Internet Society of Australia
A Chapter of the Internet Society
ACN 076 406 801
17 October 1999: the election of the first board of the au Domain Administration (auDA) was welcomed today by Dr Kate Lance, President of the Internet Society of Australia (ISOC-AU) on behalf of Australia's Internet users.
auDA is the organisation that aims to be responsible for the administration of Internet domain names in Australia.
"The new body has been established on the basis of broad community participation and consultation. Members of auDA have elected a board that seems to represent a broad cross-section of the Australian Internet community", Dr Lance said.
"On behalf of Australian Internet users, ISOC-AU welcomes the model of industry self-regulation of Internet domain names for Australia.
"In the early days of the Internet, rules were developed informally, and with the rough consensus of the participants.
"As the Internet grows in scope, more formal structures are required to manage online public assets, such as the .au name space. Some Internet users assume that .au is managed by the government.
".au could presently valued in billions of dollars, and must be managed in the best interests of present and future generations of Internet users.", said Dr Lance.
"Business users of the Internet in particular, will welcome the participative self-regulation structure of auDA that will provide a solid policy basis for the allocation of domain names and allow for competitive services in the registration of domains.
"Although many everyday Internet users would not be aware of it, the efficient operation of domain names is critical to the operation of the Internet. The new body will allow a coordinated regulation process for these names which is bound to the technical requirements of the Internet."
Dr Lance congratulated those early pioneers who helped build the Internet into a highly successful and valuable community resource.
"The long-term stewardship of Australians like Robert Elz and Geoff Huston put the allocation of domain names onto a sound footing", Dr Lance said.
Dr Lance also welcomed the positive role of Minister Alston and the National Office of the Information Economy in supporting the establishment of auDA although she was concerned at the lack of government financial assistance during the establishment phase.
"It is a credit to the Interim Board that auDA has achieved support from all stakeholders in the industry. That they were able to do this with virtually no financial support is impressive.
"We hope that the existing registrars will now follow the lead of the .net.au registrar, connect.com.au Pty Ltd, and commit financial resources to the organisation without delay," she said.
Mr Greg Watson, Vice-President of ISOC-AU, will be a director for the Representative Class of members on the new board of auDA.
Contact:
Dr Kate Lance, 03 9251 3600, president@isoc-au.org.au
Mr Greg Watson, 03 9482 2276, vice-president@isoc-au.org.au
Mr Leni Mayo, 0418 377 937, media@isoc-au.org.au