Internet Society of Australia
A Chapter of the Internet Society
ACN 076 406 801
"Recent changes introduced to establish an organisation to oversee the administration of Internet domain names within Australia are timely and significant," says Dr Kate Lance, President of the Internet Society of Australia. "In the two years since the establishment of the Australian Domain Name Authority (ADNA), many organisations, individuals, and other interested parties have been working to ensure that there has been wide consultation with the Internet community so that consensus can be reached on this issue. These developments come at a time when Internet use in Australia is rapidly increasing, and coincide with the recent establishment of The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to manage domain names globally," she said.
On Monday 19 April, the board of directors of ADNA met for the last time to adopt a new constitution that had been developed out by the .au Working Group on Australian Domain Names. This meeting also resolved to rename the organisation .au Domain Administration (auDA), accept the resignation of all members of the board, and hold fresh elections for new board members under the new constitution. The auDA constitution provides three membership classes: supply, demand, and representative associations. Members of each class are eligible to vote for three directors. Two further directors are chosen by all members voting together. Around 200 members had joined the organisation by the time voting began at 8:00pm.
Mr Greg Watson, Vice-President, and newly elected auDA board member commented, "The .au Working Group reported wide community consultation and with the excellent response to the call for members, auDA represents a new phase in the management of the domain name system in Australia." "ISOC-AU acknowledges the central role of the National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE) in facilitating the working group process, and for conducting the elections in an efficient and professional manner," Mr Watson said.
Mr Leni Mayo, a director of ISOC-AU and former member of the .au working group said, "We anticipate that the Government will be 100% behind the new organisation. The domain name system is a public asset and a key part of the internet infrastructure, and we think the government is aware of that. Management of the asset is a public-trust responsibility, and should aim to address the needs of all sectors of the Internet community."
Following the formation of auDA, ISOC-AU now looks forward to a rapid opening up of the competitive landscape in Australian domain name registrations to match the progress on the international scene. The establishment of a shared registry system in Australia will add impetus to our burgeoning Internet industry, and ensure that nothing stands in the way of continuing growth.
In further news, Melbourne-IT, a major supporter of the new auDA organisation and currently the only supplier of domain names ending in .com.au in Australia, has been named as one of five companies selected to participate in the initial testbed phase of the new competitive Shared Registry System for the .com, .net, and .org domains. "It is good to see an Australian company doing well and taking a key role in the introduction of competition into the NSI monopoly-run generic top level domains (gTLDs)," said Dr Erica Roberts, a director of ISOC-AU. "I think congratulations to Melbourne-IT are in order. Their selection by ICANN is a recognition of their expertise and ability to compete effectively in the global arena in the delivery of domain name services," Dr Roberts said.
Press contact:
Mr Greg Watson
Vice-President, ISOC-AU
g.watson@computer.org
For more information see:
The Internet Society of Australia
http://www.isoc-au.org.au
.au Domain Administration
Temporarily located at: http://www.auda.org
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
http://www.icann.org