Nominet UK - Meeting Report




		Policy Advisory Board

		MEETING 21 - 7 AUGUST 2002 POLICY ADVISORY BOARD REPORT PORTMAN SQUARE, LONDON, W1 7 AUGUST 2002 Those present: Richard Almeida Elected Member Jeremy Beale Appointed Member Denesh Bhabuta Elected Member Alex Bligh Appointed Member - Council of Management James Cronin Elected Member Michael Duggan Appointed Member Steve Dyer Appointed Member - Council of Management Peter Gradwell Elected Member From Nominet by invitation of the PAB: Eleanor Bradley, Director of Operations Felicity Hoad, Communications Manager Emily Taylor, Company Solicitor Apologies Apologies were received from Adam Beaumont, Roy Bisson, Gordon Dick, Clive Feather, Ben Laurie, Eric Ramage and Sue White. Minutes of previous meeting The minutes of the previous meeting were approved. Meeting Dates It was agreed that if, in the future, meeting dates coincide with holiday periods that the meeting should be moved to a more convenient time. Meeting dates will be reviewed by the Secretariat at the start of the year. Purpose and Future Following the recommendations of the paper, Gordon Dick is due to circulate a PAB mission statement. The final version of the paper is to be published. ACTION: Gordon Dick, Executive Electronic communications sub-committee The final version of the paper has been sent to the Council of Management. This version is to be published. ACTION: Council of Management, Executive Expanded WHOIS Eleanor Bradley outlined the revised plans to go live with the expanded WHOIS. This would include an optional "opt-out" mechanism for individuals. Phase 1 would begin in September with the publication of addresses of those registrants identified as businesses, and phase 2 would follow in December with the publication of details on individuals following renewal or registration. Further information was supplied on how businesses had been defined, and what the opt-out message would state. ACTION: Nominet Executive NOM-STEER summaries It was agreed to cease the production of NOM-STEER summaries for the appointed members. The Executive confirmed their plans to produce an on-line archive for NOM-STEER. ACTION: Executive Status of Rules consultation Emily Taylor updated the PAB on the Rules consultation, which had received nine submissions to date. All the comments will be reviewed and analysed before they are sent to CoM for approval. It was noted that many of the comments had been about the .net.uk Rules and that these should be forwarded to the sub-committee for its meeting on 13 August. ACTION: Executive Revised Tag Holder Agreement Emily Taylor outlined a proposed change to the Tag Holder Agreement (THA) that had been made to take account of the revised Tag Change process. She emphasised that this was a consequential change only, and that a broader revision of the THA should not be forgotten. Alex Bligh emphasised that the THA should include reference to the fact that Registrant details should be recorded correctly. It was agreed that this and other changes to the THA, including some of the issues raised by the INCOP findings, should be tabled for discussion at the October meeting. The PAB supported the revised Agreement, as approved by the CoM, and welcomed that this would shortly be put forward for member consultation. Revised Terms and Conditions Emily Taylor outlined changes to the Terms and Conditions that had been made to take account of the expanded WHOIS and the revised Tag Change procedures. The PAB supported the revised Terms and Conditions, as approved by the CoM, and welcomed that this would shortly be put forward for public consultation. .net.uk SLD It was noted that this would be discussed at the sub-committee on 13 August. Renewals invoicing It was noted that sub committee on renewals invoicing would take place immediately after the main PAB meeting. One and two letter domains It was noted that the PAB policy to date had been to open up these domains if a suitable release mechanism could be found. James Cronin reported back from the PAB workshop at the AGM explaining that it had not been possible to reach a consensus on a suitable solution during the meeting. The PAB felt that despite serious consideration over the last year it had not been possible to determine a method of release that would meet Nominet's corporate objectives without incurring the probability of significant business risk for the organisation. The PAB therefore recommended that while the business risk to Nominet of releasing these domains remained greater than the risk of not releasing them, Nominet should retain the current restrictions on one and two letter domain names. The PAB also recommended that one character and two letter registrations in .ltd.uk and .plc.uk should be allowed. It also recommended the possibility of allowing one and two letter domain names in any new SLDs. The PAB continues to welcome suggestions for release mechanisms from the stakeholder community. ACTION: CoM Publication of voting rights Alex Bligh tabled a motion to publish the voting rights of members. It was discussed whether this was commercially sensitive information, and whether publication of the rights could put Nominet at legal risk. The PAB were in favour on increased transparency and recommended to the CoM that it publish the voting rights subject to there being an acceptable legal risk. ACTION: CoM Membership / Tag Holder fees A discussion took place about the distinction between members and Tag Holders. The Executive clarified that in addition to the 2,700 members, there are also 1,500 Tag Holders who do not have membership status. It was proposed that there should be a clearer distinction in Nominet's communications between the responsibilities of both these communities. Some members suggested the possibility of introducing a Tag Holder fee on a cost-recovery basis. Election candidates The PAB recommended that candidates in the PAB and CoM elections should be added to NOM-STEER for the duration of their candidacy. ACTION: CoM Items arising from pab-suggest Several items arising from pab-suggest were discussed. However, as one member had to leave the PAB had become inquorate and therefore no further recommendations could be made. These items were adjourned to the next meeting. Date of next meeting The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 2 October 2002.