hi folks.

i am new to this list. so i will keep it short and (hopefully) sweet.

i find tony staley to be a rather nice bloke. i have met him on a number 
of occasions. whether he is suited to chairing such a body is a different 
matter. 

it may be a blatantly political appointment. i guess if the ALP were in 
power, they would have appointed graham richardson or some dimwit union-
official (apologies for the tautology).

but then again, the federal govt aren't all that bad. after all, the 
currennt adviser to minister alston is some dude who used to advise phil 
ruddock on how to deal with various ethnic communities. and the liberal 
party is so smart when it comes to the internet that they have not even 
bothered to reserve their own domain address. yes, indeed. you are 
reading the words of the proud owner of liberalpartyofaustralia.com, .net 
and .org!

love and kisses!
irfan yusuf 

> "What a joke!" 
> 
> Former Chairman of the Prime Minister Howards's Liberal Party, Tony
> Staley
> is now the New Chairman of au. Domain Administration Corporation
> Limited.
> 
> Asked to ratify Mr Staley's appointment as a Director, the thirty
> Company
> Members attending Tuesday's amicable AGM in Melbourne all laughed when
> the
> proxies were read out-- 28 for, none against-- and Mr Staley commented:
> "What a joke!" in a jovial tone. The Members present, having duly
> laughed as
> expected, then voted unanimously by raising their right hand to ratify
> Mr
> Staley's appointment.
> 
> The joke got even better at the first meeting of the new Board of
> Directors
> the following day, Wednesday 6 December, when all agreed to make Mr
> Staley
> the new Chairman of the Board. Technically, Mr Staley is sharing
> chairmanship duties with previous Chairman Greg Watson under a
> co-chairing
> deal worked out before the meeting. Uh-uh.
> 
> To really get the joke, you have to know that the Company Constitution
> allows the elected Board Members to appoint two other Directors. And
> that
> the Board two months ago (September 2000) duly chose to appoint Tony
> Staley
> and Greg Sword. 
> 
> Both Mr Watson and the AGM Notice described these Staley and Grew in
> hilariously deadpan style as "independent". Upon a query from the only
> longhaired male at the AGM as to how they could be described as
> independent,
> Mr Watson replied that they were "independent of the domain name
> system".
> 
> So, there you have it. A non-elected director is now a new Chairman of
> the
> Company. And this bravura display of political engineering is just the
> beginning. Mr Staley has just twelve weeks before Prime Minister Howard
> welcomes ICANN to Australia. Internet heavies from around the world
> will
> gather at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre for a week of meetings and
> deals
> from March 10 next year. The Prime Minister would be delighted to show
> the
> world that the .au domain is of world standard and conduct a ceremony.
> 
> Two problems.
> 
> One, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is examining
> the
> Notification alleging ICANN/auDA breaches of Australia's Trade
> Practices
> Act. This Notification was made immediately following the ICANN meeting
> in
> its home state of California in early November 2000. The ACCC is still
> formulating its preliminary response. The new Board at auDA Ltd
> recieved
> formal notice of the Notification at its first meeting on Wednesday in
> South
> Melbourne. Most requested documents are now available on the web
> at the Internet Law & Regulation forum under New > Jurisdiction at
> http://internetlaw.pf.com/subscribers/html/ILRForum.asp
> 
> Two, the Howard Government does not actually have the legal authority
> over
> much of the .au domain. Say what?
> 
> In his Chair's Report to the AGM on Tuesday, Mr Watson summarised key
> achievments and ongoing activities for the period. On the key topic of
> "Authority", Mr Watson said: "Authority is something I've been working
> very
> hard to establish auDA as a credible alternative for managing domain
> names
> in Australia...We have presented our report to the Government and the
> indications are that we will be receiving Government endorsement in the
> next
> few weeks... We're working closely with Robert Elz. Ultimately we have
> to
> have the delegation transferred, it has to be done by ICANN. Ideally
> Robert
> has to approve and we're working very hard to meet his comfort level
> and his
> requirements. We believe a good understanding has been established."
> 
> Mr Watson noted that "finalising the .au delegation and satisfying
> Robert
> that we are the right organisation to take over that role" was an
> ongoing
> activity.
> 
> There were more non-suprises at the AGM when impoverished professor
> Peter
> Gerrand was quick to second the motions in support of Staley and Crew.
> Gerrand, recently retired from Melbourne IT, was also allowed to
> interrupt
> Chairman Watson to correct him and Mr Watson then stated that he agreed
> with
> him that Australia was a member of several ICANN boards and
> international
> telecommunications committees.
> 
> The decisions made by 60 AGM voters (overwhelmingly white and male and
> corporate types) have significant impact on all internet users in
> Australia.
> 
> Whether auDA Ltd is a corporation and thus possibly subject to the
> Trade
> Practices Act, or whether it is a government body and thus possibly
> subject
> to Administrative Law are questions the ACCC must be currently
> considering.
> 
> The ACCC might also pick up on the fact that new Chairman Staley would
> certainly boost the confidence of two powerful stakeholders in this
> area--
> the Howard Government and certain Big Corporate Players like Melbourne
> IT.
> 
> Just like the worldfamous Melbourne Cup horse race each November, some
> locals punters are backing auDA Ltd to win the Australian domain name
> race
> whilst other insiders point to Mr Elz, the current ICANN delegate of
> the ..au
> space, and the ACCC response as wildcards which even the legendary
> backroom
> skills of Liberal Party fixer, Tony Staley, can not hobble.
> 
> Mr Staley was off to a flying start at the first board meeting-- out
> went
> formal voting on motions, in came "consensus". Sounds great, but what's
> it
> mean? Well, for one thing, as boardroom veteran Staley knows, it limits
> the
> scope for legal challenges to voting and motions-- because there aren't
> any
> in a formal challengeable sense. And, for another thing, the ICANN
> attempt
> to co-opt the term "consensus" is seen by most participants as bogus or
> "faux-consensus". The problems with the ICANN use and misuse of
> consensus
> style decision making is the subject of a serious indepth study just
> published in the Duke Law Journal (see extract below) and noted in  the
> industry must-read icb mailout (see 12/5/00 ICBTollFreeNews.Com HEADS
> UP
> HEADLINES).
> 
> China's sameday media statement asserting China's sovereignty over
> language
> and domain names for Chinese citizens was not discussed publicly at
> auDA Ltd
> this week. 
> (see China Claims Its Own Domain, Reuters 8:15 a.m. Dec. 4, 2000 PST
> http://www.wirednews.com/news/politics/0,1283,40506,00.html
> "HONG KONG -- A dispute between the United States and China over the
> control
> of Chinese-scripted Internet addresses deepened on Monday as China
> reiterated its claim over all Chinese language Internet domain
> names...")
> 
> Nor were the relevant and notorious statements in official US court
> testimony by ICANN counsel and Vice-President Louis Touton :
>  
> -- "Although one of those factors is the wishes of the government of
> the
> country involved, no foreign government �owns� its ccTLD or can order
> ICANN
> or the Department of Commerce to take any actions with respect to a
> ccTLD.."
> (paragraph 19) 
> 
> -- "As stated above, no country �owns� a ccTLD or has the rights to
> order
> ICANN or the Department of Commerce to change the manner in which a
> ccTLD is
> operated." (paragraph 20)
> 
> -- source:  US District Court, ES v ICANN, No. 4:00CV1785-DJS,
> Declaration of Louis Touton, 11 November 2000, as reproduced at
> http://www.geocities.com/gooda14/icann/Touton.htm
> 
> Touton and ICANN are currently considering a French request to clarify
> how
> ICANN, a form of company not recognised in French law, would respond to
> the
> possible use by US courts of French law to break the ICANN contract
> with the
> French AFNIC. Looks like a busy Christmas season for Louis.
> 
> And of course no mention at the auDA AGM of AURSC or ORSC or the
> unconnected
> or the undomained.
> 
> *****************************************
> CONSENSUS reference:
> 
> 
> ���Cited: 50 Duke L. J. 187
> [*pg 187] 
> 
> ICANN AND THE PROBLEM OF LEGITIMACY
> 
> JONATHAN WEINBERG�
> 
> ABSTRACT 
> INTRODUCTION 
> I. HOW WE GOT HERE 
> ���A.    Early History of the Internet
> ���B.    Internet Addressing
> ���C.    The Transition
> ���D.    ICANN 
> II. THE PROBLEM OF LEGITIMACY
> III. LEGITIMACY AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
> IV. LEGITIMIZING ICANN
> ���A.    The Techniques of Administrative Law
> ���B.    The Techniques of Representation
> ���C.    The Techniques of Consensus
> 
> ���Cited: 50 Duke L. J. 187
> [*pg 187] 
> 
> ICANN AND THE PROBLEM OF LEGITIMACY
> 
> JONATHAN WEINBERG�
> 
> ABSTRACT 
> INTRODUCTION 
> I. HOW WE GOT HERE 
> ���A.    Early History of the Internet
> ���B.    Internet Addressing
> ���C.    The Transition
> ���D.    ICANN 
> II. THE PROBLEM OF LEGITIMACY
> III. LEGITIMACY AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
> IV. LEGITIMIZING ICANN
> ���A.    The Techniques of Administrative Law
> ���B.    The Techniques of Representation
> ���C.    The Techniques of Consensus
> 
> ********************************************
> DOCUMENT THIRTY-NINE TPA-ICANN/auDA: .au DOMAIN NEW CHAIRMAN "WHAT A
> JOKE!",
> report on auDA Ltd Annual General Meeting and new Board first meeting,
> Tuesday 5 December 2000 and Wednesday 6 December 2000, published 1.40am
> UTC
> Thursday 7 December 2000
> Author: Len Lindon, Barrister & Human Rights Defender.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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