ISP code slow to develop

InternetNZ’s code of practice (COP) for ISPs is proving a much tougher job than anticipated.

InternetNZ’s code of practice (COP) for ISPs is proving a much tougher job than anticipated.

The society has not even managed to appoint a person to co-ordinate the work towards the code yet, and is unlikely to do so before late April, executive director Peter Macaulay says.

A number of crucial decisions still need to be made, such as whether formulation of the code will involve just ISPs or the broader community, and whether ISPs will be actively involved in the drafting of the code from the beginning. The alternative will be to draft the code and present it to ISPs for sign-up or criticism and amendment.

“Then there’s the question of who will own it,” says Macaulay. “It’s a fairly fraught process, and will be the biggest piece of work we’ve done since SRS [the Shared Registry System for domain names.].”

A sum of $100,000 has been set aside in the InternetNZ budget for the COP project and that cost may be exceeded.

“When you take into account the amount of volunteer labour that will contribute to it, it’s probably the equivalent of a half-million-dollar project.”

Some of the major ISPs are still diffident about the need for a code, though Macaulay sees the largest, Xtra, as having come round from an opposed to a neutral position.

“We certainly have to have all the leading ISPs involved,” he says. Without them, there’s be no point in doing it.”