Members Are Grumpy auDA!

Many members have had enough of what's been happening at auDA in recent times.

So today marks the start of a fightback - and we're doing so using S249 of the Corporations Act. Rather than say everything twice, please have a look at Grumpy.com.au. (It is still a work in progress - but the main thing is that if you're an auDA member, you can sign the petition if you want to.)

Big thanks to @Scott.L and @Lemon for all your help in getting this done. Really appreciated guys.

Thanks to all the auDA Members (many of whom are DNT members) who signed the petition on the quiet. Not one word got out which is fantastic - as loose lips sink ships! We had Grumpy as a password protected site to do this.

The biggest thanks of all goes to my son Luke who literally spent many hours getting this site up and running with all the bells and whistles. Thanks Luke - great job.

I urge every auDA member to get behind this online petition. Let's make this a true membership organisation once again - and make sure that the Constitution is adhered to.

Cheers, Ned

Apology and explanation to @findtim

Tim, I didn't tell you about this for obvious reasons. I did not want to compromise you in any way, so we kept you out of the loop. Once auDA found out this was in play, they would probably castigate you (again) for not keeping them informed.

So you can, with your hand on your heart, say you knew absolutely nothing. And I am willing to sign a Statutory Declaration to that effect!

How may signed up Ned and how many does it require to call the meeting?

snoopy said:

How may signed up Ned and how many does it require to call the meeting?

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Good question Paul. Will be shortly posting online the letter sent to Cameron Boardman which outlines the numbers.

But in essence, we needed 5% of members to sign to get the process underway. As per the current membership list, there are 293 members in total. 5% = 15 members. We had a comfortable buffer because we sent in 26 individual member requests. And that will grow now that we are out in the public domain.

neddy said:

Big thanks to @Scott7 and @Lemon for all your help in getting this done. Really appreciated guys.

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Sorry - I always get the two Scott usernames mixed up because they both have the initials "SL"! Dementia! I meant @Scott.L !!

This letter along with attachments was sent to Cameron Boardman by email earlier this afternoon. A separate letter was also sent to Di Parker (Company Secretary).

neddy said:

Many members have had enough of what's been happening at auDA in recent times.

So today marks the start of a fightback - and we're doing so using S249 of the Corporations Act. Rather than say everything twice, please have a look at Grumpy.com.au. (It is still a work in progress - but the main thing is that if you're an auDA member, you can sign the petition if you want to.)

Big thanks to @Scott7 and @Lemon for all your help in getting this done. Really appreciated guys.

Thanks to all the auDA Members (many of whom are DNT members) who signed the petition on the quiet. Not one word got out which is fantastic - as loose lips sink ships! We had Grumpy as a password protected site to do this.

The biggest thanks of all goes to my son Luke who literally spent many hours getting this site up and running with all the bells and whistles. Thanks Luke - great job.

I urge every auDA member to get behind this online petition. Let's make this a true membership organisation once again - and make sure that the Constitution is adhered to.

Cheers, Ned

Click to expand...

That is a good start!
http://www.grumpy.com.au/petition/
auDA: Call for Member Meeting
Call for General Meeting
We request that the Directors of the .au Domain Administration Ltd ACN 079 009 340 (auDA) call a general meeting of all Members to be convened pursuant to Section 249D of the Corporations Act 2001. We note that Directors must call the meeting within 21 days of this notice, and that the meeting must take place within 2 months from the date of receipt of this request.

We have the support of at least 5% of members; whose signatures are included in electronic format, as per the Corporations Act 2001 and auDA Constitution.

We also give you notice of our intentions to move the following resolutions at that meeting.

Members will be asked to consider and, if thought fit, to pass the following resolutions as ordinary resolutions:

Resolution 1

“That all historical Board Minutes, Agendas and Reports (public versions) are restored to the auDA website; and that future Board Minutes, Agendas and Reports (public versions) are published in a timely manner.”

Resolution 2

“That the recently imposed Members Code of Conduct is in contravention of (13.3) and (29) of the auDA Constitution, and therefore needs to be suspended until approved by a special resolution of Members.”

Resolution 3

“That auDA is not a wholesale registry as defined by its OBJECTS and Principal Purposes under (3) of the auDA Constitution. If auDA wishes to change its purposes, objects or scope, then it must first put a special resolution to its Members by virtue of (16.3.d) of the Constitution.”

Resolution 4

“That Stuart Benjamin be removed as a director of the Company with immediate effect.”

• No further business will be included at this meeting.

Thanks for signing!

The list of possible Resolutions needed is endless... This is a great start Ned. Well done... auDA and the board did nothing to improve things.. things actually went backwards!

When do we find out how much the auDA Chair is being paid and how much the old Chair was paid? auDA's CEO has not provided the information even after repeated email requests and acknowledging them.
https://www.dntrade.com.au/threads/...st-your-suggestions-for-auda-and-board.11047/

Have a voice.
Make a change.
Go to Grumpy.com.au
This is an important issue

If anyone read my post on Domainer yesterday morning (Don't Shoot The Messenger), they would have perhaps figured something might be happening! This was my last sentence:

"auDA, if you properly and constructively engage with your members, then you wouldn’t face this angst and impending rebellion."

Grumpy.com.au will be updated on a regular basis. This has already started with the "Background", and "Updates".

Thanks for reading and participating!

Cheers, Ned

Good article in my feed from SmartCompany this morning! Senior Journalist Emma Koehn writes:

It is disagreeable for the CEO and directors to change the nature of auDA as “Promoter”, “Administrator” and “Policy maker” to include the provision of “Wholesale Registry Operator” without supply and demand engagement leading to a special resolution of members.

Supply side should be asking themselves, “what does this mean to my business when auDA become both Regulator and Wholesale Registry Operator, the idea of separation was to introduce enhanced security and competitive price performance and for auDA to oversee this commercial aspect as the regulatory body.

Is it not in the interest of the supply side to ensure a clear separation between auDA's regulatory responsibility and its proposed wholesale commercial operations. How will this be debated if the supply side is shut out from engagement on the subject.

Supply, you have a say in the matter?

grumpy.com.au

.

Scott.L said:

It is disagreeable for the CEO and directors to change the nature of auDA as “Promoter”, “Administrator” and “Policy maker” to include the provision of “Wholesale Registry Operator” without supply and demand engagement leading to a special resolution of members.

Supply side should be asking themselves, “what does this mean to my business when auDA become both Regulator and Wholesale Registry Operator, the idea of separation was to introduce enhanced security and competitive price performance and for auDA to oversee this commercial aspect as the regulatory body.

Is it not in the interest of the supply side to ensure a clear separation between auDA's regulatory responsibility and its proposed wholesale commercial operations. How will this be debated if the supply side is shut out from engagement on the subject.

Supply, you have a say in the matter?

grumpy.com.au

.

Click to expand...

The wholesale registry and administration model is successful in some other markets but what people need to see from auDA and the auDA Board is proper processes, more engagement, more true facts and figures, more proper tendering etc.

IF auDA can do the job, improve security and also reduce wholesale pricing then I do support this IF proper process are followed and all people are kept more properly involved and informed. The fact is these proper processes have not occurred even though many of us had been promised improvements in key areas.

1. The Australian wholesale registry should not be run by a 100% owned foreign company with massive profits going offshore. This had to stop. Hundreds of Millions where made by the wholesale registry provider. What was the benefit for Supply Registars, resellers and paying domain name registrants?
2. The contracted wholesale registry provider should not have been on the auDA Board and left with such a powerful position for so many years. The conflicts of interest are obvious.
3. The 2008 or 2009 contract renewal required Ausregistry to offer further lowering of wholesale .au pricing for Supply Registrars and Resellers but they did not keep this contract commitment and auDA and the auDA Board Failed to enforce it... This shows a lack of proper auDA and Board management which also had to stop along with many other reasons.
4. If auDA can run the administration and wholesale registry with a wholesale price of $4 a year this will offer an improvement for Supply Registrars, Resellers and Domain name registrants.But auDA jas not come clean on their pricing model.

With $12 million in the bank in profits already auDA has a lot to answer for.

auDA's refusal to disclose the new Chair's remuneration also raises serious questions. It nearly every other country extension the administration publishes this information online along with proper director disclosures.

auDA also refuses to publish proper Jobs, Tenders etc. Most other administration bodies all do this
Hong Kong Tenders https://www.hkirc.hk/content.jsp?id=75
Hong Kong Jobs https://www.hkirc.hk/content.jsp?id=75#!/76
Hong Kong Meetings https://www.hkirc.hk/content.jsp?id...t/eng/hkirc/Board&CommitteesMeeting16-17.html
Meetings
Board Meeting

• Executive Summary of HKIRC and HKDNR Board Meeting on 19 Jan 2017
• Executive Summary of HKIRC and HKDNR Board Meeting on 15 Dec 2016
• Executive Summary of HKIRC and HKDNR Board Meeting on 15 Sep 2016
• Executive Summary of HKIRC and HKDNR Board Meeting on 07 Jul 2016

Audit Committee Meeting

• Executive Summary of Audit Committee Meeting on 26 Oct 2016
• Executive Summary of Audit Committee Meeting on 27 Jul 2016

Executive Committee Meeting

• Executive Summary of Executive Committee Meeting on 23 Feb 2017
• Executive Summary of Executive Committee Meeting on 03 Nov 2016

HK Board Disclosures
https://www.hkirc.hk/content.jsp?id=75#!/51HKIRC Board of Directors

To ensure the Board has representation of the interests and needs of different sectors of the community, members of the Board of Directors are elected annually. The Board of Directors comprises of 2 Directors elected by members of the Demand Class, 2 Directors elected by members of the Supply Class, and four Directors appointed by the HKSAR Government. Below is the list of members of the Board of Directors of HKIRC for Year 2017-2018:

Classes

Board of Directors

Profiles

Declaration of Interests
Demand Class
‧ Prof. HUANG Erwin (Deputy Chairman)
‧ Miss Ping WONG

Supply Class
‧ Mr PANG Tsz Kin, Gabriel
‧ Mr. YIP Yuk Fai, Lento

Appointed by the
HKSAR Government
‧ Mr. Simon CHAN Sai Ming (Chairman)
‧ Prof. CHIN Yuk Lun, Francis
‧ Mr. Stephen HO Wai Chung
‧ Mr. KAN Kin Leung, Leo (Deputy Chairman)


Directors' Meeting Attendance
2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

HKIRC Committees

A number of Committees were formed by the Board of Directors. These Committees oversee the different aspects of the management of the Company, and in particular to strengthen the corporate governance. They are:

Audit Committee ( Terms of Reference )
Chairman:
Mr. Stephen HO Wai Chung
Members:
Prof. CHIN Yuk Lun, Francis
Mr. KAN Kin Leung, Leo

Executive Committee ( Terms of Reference )



Chairman:


Mr. Simon CHAN Sai Ming


Members:

Prof. HUANG Erwin
Mr. KAN Kin Leung, Leo
Miss Ping WONG

Standing Orders for HKIRC Board and Committees
Please click here to view the Standing Orders

Let's all remember the formula

impact = quality of post ÷ length

The longer a post is the less notice people will take.

DomainNames said:

The wholesale registry and administration model is successful in some other markets but what people need to see from auDA and the auDA Board is proper processes, more engagement, more true facts and figures, more proper tendering etc.

IF auDA can do the job, improve security and also reduce wholesale pricing then I do support this IF proper process are followed and all people are kept more properly involved and informed. The fact is these proper processes have not occurred even though many of us had been promised improvements in key areas.

Click to expand...

Successful or not; the fact is neither the supply or demand sides had a say.

I'd like to sign, but have not been confirmed as a member yet. I applied (&paid) mid May, has there been a board meeting since then? I've not heard anything, nor can I see myself on the list.

From the AUDA website:
Please Note: Cut-off for receipt of application and payment for submission to next scheduled Board meeting is 7 calendar days prior. Applications and payments received after the cut-off date will be submitted to the following scheduled Board meeting.

snoopy said:

Let's all remember the formula

impact = quality of post ÷ length

The longer a post is the less notice people will take.

Click to expand...

If some people don't read it that's their choice. I doubt few here, at auDA or on the Board would know the HK example facts until it was posted.

The point of the post is to clearly show other bodies post ALL crucial information online.

By showing just a URL people rarely click the link and as links move or are deleted the information is no longer readable.

This is why a lot of auDA links with content also had been cut and pasted.. Those auDA links now do not even work so they would be useless from many board members posts.

The content is also picked up in google if it is posted on the forum. Often just showing a url is useless

ttfan said:

I'd like to sign, but have not been confirmed as a member yet. I applied (&paid) mid May, has there been a board meeting since then? I've not heard anything, nor can I see myself on the list.

From the AUDA website:
Please Note: Cut-off for receipt of application and payment for submission to next scheduled Board meeting is 7 calendar days prior. Applications and payments received after the cut-off date will be submitted to the following scheduled Board meeting.

Click to expand...

The next Board meeting is apparently Monday 18th June.
Phone auDA Monday morning early to check on your membership status

ttfan said:

I'd like to sign, but have not been confirmed as a member yet. I applied (&paid) mid May, has there been a board meeting since then? I've not heard anything, nor can I see myself on the list.

Click to expand...

@ttfan - your application should be approved Monday, and you'll probably be informed by no later than Wednesday.

There is good news and bad news with that! The good news is that once you are approved as a member, you can sign the online petition. And we would appreciate you doing so! The bad news is that if our General Meeting is held within the next 2 months (as is supposed to happen), then you won't be able to vote because of the 3 month rule in the Constitution.

DomainNames said:

If some people don't read it that's their choice. I doubt few here, at auDA or on the Board would know the HK example facts until it was posted.

Click to expand...

@DomainNames - we all know and respect your passion. Along the journey, you have uncovered many fantastic and relevant details to aid the cause - and I for one am very grateful for that.

However, you can be the most brilliant person in the room, but still lose your audience because of your method of delivery of the message. Long repetitive posts with screeds of cut and paste tend to make readers eyes glaze over (and ultimately ignore the message altogether). The acronym "TLDNR" applies - "too long, did not read".

It's a balancing act!