Michael Wallmannsberger wrote:
This is a difficult question to answer in this forum, not least because a discussion could stray far from the purpose of the list. However, issues that may affect the operation of the SRS and DNS are highly relevant and the topic has been raised, so I think you deserve an answer.
Michael, I think it's a little disingenuous of you to cite the SRS and DNS in this paragraph to create a sense that these have somehow been affected by any of the issues you later raise in your posting. The NZRS and DNC do a fine job of running the registry on behalf of New Zealanders and as far as I can see have been running well. For those of you who are not aware I am a Director on the Board of DNC Ltd and was also a member of the .NZ Oversight Committee which it superseded. I can promise you and those on this list that had there been issues with the running of the DNS and the SRS my colleagues and I would have been agitating with InternetNZ Council and if that was not working I would have made damn sure that any issue was aired widely and loudly. I agree with you that InternetNZ outside these areas was not as functional as it might have been. But the bigger question is what should it be doing? I'm very wary of phrases like "unlocking the organisation's potential". Potential to do what? InternetNZ does a good job of representing us in international forums like ICANN and IGF. It has supported NZNOG and other technical forums such as PACNOG. Its voice was important in the issues of local loop unbundling and on the mess around Section 92a. The experiment with a Board of Directors for InternetNZ itself was in my opinion an unmitigated disaster. It created an extra layer of governance that was unnecessary and left Council with a confused role. That Board also had no one from this technical community and I think that was a major omission. So the goal for Council has to be to reinvent itself this year and that means a good mix of candidates to take on the governance role you identify. I can agree with many of the things you've identified and if your email that I posted to this list had said something along the lines of "InternetNZ doesn't have a broad enough base in its membership, you should consider joining and looking hard at all the candidates and choosing well based on these issues..." I and a number of people who've contacted me would have applauded you. I look forward to seeing how the membership vote - it will be interesting given that we now seem to have almost as many candidates as there are members. andy