http://www.auda.org/doc/twomey13mar99.html Letter submitted to NOIE with auDA Constitution 13 March 1999 Dr Paul Twomey Chief Executive Officer and Special Advisor for the Information Economy and Technology, National Office for the Information Economy CANBERRA ACT 2600 Dear Dr Twomey, The au Working Group on Australian Domain Names is pleased to submit the Constitution for a company to be named .au Domain Administration (to be known as auDA). It is expected, that upon approval from NOIE and adoption by the members of the company, this Constitution will form the basis of the new non-profit organisation, auDA, which will take over the delegation to manage the .au namespace from its current holder, Robert Elz, commencing April 1999. To develop this Constitution, the .au Working Group engaged in extensive public consultation. During this process, from December 1998 to March 1999, the Working Group publicised all its working documents, minutes and meetings, etc. Every attempt has been made to seek contribution and comment from key stakeholders and interested members of the industry, and the Australian Internet community. The .au Working Group acknowledges, and is grateful for, the support it has received, not only from government, but from the industry and the community at large. The Constitution is the result of significant input from the Australian Internet community. In line with a request from NOIE, a formal document outlining our public consultation process is attached. Two matters have proven difficult to resolve. The Working Group has adopted a 3 class membership model for auDA (supply side, demand side, and representative associations), but there was a strong minority view that a single class of membership would be more appropriate. The members of the Working Group supporting the minority viewpoint expressed dissatisfaction at the manner in which I, as Chair, resolved the question. The second matter has been left for your comment and we welcome your guidance. This refers to the question of restricting membership of auDA to Australian entities - Australian registered companies, residents and citizens. This is currently dealt with in Section 9.4 of the Constitution. The Working Group was equally divided on this point, and we have not included this requirement in membership qualifications. We are prepared to do so if government expresses a wish for this requirement. The .au Working Group looks forward to your input on the question of membership qualification, and to a favourable response from your office to recognise auDA, with the attached constitution, as an entity to administer the .au domain name space. With your endorsement I am sure the Australian Internet community will support auDA to manage the .au namespace in the best interests of the Australian community. I commend to you the members of the .au Working Group, whose names are attached to this letter. Despite busy schedules, they have all given a substantial amount of time and effort to the Working Group, and have represented their views, and the views of organisations with which they are affiliated, honestly, clearly, and ultimately in a spirit of compromise to obtain a result within the short time available to us. It has been a pleasure for me to work with them. I also record the valuable assistance of Corrs, Chambers, Westgarth. Philip Catania and Christopher Murphy who have provided pro bono legal advice and drafting assistance to the Working Group, without which the Constitution attached would be unlikely to pass critical evaluation. If I can be of assistance to clarify any points, please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours sincerely, Greg Crew Chair .au Working Group on Australian Domain Names cc Chris Cheah, General Manager, Regulatory Framework, NOIE Dr Erica Roberts Special Adviser NOIE
