Fairness and Consistency: Several respondents expressed frustration at the complexity of the processes involved in requesting address space, and the difficulty of complying fully with allocation policies. Furthermore, while they generally understand the reasons for APNIC's policies and procedures, APNIC members stress that APNIC must recognise the commercial and practical realities of the their business activities.
As a membership-based organisation, APNIC must ensure that its policies and procedures are applied fairly to all members. This makes it difficult or impossible for APNIC to recognise "special cases" where different policies may be applied with flexibility. With APNIC members under greater competitive pressures, it is more important that fairness is ensured, that procedures are clear and transparent, and that there are procedures for dispute resolution and related activities.
Fee and Membership Structure: The survey report details several comments relating to the need to maintain a fee structure within the reach of the members while maintaining high service levels. There was also discussion of fee-for-service considerations.
For a number of reasons, the growth of APNIC's revenues is slowing down, while at the same time measures being taken to improve services are resulting in increased expenditures. The legacy of the Asian Economic Crisis, and the industry trend towards consolidation and growth by acquisition will continue to threaten the APNIC fee base until a suitable response is made. A proposal to amend the membership categories and fee structures was raised at the Members' Meeting and will be further discussed at EC level before being put to the membership for voting.
In relation to introducing new services on a fee-for-service basis, it is important to investigate the potential impact such an approach may have on APNIC's current taxation status.
APNIC Advisory Structures: The survey report provides considerable detail of discussions relating to a perceived need for an expert steering committee or advisory board.
Certainly an advisory committee and/or working group structure is a potentially very valuable means of maintaining ongoing expert input into technical, industry, and/or operational aspects of APNIC, and the Secretariat would be very happy to work with such a structure. We also recognise the need for, and would be happy to provide, effective support for such a structure, including mechanisms for appointment of members, and a vehicle for effective conduct of its business (such as more frequent and longer member meetings). Member consensus on the structure and its workings, as well as support for the extra costs involved, would both be important early steps in implementing such a structures.
APNIC Promotion and Outreach: Some respondents voiced the need for APNIC to increase its own profile and build a greater community understanding of its role and services.
There are clearly substantial benefits to be gained from more concerted outreach and promotional activities by APNIC. Activities such as newsletter publication, conference attendance, conference hosting, web site development, and related online activities, and other promotional strategies should be considered within a wider promotional plan, considering likely costs and benefits.
It also seems clear that APNIC should expend more effort on the promotion of membership benefits and responsibilities to its own membership, in order to increase participation and interest in APNIC's activities and direction.
Developing Countries: The survey report documents several comments regarding a perceived need for APNIC to play a role in facilitating the penetration and growth of the Internet in developing countries, either by special programs of assistance or differential fee structures.
The region served by APNIC is more diverse in cultural and economic terms than those served by the other registries. The financial burden of APNIC membership is far heavier in developing Asian countries than it is in developed countries, and without some discrimination within our fee structure, some countries will continue to be severely disadvantaged in terms of their participation in APNIC, and their access to APNIC services. APNIC holds a social responsibility to the entire region and will investigate potential strategies for fulfilling this responsibility, such as differentiated pricing. However, the extent to which such strategies can be supported by the APNIC membership is a matter requiring considerable consultation and consensus formation.
Internet Resource Constraints: The survey report notes the common response that APNIC must always ensure effective management of functions relating to the growth in size and complexity of the Internet.
While APNIC emphasises that IPv4 address space will be available for allocation for some years to come, we also expect that IPv4 allocation policies will need to be further adjusted in future, particularly if IPv6 services are not widely deployed. This process will not be simple and will require the support and participation of APNIC members to ensure that their common needs are met.
Decision Making: The survey report details several comments relating to the ways in which policies are developed and decisions made, and better means of ensuring greater participation across the membership.
APNIC is acutely aware of the need to represent the membership as a whole. With a view to increasing participation of the membership at all levels of the process, APNIC is introducing a staged document revision process, allowing comment at all stages. The size of the Executive Council was recently increased to provide a broader representation. Visits to members by senior APNIC staff have also provided valuable opportunities for increased involvement and APNIC will investigate alternative ways of providing direct interaction with members. Several matters relating to voting procedures were also raised in the course of the Members' Meeting and these warrant ongoing consideration.
