CIRA Board of Directors – Support Zak Muscovitch

Post updated – see updates in bold.

If you are a dot ca domain holder, you may be aware that the elections for the CIRA Board of Directors are underway.

Many of you know Zak Muscovitch, a domain name lawyer, whom we previously interviewed about Canadian domain laws.  Zak is seeking a seat on CIRA’s Board of Directors.  Given his background as a domain name lawyer who has successfully represented domain holders at CDRP cases and in court, I believe that Zak is eminently qualified for this position.  I also believe that he understands the concerns of domainers.

I am supporting Zak and am asking you to show support and vote for Zak as well.

To vote in the election, you must be a CIRA member.  However, just because you own a dot ca domain does not mean that you are a CIRA member.  From what I have seen, most .ca domain owners are NOT CIRA members.  You must separately apply to become a CIRA member at:

https://member.cira.ca/en/member.html

The process for becoming a member is very frustrating to say the least.  My application was sent in about two weeks ago.  Emails to CIRA about this were never replied to (e.g. CIRA confirmation number BEH-100818-023520).  On phoning CIRA about my application, I was informed that they could not find it.  The person I spoke with refused to provide his name.  I have heard similar stories from other domain owners.  Update:  this issue has now been resolved.  Thanks to CIRA for dealing with this.  I should add that I have been dealing with CIRA for years, and never had an issue before this.

So, please apply for your membership right away, and be sure to obtain proof of posting or screenshots if you submit online.  The process takes less than 5 minutes.

My understanding is that corporations are entitled to membership, so if any of your corporations own dot ca domains, they too can apply for membership.  Update:  CIRA has advised me that the rule is one person, one vote.  So, if you own a corporation, only you or the corporation can be a member.

If you spouse or significant other owns a dot ca domain, they can also apply for membership.  If they don’t own a dot ca domain, then you should ask yourself, why not?

It is important that membership be applied for by August 30 at the latest – that’s just one week away!

To be included on the Final Members’ Slate, Member Nominees must receive the support of at least 20 CIRA Members. Members will be able to Show Support at https://elections.cira.ca/2010/en/support.html from August 26, 2010 at noon (ET) until 6:00 p.m. (ET) on September 9, 2010. Voting will take place between September 22 and 29, 2010. Results will be posted on CIRA’s web site on October 6, 2010. Voting can be done online or at the CIRA Annual General Meeting.