The chief executive officer of au Domain Administration (auDA), the
not-for-profit industry body which has been delegated control over Internet
domain names under the .au domain, has resigned after less than six months
in the job.
Joseph O’Reilly resigned over the weekend, having been appointed early this
year after a long search by the industry body over a period of many months.
Tony Hill, executive director of the Internet Society of Australia
(ISOC-AU), said the lack of support for auDA from the Australian Government
raised the questions of whether it was serious about development of
e-commerce. Hill also called on the government to contribute AUS$5
million (US$3.1 million) in seed funding for auDA.
“The resignation of Joseph O’Reilly as CEO of auDA is a severe setback for
development of the Internet in Australia, but understandable in the context
of such a shortage of resources,” he said.
“A consequence of this setback will be that Australia misses key e-commerce
opportunities and is left at the mercy of large overseas Internet companies.”
Hill said the Federal Government’s attitude towards auDA was in contrast
to its energy in the related areas telecommunications and content regulation.
“In the Internet area there seems to be a DIY approach,” he said. “The
government has failed to provide funding for domain name administration or
auDA, despite being able to produce $5 million in funding to establish
Internet censorship and the body NetWatch.”