Another week has gone by in a whirl! Here are a few snippets from the domain industry.
RIP – Lonnie Borck
Yesterday, I read the very sad news that Lonnie Borck had suddenly passed away due to a massive heart attack. He was only 47 years young. Sincere condolences to his wife and 5 children.
Amongst many other things, Lonnie was a domain industry identity in the USA. Rather than me try and describe his achievements, this excellent tribute from Ron Jackson of DNJournal says it so eloquently.
I had the pleasure of being introduced to Lonnie at NamesCon in Las Vegas in January this year. He was the sort of bloke that you like instantly – friendly, charming, modest and polite.
This sudden and tragic passing is a reminder to all of us to make the most of every day we have on this earth.
auDA News
- Jo Lim departs – read the official announcement from the CEO Cameron Boardman. I was really saddened to see Jo leave her position as “Chief Operations and Policy Officer”. She was just one of the nicest people you come across in business. One of her best attributes was that she was always willing to listen and engage – even with “Domainers”. 🙂 I wish her well in her future career.
- The AGM has been announced for the 28th November 2016. This means that it is election time! Four Director’s positions are up for grabs – though the incumbents would have to be the favourites at this stage (presuming they are all standing for re-election). I will be doing a comprehensive article on this soon.
- The new CEO has certainly begun to improve communications with auDA members. This is the announcement sent to all members on the 20th October. This is very much welcomed. But as I said to an auDA Director last week, “one swallow does not a summer make” – let’s hope this is just the start. Here is an encouraging excerpt from Cameron’s message:
“As I announced at the auIGF, auDA must engage with its membership and stakeholders even more effectively. It is my intention to ensure that auDA meets its members and stakeholder expectations by improving upon its communication and service delivery, in a responsive and professional manner. I am therefore pleased to confirm that from Monday the 24th of October, auDA will commence an extensive membership consultation to evaluate our existing services along with obtaining views on current policy, and to identify areas where we need to improve”.
Extortion Threat
Just a follow up to last week’s snippets on this subject. As you will see, the person threatened that he was also going to place complaints on 5400 domains of mine! Within 12 hours of me publishing his threats, I received this email from him (I’ve x’d his name):
“Hi Ned,
My apologies, your domains are compliant on further exploration.
xxxxxxx”
I have also not received a complaint from auDA – nor do I expect one given that the domains are compliant with policy.
The moral of the story here is that it is important to stand up to cyber threats, scammers and bullies.
Ned O’Meara – 24th October 2016
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