with the Numbering Administration Deed Management Committee (NAD) on holding a workshop in November on Enum in New Zealand. This would be an opportunity for taking initiative and leadership in discussions about a framework for Enum in new Zealand, and associated issues.
3.2. The workshop /seminar would be focused on industry and government and the proposed date in 24 November 2003 which is the day after APTLD meetings in Wellington, allowing interested persons to stay on, and/or contribute. The main guest speaker would be Tony Holmes of British Telecom who is very involved with Enum in Europe and also on the GNSO Council of ICANN.
3.3. NAD has agreed to share costs with InternetNZ on a 50/50 basis up to a maximum of $10,000 each. It is expected to charge attendees a fee which will recoup some of the costs (ballpark estimate ? maybe $150 each)
3.4. Invitations would be sent to:
* NAD Members (Telecom, Telstra-Clear, Vodafone, Callplus, Ihug, Walker Wireless)
* TUANZ
* Ministry of Economic Development (who would be asked to outline Government position)
* Telecommunications Carriers Forum
* Other Industry Bodies
* Telecommunications Commissioner
* NZRS
4. REGULATORY ISSUES
4.1. Legal & Regulatory is working on a short submission to the Telecommunications Commissioner in favour of the decision to unbundle some of the local loop.
4.2. Legal & Regulatory is also looking at the new "broadband" pricing from Telecom which has bundled together Jetstream service and Xtra ISP service and has dropped the price of the non monopoly part, which may raise competition issues.
5. LEGISLATION
5.1. An advisory on the Crimes Amendment Act 2003 covering computer crimes and interception devices was issued resulting in media inquiries and requests from various ISPs for copies of the Act.
5.2. A letter to the Minister of Justice on the Terrorism Act has not yet been drafted, but not forgotten.
6. PATENTS
6.1. The Patent Advisory Group has had three meetings under Jim Higgins leadership and is making excellent progress.
6.2. A separate report from PAG has been given to Council.
7. UDRP
7.1. Members of Legal & Regulatory gave feedback to Grant Forsyth on aspects of the gTLD UDRP review.
7.2. The Committee also noted the UDRP decision on the erythromycin-adapalene-differin-gel-cream-acne-medication.com domain name!
8. RECOMMENDATIONS
8.1. Legal & Regulatory Committee recommends to Council:
8.1.1. That InternetNZ approve expenditure of up to $10,000 to cover 50% of an Enum Workshop/Seminar scheduled for November 2003 in conjunction with the Numbering Administration Deed Management Committee.
