Internet domain registration spat continues as former auDA director makes public apology
Former auDA executive director Josh Rowe has been forced to apologise to staff and management of the Australian internet domain authority over allegations of membership stacking within the organisation.
After threats from the auDA’s legal representatives, Rowe took a quarter page advert in the Australian Financial Review with the apology followed by an email retracting the claims he made in June this year.
Ironically proposal for the added domains (so-called “direct registration”) came from the former board. The current board has deferrred any decision on the matter until the second half of next year. What this stoush is about the influence a group called the domainers have traditionally exercised. These are people who buy and sell domain names, often charging high premiums for sought-after domains. The fundamental question here is should auDA operate on behalf of all the owners of domain names and the broader Internet user community, or is it merely there to represent the interests of a small inner circle?
That’s not what the Government report says.