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Vote for who should run the UK's Internet

Nominet board elections underway

Two spaces on the board of the UK's Internet registry are up for grabs - and three horses are in the running. Every year, two of Nominet's four non-executives on the six-person board are put up for election.

The ballot papers have just gone out to all members and the deadline for returning them is the first day of its annual general meeting - Wednesday 7 July.

But considering it is an influential and important position, there are depressingly few candidates. The two current non-exec directors have put themselves up for re-election and Gordon Dick - a Nominet regular - has put himself forward arguing that it is important the election provide members with a choice.

All three are capable and knowledgeable, and you can read their election statements here.

Gordon Dick was on Nominet's Policy Advisory Board for two years, but didn't stand for re-election last year because of personal commitments. He reckons Nominet could do with some fresh blood at the top. His homesite is at www.gordon.me.uk.

Stephen Dyer has been on the Nominet board (or Council of Management) for four years and before that was on the Policy Advisory Board. He founded CentralNic and has a fair bit to do with European Net body RIPE, as well as the new .eu domain. He lists his homesite as being at www.stephendyer.me.uk, but it was only bought at the start fo the month and there is nothing up there at the moment.

Fay Howard has been on the board for two years. She was previously head of European ccTLD body Centr (formerly part of RIPE), and is advising EURid on how to implement the .eu domain. She doesn't list a home domain.

So there's your choice. Every Nominet member is entitled to vote and the vote is weighted according to the number of domains a voter has registered/renewed that year.

All are capable. But do you go for the tried and tested directors who know how it works and are recognised, or do you pull in fresh blood in the shape of Gordon Dick, who says that his appointment would "ensure that complacency and arrogance does not have a chance to set in"?

Either way, the most important aspect is participation. Not only will your vote (if you are a member) decide two of the six people that decide Nominet official policy, but there are a range of consultations currently open for responses that will have a strong effect on the how the UK Internet space is run.

One consultation is on new dispute resolution rules and ends on 19 July. Another concerns Nominet's terms and conditions for registering domain names - that ends on 4 August. And a third regards changes to the .me.uk domain - that ends 23 August.

Nominet's AGM will be on 7-8 July at the Sheraton Hotel opposite Heathrow airport. ®

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