I suppose the real problem is with the decision being
left open ended.  I am unlikely to relinquish asn.au
on the understanding that I will receive an "exemption
from charges" at the board's discretion.

A pertinent question is "why should I receive such
an exemption" anyway? Because I do it for free?

What if someone decides to provide COM.AU domains for
free.  What if connec.com.au was still doing NET.AU for
free.  Are we suggesting that they would be charged a
fee for providing this free service? Why should they
be charged?

I think the ultimate reason is because funding has to
come from somewhere.  This is unfortunately not really
acceptable to any reasonable person.

In the end, the only fair result is a fairly even
handed treatment of each DNA.  Probably the only
way to do this would be as a flat percentage of
fees.  So if M-IT chooses to charge $125 per domain,
and they register 6540 domains this year (all easily
visible to an external authority), then X percent
of this is levied.

On the other hand, if someone else decides to do it
for free, while meeting the same "rules" that M-IT
must adhere to, then they should be charged nothing.

Time is running very short.  If we wish this meeting
in five days to actually create a body, these last minute
questions probably do need to be addressed.

Is sponsorship an answer?  Are there enough bodies who
would consider this worth the investment of a no strings
attached donation? Are there any other alternatives?

MM


> Reading through the M&A, you will see that there is provision made
> for there to be no charging of those DNA's deemed appropriate by 
> ADNA - a situation specifically designed to allow domains such as edu.au,
> gov.au, asn.au, and so on to continue as they do without change, and
> without being charged for providing, as you say, a volounteer service.
> I don't see it as broken - and there's been a lot of volounteer work put 
> in by a lot of people over the last year to ensure it isn't - and I do 
> see a way for you to play within its structures.
> 
> 
> Luke Carruthers
> Magna Data
> Internet Solutions Provider