At 02:23 PM 27/06/97 +0800, Michael Malone wrote:
>ADNA has .AU as its "space".  This doesn't
>mean it owns .AU, or even that it will one day own it. It
>just means that it is limited to operations within .AU.

According to statements, formal and informal, made by those driving ADNA, it
is currently ADNA's intention to be the top level policy and oversight body
for the .AU namespace, as well as the policy and oversight body for .COM.AU
and (lately) .NET.AU.

>A public statement that ADNA should publicly commit to only
>ever operating in COM.AU is ridiculous and shortsighted.

If ADNA would simply acknowledge the structural flaws that now cripple any
claim it may have over .AU, and commit to working with ALL interested
parties, openly and in a spirit of goodwill, towards an acceptable and
representative top-level body, you would find the Internet Society of
Australia backing you all the way.

Unfortunately, ADNA does not appear to see any problems with itself. ADNA
seems to believe that it is representative of the Australian Internet
community;  seems to believe that it's commercial focus is appropriate for
the entire .AU namespace; sees no problem with having only the vaguest of
charters for public input; and sees the lack of support from CSIRO, the AVCC
and the Internet Society (not to mention several DNS delegates) as a
temporary difficulty.

When major flaws in your claim to representativeness are pointed out, when
major flaws in your claim to appropriateness are pointed out, and when major
flaws in your capacity for change are pointed out, you deny that they are
problems, accuse your correspondents of leaving it too late, accuse people
of ulterior motives, or say "join us and work from the inside"! You have yet
to substantively address the *actual problems*.

When our choice to work from the OUTSIDE was taken, because we could not in
all conscience risk being seen to support ADNA in its current form, we were
treated as traitors! In public statements from ADNA since, there has been a
clear attempt to marginalise criticism rather than embrace it.

Since ADNA incorporated, and for some time before that, we have been saying
the same old things:

 - ADNA is commercially focussed; this focus is not appropriate for a top-level
   policy and oversight body

 - ADNA is not representative of the wider Australian Internet community and is
   structurally incapable of becoming so

 - ADNA does not have the general support of the Australian Internet community
   and should not lay claim to .AU until it does.

Don't shoot the messenger, ADNA!

ADNA may yet evolve to be appropriate for .AU, though big changes will be
needed. Right now it is NOT appropriate. Why not acknowledge that and work
*together* with your detractors to change things?

Regards, K.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karl Auer: kauer§pcug.org.au                    +61-6-2494627 (bh)
           http://www.pcug.org.au/~kauer/       +61-6-2486607 (ah)

Join the Internet Society of Australia! http://www.isoc-au.org.au