Domain Name Commission Limited Board Minutes - March 2009

Minutes of the Domain Name Commission Ltd Board Meeting

 Monday, 13 March 2009, 3.30pm

 Attendance

Present: Richard Currey, Andy Linton, David Russell, Joy Liddicoat, Debbie Monahan, Alison McKenzie, Michael Foley by conference call.

Apologies: No apologies were received.

1. Board alone time.

The meeting began with Board alone time. Debbie Monahan and Alison McKenzie joined the meeting at 3.45pm.

2. DNCL Register of Interests

The DNCL Register of Interests was updated. No conflicts were noted for this meeting.

3. Minutes from the last meeting

The minutes of the last DNCL Board meeting were passed as true and accurate.

4. DNC Work plan - update

The DNC work plan update is a standing item, and an oral report was provided. A number of the items on the work plan are included in the meeting agenda.

NZRS

Jay Daley, Chief Executive, NZRS joined the meeting at 4pm. He was introduced to the Board, and described his first two weeks in his new role, and his experience in previous positions.

5. DNC Reports - November, December and January and Q3 report

The DNC spoke to her reports for the months of November, December and January. The DNC was thanked for her reports.

6. Domain Name Fee Review

The Board agreed with the recommendation noted in the joint NZRS / DNCL paper to Council to retain the domain name fee at $1.50 per domain name per month plus GST. The next meeting of Council is scheduled for 20 March 2009, and this recommendation will be put to that meeting. The next meeting of Council is scheduled for 20 March 2009, and this recommendation will be discussed at that meeting.

7. Awareness of .nz update

An update on the awareness of .nz campaign was given. The Board was shown the chosen concept for the new DNCL logo and designs. At this time it is anticipated the new logo will be introduced sometime during May.

8. .nz Search Functionality

The Board discussed the addition of searches of the .nz Register by Registrant, and by wildcard search by domain name, and noted that there were possible business and privacy risks around those types of searches. It was agreed that the DNC should draft a possible policy and process, and identify through that any impact on other policies such as the WHOIS, and bring it back for further discussion at the next meeting.

9. DNC role in Internet Security

It was agreed that the DNC should investigate the role that DNCL could have in offering information and support in the case of such security issues as phishing. More detail around this is to be presented at the next Board meeting.

10. Privacy Policy Review

In line with the ongoing, regular review of policies, it was agreed that the review of the Privacy Policy could commence. Before releasing a general consultation paper, the DNC will check with the lawyers that the policy will not be directly affected by the introduction of any additional search functions.

11. Service Level Agreement

Some typographical changes were noted throughout the paper.

Some typographical changes were noted throughout the paper. The DNC is to notify NZRS of the changes made by the Board, and confirm that the SLA as drafted and including the changes is approved for signature by DNCL.

12. Formalising relationship with Government

This item was deferred for discussion at the next meeting.

13. IDN Working Group

An oral report of the meeting held earlier on 13 March was given. There will be a Sunrise period for IDN registrations prior to the general implementation which is still planned to coincide with Māori Language Week 2010. A draft policy covering the Sunrise period is being developed and is expected to be out for public comment from May, for a period of three months.

14. Any other business

- ENUM
This item was deferred to the next meeting though it was noted that there are a number of policy issues relating to ENUM which are the area for DNCL to provide input.

- EOY process and reporting
A letter from the auditors, Grant Thornton, was discussed and the responsibilities on directors highlighted. It is proposed to hold the DNCL AGM on the same day as the InternetNZ AGM, at a date yet to be confirmed by InternetNZ. It was confirmed that the company�s lawyers, Izard Weston, would continue to take responsibility to ensure any company forms were completed as required.

- ICANN
The next ICANN meeting is scheduled for late June in Sydney, Australia. Though the meeting is close geographically, it isn�t intended that a large contingent attends. Any directors interested in attending should put their reasons to the Chair for consideration.

- Accommodation update
No decision has yet been made on whether the InternetNZ Group should remain in the current premises when the lease expires in March 2010, or seek new accommodation. There is a paper going to the next Council meeting that sets out the options.

- DNSSEC
Andy outlined conversations he�d had regarding the implementation of DNSSEC. It was agreed that this would be raised with NZRS and they would be asked for a timetable of when it was likely they�d be ready to look at implementing DNSSEC for .nz.

15. Next meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for 11 May, beginning at 4.30pm

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