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auDA CEO comments to 2GB after 2GB Josh Rowe Interview

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Part 1 http://www.2gb.com/podcast/revolt-at-au-domain-name-administrator/

Part 2 auDA Response https://www.moneyaction.com.au/news/au-administrator-ceo-fights-back/

".au administrator CEO fights back
August 3, 2017 Ross 0 News,
Cameron Broadman, the CEO of auDA, talks to Ross about chairman Stewart Benjamin quitting days before a confidence vote.
Introduction: .au Administrator CEO flights back
Ross Greenwood: Last night on the program, we told you about a situation in the organization that basically is self-regulating and administering the organizations that will sell you the .com.au domain names. Now, quite clearly, this needs to be administered. Been going on like this for some time. We spoke at that time to a former director Josh Rowe, who had called for an investigation into this organization called auDA. auDA, the chair, Stuart Benjamin, had quit last Friday before a no-confidence vote was expected to be handed down for him on Monday this week.

Last night after that program, and we spoke with Josh Rowe, put up on our website and so forth, the Chief Executive of auDA, Cameron Boardman got in touch with me and said he wished he to have a right of reply. I said, “No problems.” He’s online right now. Many thanks for your time, Cameron.

Interview: Cameron Boardman, Chief Executive of auDA
Cameron Boardman: Ross, good evening. Thank you very much for having me.

Ross Greenwood: Okay. In regards to this, did the chair, Stuart Benjamin, step down on Friday ahead of a no-confidence vote in him on Monday this week?

Cameron Boardman: I can’t comment on Mr. Benjamin’s personal decision. He weighed up a number of factors and he’s issued a statement that I believe was in the best interest of the company. He’s made a decision personally based. Taking on board Mr. Benjamin’s concerns in regards to any potential damage this might cause to the company, we decided to initiate and continue with the meeting as planned. It turned out to be a very constructive and a very productive meeting for members on Monday.

Ross Greenwood: Okay. In that case, as you are aware, there are some members who are upset with the way that the organization is now deciding that it will not publish its minutes as it has traditionally in the past. That is one of the principal concerns that they have. Is it going to be a case where the organization is going to be open and accountable or all those minutes remain closed from the broader membership?

Cameron Boardman: No, absolutely not Ross. The members are a very passion and a very committed group. We have to applaud the commitment of our members over many, many years that contributed to robust policy discussion in this space and it really made the organization what it is.

The board has acted very decisively and responsibly in this situation as we’re taking on board members concerned by listening to the feedback. We’ve understood their issues and today, the board has issued a very significant statement that, the past practice of publishing the minutes of the board of auDA will be reinstated, save for the fact that it is the shared understanding of all of the members and the organization itself that any commercial and conference-related matters or particularly security-related matters, of course, will remain confidential.

Ross Greenwood: Okay. The other part of this also is the fact that any member who is seen to have spoken out against auDA will be perhaps deemed to have brought the organization into disrepute. Is it as strong-armed tactics as that, that anybody who simply speaks about this issue, such as say, for example, when we spoke to Josh Rowe last night, that they can be sanctioned by organization?

Cameron Boardman: I really admire Josh’s passion. I met him for the first time on Monday. He is a long-serving member of the organization and a former director, of course. We’ve always encouraged robust and open and frank discussions. That’s how you have a productive policy development process. There’s been never any attempt to a muzzle members to try and temper any discussions or conversations.

We just wanted to ensure that we had some respect in some of the debates that were happening around some of the more contentious policy discussions, but the members again have come back and given the organization some very significant feedback. They want to be consulted on their own code of conduct. It’s a very reasonable request. Equally again, today, the board has made the right call and it’s suspended the code of conduct at this particular point in time. We will form a committee of members so that they can discuss what they want in their own code of conduct and then, of course, reinstate it through an AGM vote process at the appropriate time in November.

Ross Greenwood: Okay. The most important question here Cameron, for people who have a .au domain name, which is just about millions of them around Australia right now, are they robust? Are they safe? Are they in good hands?

Cameron Boardman: It’s been the absolute focus of my leadership at the organization to improve the security and the trust of all the 3.1 plus million .au domains out there. It’s the key candid in my leadership in the reform of the organization to improve that’s the case. I’d like to reassure your listeners and in fact, all Australians, that the integrity, the security and the trust of the .au platform remains absolutely stable and fit the purpose. We are instigating more reforms in the security place, more reforms in the technical place to just improve our services and to ensure that robust integrity remains a key factor to best service delivery.

Ross Greenwood: Cameron Boardman, the chief executive of auDA and we put all of those claims and counterclaims to you to try and work it out, but the most important thing is that your domain name remains robust and secure. That is a fundamental principle of that. Cameron Boardman, we appreciate your time here on the program.

Cameron Boardman: Ross, I appreciate the effort. Thank you very much."​
 

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