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auDA – More questions and answers

By LAURIE PATTON | 26 July 2018

As I’ve previously written, tomorrow in Melbourne a Special General Meeting will determine the fate of three directors of auDA – the company managing our Internet domain names – including the independent chair Chris Leptos.

I recently published a Q&A with Cameron Boardman, the CEO of auDA, and subsequently a list of questions for the Grumpies – the small group of auDA members that called for the meeting. They have so far refused to answer their questions.

The additional information below has been supplied by auDA for its members and anyone else interested in the future of our domain names service.

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Let’s meet, then please move on – Reforming auDA

By LAURIE PATTON | 25 July 2018

“The process of registering and administering Internet domain names under the .au top level domain must be managed with full integrity and transparency of process and decision-making to ensure this public resource supports the needs of all Internet users and stakeholders”.

This statement from Internet Australia chair, Dr Paul Brooks, sums up why a number of Internet industry players are speaking out against a board spill at a Special General Meeting of auDA – the company managing our Internet domain names – to be held in Melbourne on Friday. If you have a website you’ll have dealt with one of the companies that sell domain names to the public. They all operate under the authority and supervision of auDA.

Continue reading “Let’s meet, then please move on – Reforming auDA”

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Public servants, political appointments and good government

By LAURIE PATTON | 19 July 2018

We need to inject some ultimate responsibility into public administration. The buck has to stop somewhere.

What was recently perceived in some circles as two highly political appointments to plum roles in the federal public service highlights a need to re-examine government administration in the 21st Century. Not because these appointments were necessarily inappropriate, but because they exposed a basic disconnect.

We still like to pretend we have an olde-worlde apolitical public service consisting of career bureaucrats who have no political leanings and/or are never influenced by them. If this was ever the case, it is no longer.

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Ending trickle down economics

By EMMA DAWSON | 19 July 2018

John Kenneth Galbraith once described trickle-down economics as the theory that “if you feed enough oats to the horse, some will pass through to feed the sparrows”.

In Australia today, as in so many other developed nations where trickle-down economics has been ascendant for the last three decades, the horses have grown very fat, and the sparrows are starving.

Continue reading “Ending trickle down economics”

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From the chair – Transforming auDA to build .au

By CHRIS LEPTOS | 17 July 2018

I have been watching with dismay the online commentary by a small number of members who seem determined to undermine the good work of auDA, and by extension the .au community.

They are entitled to have their views. However, we should also acknowledge that auDA does not exist just for some of its outspoken members. auDA is a vital part of Australia’s digital infrastructure. auDA is also a quasi-regulator of the .au namespace with over a million unique registrants, and many millions more who rely on a safe and stable .au domain. Continue reading “From the chair – Transforming auDA to build .au”

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The .au domain name lifecycle

By AFILIAS | 16 July 2018

In today’s blog we’re going to talk about the lifecycle of .au domain names. We look at what goes on with a domain name prior to it being added to the drop list and purged (i.e. made available for someone else to register). auDA – the policy authority and industry self-regulatory body for the .au domain space – has specified this process in the Domain Renewal, Expiry and Deletion Policy. Continue reading “The .au domain name lifecycle”

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Domestic violence is a greater threat than terrorism

By JOHN MENADUE | 9 July 2018

Last week in Sydney we saw the tragic death of two teenagers as a result of domestic violence. We know that over 12 months on average one woman is killed every week in Australia by a current or former partner.

Yet national effort and resources are directed overwhelmingly to counter terrorism where in the last decade only three people in Australia have been killed.  

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Harry M Miller – Setting the record straight

By LAURIE PATTON | 6 July 2018

I was once paid a big compliment by Harry M Miller, when I was running Channel Seven Sydney, so I feel nothing but sadness at the news of his death. However, as an advisor to former NSW Attorney General, the late Frank Walker, I need to set the record straight. Harry went to gaol because he broke the law and was duly convicted in the courts.

It was cited as the most serious “white collar crime” at the time. It was not a politically motivated prosecution, as Harry claimed.

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Setting the record straight about Afilias Australia’s new .au service

By AFILIAS | 5 July 2018

The transition of .au to the new Afilias system in Australia happened last weekend according to plan: no interruption of service to end users and minimal disruption to registrars. By all accounts, this historic event is a testament to auDA’s vision and determination to fulfill the goals of the project. Continue reading “Setting the record straight about Afilias Australia’s new .au service”