Domain Name Commission Limited Board Minutes - June 2016

Present: David Farrar (Chair), Adam Hunt, Kenneth Johnston, David Moskovitz, Lucy Elwood (via teleconference).

In Attendance:  Debbie Monahan, Josh Cookson, Campbell Gardiner (part of meeting), Amber Craig (part of meeting)

Register of Interests

No conflicts were noted for this meeting.

Minutes of the last meeting

The minutes of the last DNCL Board meeting were passed as true and accurate. There were no matters arising.

WHOIS policy review

There was a lengthy discussion on this agenda item.  It was noted that concerns had been expressed by some and the Board acknowledged that had additional information been included in the third consultation paper it might have helped how it was perceived.

The Board noted the 65 submissions received in the third round of consultation, acknowledging the positions of each person that had taken the time to submit their views. The Chair noted that this is the most submissions received for a .nz WHOIS review.

The Board considered the 65 submissions and a summary document categorising the submissions into 10 distinct policy options.

It was made clear that this meeting was for discussing options regarding next steps and that no final decisions would be made.

There was discussion regarding the balance between accountability and privacy, and what a difficult task that was, with such opposing views on what the .nz WHOIS should be.

The Board reached a consensus that the registry should continue to collect Registrant data, as has been supported from a number of the submissions over the three consultations undertaken.  It believes the major issues are around what information is published, not about whether the information is collected and held by the registry.

There was also a consensus of the Board that they do not envisage a situation where absolutely no Registrant information at all is displayed on a WHOIS record. The Board has also ruled out the status quo where all information is displayed without exceptions.

The objective for the WHOIS review is to identify what information is publicly available, either by default or by request.  A range of options were identifed from the third round submissons and these need further consideration.

A working paper was presented to the board. The board received the paper but noted it was an internal paper and, doesn’t yet include all of the factors that will be relevant to a decision, and that further work will occur.

DNCL will undertake more work on analysing the different options arising out of the third consultation.  The results of this will be presented to the August Board meeting and a further consultation, would follow that.

It was agreed that given the interest in this subject, an update paper will be produced and published on the DNCL website so that interested parties are informed of the process to date and the decisions around the next steps.

Reserved names

The Board noted the submissions received during the public consultation on Reserved Names and agreed to the recommendation that Clause 9 of the Operations Policy be amended.

Digital Presence Review

DNCL Communications Manager, Campbell Gardiner spoke to a paper reviewing DNCL’s digital presence. The Board discussed the paper and supported a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube in "low engagement" mode.  DNCL will work with group communications managers to develop policies around social media engagement.  DNCL would also specifically consult with InternetNZ about how we might piggyback off InternetNZ's Twitter presence, and come back to the next board meeting with more information.

Internal Policies – Chief Executive’s Remuneration and Cashing in Annual Leave

Under the agreed timetable the Chief Executive’s Remuneration policy and Cashing in Annual Leave policy were reconsidered, reviewed and approved by the Board.

DNC Reports

The DNC reports were taken as read.  The Board asked to have the date of the Health and Safety audit to be noted in the relevant section of the report.

DNC work plan

The Board noted the work plan

.nz update

Work is planned for an infographic celebrating the tenth anniversary of the .nz Dispute Resolution Service. The date to release this will be will be set in the next two or three weeks.

Chair update

The Chair thanked Adam Hunt for attending the previous InternetNZ Council meeting.

The Chair advised he had attended an Institute of Directors course, and will prepare a paper on it for the next Board meeting.

Audit and Risk matters

The Board asked the DNC to consider whether social media flare up issues are relevant to include on the risk register.

The DNC advised that the financial audit was complete and the relevant documents now signed.

Health and Safety

The Board expressed awareness that some of the feedback from the recent WHOIS consultation had an impact on the wellbeing of staff.

Any other business

The Board will discuss remote observer participation at the next Board meeting.

Adam Hunt is working with InternetNZ on their treasury policy.

Dates future meetings

The next meeting will take place on Thursday 25 August 2016

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