Don is welcome to stand as a member of the Board as is anyone who meets the
relevant criteria (snip).

Thank you Patrick, and also thanks to the others who have made this point.
However I would rather we moved on from this, as it is not an issue of
eligibility - it is one of commitment and desire.

Whilst I view an auDA Directorship as a position of incumbent
responsibilities and accountability to the broader Internet community, I
happen to now believe, (rightly or wrongly), that as an individual I can do
more for the Australian Internet community, particularly those Australians
who are only just starting to really access this medium (rural Australians),
and are still very much in the 'starry-eyed' phase of awe and wonder at the
possibilities, by focusing my energies in other areas.

Please remember, that to more than a million Australians the most
significant event of the past 2 years was not the Olympics or the latest
re-release of Windows :) - it was the empowerment given through the
provision of local-call access to the Internet. Rural Australians can now
communicate with their neighbours without paying for an STD telephone call.
They can read the news on commercial news networks. They can communicate
with overseas friends and relatives without blowing the monthly budget.

I have read (on this and other lists) comments by people citing the slow
take-up of e-commerce in the bush... of course it seems slow to urban
Australians, our cities are 10 years ahead in the area of cultural
adaptation through having these services readily available! Rural Internet
users are far more interested in the 'communal' aspects of community than
the commercial, and are only just entering the phase of establishing (and
enjoying) e-communities. At this point in time they need just as much help
and encouragement as we did 10 years ago. What they do not need is expensive
bureaucratic processes impacting on their development or enjoyment of this
brand-new (to them) communications medium.

OK - off the soap-box, and please be assured that I do maintain a great deal
of respect for those involved with auDA, however this is only one very small
piece in a much larger puzzle.

Regards, Don Cameron


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