Winter is almost done and to mark it we celebrated the 10 year anniversary of NSW-IX and partnered with APNIC to run even more events. Hopefully now there are no barriers to RPKI deployment across the country and all routes everywhere will be certified! In the spirit of keeping Members informed we are also planning a member forum on 9 August where we can update everyone on all our network plans and hear any Member’s bouquets or brickbats on how we’re going. Respond using the survey link inside the IAA Member Portal if there is something you want added to the agenda. We’re keen to hear your thoughts. I’ve got several pieces of good news to share too, so please make the time to attend.
Network-wise, it’s mainly been housekeeping projects with route server updates, some rack migrations (RIP BDX8), and of course the great re-numbering of WA-IX. Sadly our long held address space went to another party, and if you want all the gory details, do check out my blog on the topic. A big thank you to all those Members who have already renumbered, and many thanks also to the team. Nick, Matt K and Suzanne did amazing work behind the scenes getting (new fancy!) route servers going, (freshly) integrating our trouble ticketing system to our messaging system and compiling all the (multitude of detailed) items to go out. It’s been a fantastic effort.
On the advocacy front we’ve had countless discussions either with – or about – the NBN SAU. We supported the ACCC’s call for improvements to NBN Co’s commitments to improve the benchmark service standards, and pricing certainty. We remain unconvinced about this process, but as ever live in the hope pricing will improve.
Members also should have received information relating to APNIC’s governance review. While IAA is not in a position to take a stance one way or another on APNIC’s rules, we do however encourage members to review the options and VOTE! Good governance of the Regional Internet Registry is essential to good governance of the Internet, so please act on this one.
What’s coming up in the next few months? Well, we’ll be at NetThing, the CyberOz/Asia Pacific regional IGF, and of course AusNOG. See you all there!
I’m looking forward to seeing you at our upcoming IAA Member Forum, and don’t forget to put all our end of year events into your diaries, too! Check out the rest of the newsletter, I’ve barely scratched the surface of all the things the team have been up to.
Happy peering!
Narelle
Narelle Clark
IAA CEO
Attention Members! Block out your diary in anticipation of your invitation to IAA’s end of year celebrations. Dates and times below:
Sydney – Wednesday, 15 November 2023, 5.30pm-9.00pm (AEDT)
Adelaide – Tuesday, 21 November 2023, 5.30pm-9.00pm (ACDT)
Melbourne – Tuesday, 28 November 2023, 5.30pm-9.00pm (AEDT)
Perth – Thursday, 30 November 2023, 5.30pm-9.00pm (AWST)
Brisbane – Wednesday, 13 December 2023, 5.30pm-9.00pm (AEST)
This month we’ll be hosting the IAA Members Forum to share our latest news and hear your views. It will be a great opportunity for you to ask us questions and provide valuable feedback so that we may serve you better.
Date: Wednesday, 9 August 2023
Time: 12pm AEST | 10am AWST
Venue: Via Zoom
Registration: Via IAA Member Portal
If you haven’t already, be sure to register via the IAA Portal:
Take our Pre-event IAA Member Survey
When you register, to help us shape this event to better meet your needs and expectations, please use the link on the registration page to complete our short survey. It will give you an insight into how you rate our service and a chance for you to put any questions and comments you would like us to address during the IAA Members Forum event.
Thanks for your input. We look forward to seeing you soon!
It’s been another busy couple of months of IAA Convergent Events, both online and in-person. In June, Professor Darryl Veitch delivered an online encore of his popular Melbourne presentation, “Can I trust my clock? Why NTP is a fail.” Darryl examined the Network Time Protocol, just how bad it can be and some new ways forward. If you would like another chance to see this fascinating talk, head to the IAA YouTube channel.
In July the RPKI/ROV Tutorials, in partnership with APNIC Academy, were back. This time we hosted in Canberra and Sydney, giving members the opportunity to receive free training (typically valued at $80), followed by the chance to network at our social events. Thanks to those who were able to join us!
Brisbane Convergent Event
Title: The human behind the hack
Date: Thursday, 12 October 2023
Time: 5.30pm – 9.00pm AEST
Venue: Alice Room, Cloudland, 641 Ann St, Fortitude Valley
For our next event we’re heading to Brisbane. Dr David Lacey, Managing Director of IDCARE will be sharing his cybersecurity expertise with us, with advice on how to keep your data safe in today’s tech dependent society. His presentation will begin at 6.00pm AEST, followed by a social event.
Be sure to register at the IAA Member Portal now. IAA members are welcome to invite guests. Corporate members can register themselves and an additional seven guests, either internal or external to their organisation. Professional members are able to invite one additional guest. All registrations need to be completed via the IAA portal by the inviting member.
There’ll be more IAA Convergent Conferences planned for online and an in-person event coming to Perth soon, so stay tuned!
September’s IAASysters will be heading to the Gold Coast. Our third year will be hosted at the Sea World Conference Centre and is set to be our best yet!
We had a record intake of applications this year. Our selection panel had their work cut out for them finalising the 10 successful IAASysters and were incredibly impressed with the quality of all applicants. We would like to thank all that applied and encourage those who missed out to try again in 2024. If you’ve not heard of our IAASysters program before or just want to know more, be sure to head to the IAA YouTube Channel to check out short video.
To those who were selected, we extend a warm hello and congratulations! We are fortunate to have IAASysters joining us from all across the continent as well as two talented young women joining us from the Solomon Islands via Netcraft.
The sponsored IAASysters will have access to:
- Ticket to attend the IAASysters Workshop (6 September 2023)
- Ticket to the AusNOG Conference (7-8 September 2023)
- Economy airfares to Gold Coast and accommodation
- One-year complimentary Professional Membership to IAA
You may of seen on our socials that since our last newsletter we have locked in three wonderful guest speakers who we know will provide our IAASysters with a wealth of insights, inspiration and industry knowledge to take their careers to the next level. Our guest speakers for 2023 includes, Cheryl Alderman who specialises in leadership, communication and career development and is passionate about empowering women in the workplace. Also on the program this year is Sally Foley-Lewis. Sally’s highly interactive session will help our delegates learn how to present with confidence, manage nerves and respond to questions. Finally we are pleased to announce our third guest speaker is Jill McKay. Supporting working women through advocacy, legal advice and education, Jill will be speaking to our IAASysters on how to navigate the Internet industry. We can’t wait to see the impact these speakers will have on our ‘Future Heroes of the Internet’.
Finally, we can’t host such an amazing three day program without the generous support of our sponsors. Once again we take this opportunity to thank this year’s Sponsors including:
If you would like to support the next generation of women in the Internet industry, it’s not too late to be a part of the IAASysters program. Head over to the IAASysters page on our website to find out how to sponsor!
We were thrilled to celebrate an important milestone with you, this June with the advent of NSW-IX being in operation for 10 years. We celebrated in style with drinks and canapés at the Helm Bar & Bistro, as the sun set over Darling Harbour. It was a great night and we appreciate all of the Members who were able to mark this achievement with us.
ACT-IX, turning 10 in October and IAA will turn 30 next year. It just goes to show how mature we have become as a peering organisation. We look forward to many more years of peering with you.
Things continue to be busy for the policy team. Over the past couple months, we’ve been involved in the NBN Co SAU (Special Access Undertaking) variation process which will hopefully come to a close by the end of the year. NBN Co will be submitting an updated SAU later this month, and hopefully, this iteration will be acceptable.
We had our quarterly Public Policy Advisory Panel (PPAP) meeting to discuss some recent and upcoming regulatory changes, where PPAP members expressed particular concern over the recent calls from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and Telecommunications Industry Authority (TIO) for direct regulation of consumer protections. In case you missed it, the Minister of Communications has since supported this and we will be working with ACMA to develop a Financial Hardship Standard in the months to come.
Our Policy Officer presented at the inaugural Comms Day Policy Forum, and you can read more on that in the next item. Also check out our article on the recently registered Online Safety Code, including our guidance material that we created to assist members in unpacking and implementing compliance requirements.
As always, please get in touch to share any thoughts on any open and previous submissions; we always appreciate your feedback.
Completed Submissions:
NBN Co SAU
There have been several consultations surrounding the NBN Co SAU. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) indicated it would reject the November 2022 iteration. We supported its call for improvements to NBN Co’s commitments to benchmark service standards as well as pricing certainty.
NBN Co has focused specifically on pricing methodologies for lower speed tier services (50 Mbps and under), and is currently reviewing feedback on its “floor and ceiling” approach which would introduce a cap on the overage (fixed to the amount of the 100Mbps service) and baseline while removing aggregate CVC utilisation across bundled services to give a pooled overage calculation. NBN Co maintains this will level the playing field for smaller Retail Service Providers (RSPs) who lack the resources to optimise its customer base to take advantage of CVC pooling.
You can read our response to each of the consultation papers below:
Draft Decision: Variation to the NBN Co Special Access Undertaking (Nov 2022) | ACCC
NBN Co SAU Further Targeted Response | ACCC
NBN Co SAU Modified Floor and Ceiling Proposal | ACCC
Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code | Communications Alliance
Comms Alliance has started the review of the TCP Code, which is currently in the first stage of information gathering. In our response, we emphasised the need for a balanced Code that takes into account the cost of compliance for ISPs while noting industry’s recognition of the importance of protecting consumers.
In response to the ACMA’s Draft Cost Recovery Implementation Statement, we noted the need for greater transparency and information sharing to provide greater assurance and accountability with regards to their provision of services.
IAA’s Policy Officer, Sophia Joo, spoke at the inaugural Comms Day Policy Forum in mid-June, joining representatives from industry, academics, research analysts, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO), and Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) to discuss the future of telecommunications policy in Australia.
Representing the views of IAA and our members, Sophia’s speech addressed the poor engagement between government and industry, as well as other stakeholders with regards to policy making for the telecommunications sector. In the context of the recent Roy Morgan trust rating survey which found that telco is the ‘most distrusted industry’ in the entire Australian economy, Sophia put the case that Australia would benefit from greater public trust in this sector. To achieve this there needs to be improved transparency and communication, humility and a genuinely collaborative attitude, and greater priority given to developing effective and efficient policy.
As the sector continues to see an increasingly complex regulatory landscape, with recent calls for even further direct regulation over the telco industry, IAA firmly stands for a refreshed policy-making approach that prioritises practical and effective solutions that ask and answer “What are we trying to achieve here?”
As of 16 June, the eSafety Commissioner registered five Online Safety Codes, for different sections of the Internet industry, including Internet carriage services.
The Codes, implemented under the Online Safety Act, are designed to improve the safety of the online environment, particularly with regard to content involving child sexual abuse, terrorist acts, extreme violence and other material inappropriate for children.
Schedule 4 – Internet Carriage Services Online Safety Code (Class 1A and Class 1B Material) (Code) applies to retail ISPs that supply internet carriage services to end-users, and introduces new compliance measures for applicable ISPs.
We have created a guidance material that you can find at the IAA Website to assist our members understand the requirements of the Code so that you can implement the necessary changes to ensure you are compliant.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email us!
In June of 2023 the Australian National University (ANU) Tech Policy Design Centre selected a panel of 26 independent subject-matter experts to form a Risk and Resilience Expert Panel (RREP).
Our CEO, Narelle Clark, was chosen among experts from industry, government, civil society and academia to discuss issues and barriers to telecommunications resilience. Short biographies of all panel members are available at techpolicydesign.au.
The RREP will meet regularly to develop evidence that will shape future government policy. The project will unfold over five stages, culminating in our nation’s first sector-wide telecommunications risk and resilience profile.
Discover more about the RREP and the Tech Design Policy Centre at their website.
Since our last newsletter, we’re pleased to announce that our hardworking Tech Team have completed the cleanup of VIC-IX. In our previous newsletter we announced that Phase 1 rack migration at VDC-MEL03 now allows all members on level 3 to access 40/100G ports. You can still get your orders in via the IAA Member Portal.
Since then, we’ve undertaken and completed the final two phases. Phase 2 saw our engineers remove the 14.5RU BDX8 from mel3/NextDC M1, with the assistance of a forklift! During this changeover we managed to avoid bumping any live cables to any of our members.
Phase 3 and the final part of our VIC-IX visit was decommissioning our legacy hardware (Extreme Networks X670-48x) and mass migrating all peers to our more modern x870-32c hardware. We also did what we could without re-cabling the entire rack with shorter cables to avoid cable wastage.
With the VIC-IX complete, our Members can enjoy an even more stable and efficient service, with more port options.
We recently said goodbye to Fatima Dauda who we were fortunate to have with us for almost four years. We’d like to thank Fatima for being such a valuable member of the IAA team and we wish her and her family all the best for the future.
With change comes opportunity and we are excited to announce that Jemma Goddard will be stepping up into the role of Management Accountant. We couldn’t be happier for Jemma.
Finally, filling Jemma’s previous role of Accounts and Administration Assistant, we extend a warm welcome to Felicity Grigo. With over six years of accounts and administration experience working in the hospitality sector, we know Felicity will be a huge asset to the team. Outside of work Felicity is kept busy with her two children and loves an escape to Bali whenever possible. Welcome Felicity!
We’re excited to announce the launch of a Legal Templates section of the Portal. This feature offers our Members access to a suite of legal document templates, along with handy instructional videos to help you get the most out of these templates and confidently navigate the complex field of information technology compliance and how it relates to Australian law.
These documents have been developed by our legal partners Arnotts who are specialists in hi-tech legal agreements, solving of IT disputes, advising on privacy law and intellectual property protection.
You’ll find the link to these templates in the main, left hand navigation menu panel of the IAA Member Portal, under the Member Resource heading on the IAA Member Portal homepage. We know this will be a great resource for our members, so stay tuned for updates.
More to come!
Over the past few months our Development Team has worked behind the scenes on some functionality updates to the Portal and valuable new features for our members. We will soon be launching these new features, so look out for the notifications as they go live!
Most of us who’ve been around the Internet world for a while are familiar with the term ‘Swamp Space’ but for those who aren’t, it refers to those legacy IP addresses that were initially “allocated” under very vague terms back in the Internet dark ages, usually by IANA himself – Jon Postel [1].
Way back in those dark ages, a really interesting and colourful character known as Bill Manning went to IANA and told him how important internet exchange points were, and how it would be a Really Good Idea if they were given some IP addresses. Jon agreed, and I assume wrote the numbers 198.32.0.0 into his notebook with the words ‘Bill Manning’ or ‘Exchange Point Block’ next to them. This sort of process was the norm – informality and trust were the basis of much of the decision-making and rules for how addresses and other Internet resources were allocated. Australia’s own Geoff Huston held a block which he allocated under the name of AUNIC for Australian use.
Over the years, Bill travelled the world working with people to create over 60 IXPs and kept his own private registry of addresses [2], probably run on the same machine under his desk that he ran the B-root on [3]. Being a nice guy, he saw this as something he did to help folks out – he only ever invoiced what he thought people could pay, and did so sporadically. EP.net was happily the registrar for this block of numbers for quite some time or at least until around 2010 when he started to look to other projects.
By this stage, a few things had actually changed in the world of internet governance – IANA the man had become an entity operated by ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and addresses were no longer assigned out of one man’s notebook, but by member organisations, known as Regional Internet Registries: ARIN, APNIC, RIPE, LACNIC and AFRINIC. Over time most of that legacy space was transferred into the relevant RIR; even Geoff handed the AUNIC address space over to APNIC for redelegation and management.
Why am I going down this trip on memory lane? Because such swamp space exists today on our network. Our original WA-IX is numbered with space that appears to have been redelegated to someone else.
I’ve had quite a fun time investigating this. That special type of ‘fun’ you usually have when your fingernails are removed with a pair of pliers… meaning having to read through ancient ARIN records and poke around in various archives… but it also meant catching up with some old friends who knew Bill and Jon quite well. With both Bill and Jon no longer with us, it’s a trifle difficult to find out exactly what happened.
It seems that some years ago, Bill transferred the address space over to another entity that (rumour has it) he controlled. Then in 2017, unbeknownst to us, it was sold to a large hosting player in the US who is now announcing the block to the broader internet. Looking back over our old documentation, it appears we did pay invoices for the space, for a range of amounts, and never had what would look like a rock-solid contract in place. As a result, notwithstanding that we have the high moral ground on this, we potentially can’t control the space and can’t lay a valid legal claim to it, at least not without spending a considerable amount of time and money on lawyers in foreign jurisdictions.
Of course, this means we need to renumber. We are now going through a process of allocating more address space and advising the affected members. It’s an unfortunate exercise we have to go through, but for the stability of the Internet, go through it we must.
On the upside, it does mean we can allocate a decent sized block of IP addresses that should give us enough space into the future to support WA-IX’s continuing growth.
So what do members on WA-IX need to do?
Members on WA-IX need to check their email to see their specific port listing with the affected addresses, and the new assignments.
Simply put, however:
- Only the network part of the address will change, so your new address is changing from 198.32.212.x to 27.106.192.x (where x is your existing host address) with a new subnet mask of 255.255.254.0 (ie /23)
- Simply (if you can) add 27.106.192.x as a secondary to your existing WA-IX port
- Configure peering exactly as you have it today using Route Servers rs1.wa at 27.106.192.1/23 and rs2.wa at 27.106.192.2/23
- Delete the old address after 12pm AEST 3 October 2023
- All Route Servers have automation enabled, so any updates to your peering configuration will be automatically applied to all Route Servers.
Explicit detail including all affected member IP addresses have been sent to the technical contacts of all members on WA-IX. Filters will be applied after 12pm AEST 3 October 2023 to drop the previous address range – at this point we will no longer lay any claim to it for the future, so need to relinquish any use.
References:
[1] History of the Internet
[2] EP.net website from the Wayback Machine
[3] Ghosts of Root Servers Past
We take supporting our Members and the Internet community seriously. As part of this, we are always on the look out for sponsorships and partnerships that provide value for you. It is with pleasure that we announce some of the latest events that we are supporting.
Venue: Optus Stadium, Perth
Date: 22-23 August 2023
The State of Social conference is Australia’s brainiest digital marketing event. IAA is a proud industry partner of this event, bringing our Members a $50 discount off the ticket price.
Get your ticket now by heading to the State of Social webpage and using the discount code IAA50.
https://stateofsocial.com.au/
Venue: Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Date: 28 August 2023 from 8am – 7pm AEST
IAA is a proud sponsor of NetThing2023, Australia’s Internet governance community forum. NetThing aims to provide a diverse and inclusive platform for the exploration of Australian technology policy issues, to mobilise Australians to collaborate on solutions, and to connect Australia to the regional and global Internet governance forums.
NetThing2023 will be held as a one-day hybrid event, in conjunction with the Asia Pacific regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF).
In addition to our sponsorship, our CEO Narelle Clark will be participating in a session to discuss ‘Global Good Practice for the Internet of Things’.
We invite you to join us for a day of engaging speakers, interactive sessions and honest conversations on the issues that impact us all.
Find out more about this event and register to attend here: https://netthing.org.au/
Venue: Sea World Conference Centre, Gold Coast
Date: 7-8 September 2023
We’re setting up our booth and stepping up as a sponsor of AusNOG 2023. It’s shaping up to be another great conference. See you at the Gold Coast!
Find out what’s in store and buy your tickets here:
https://www.ausnog.net/events/ausnog-2023
Venue: UNSW Kensington Campus, Sydney
Date: 15-16 September 2023
Not only are we a supporting partner of this year’s CyberOz event, we’re thrilled to announce that on the 15 September at 1.15pm AEST our CEO, Narelle Clark will be speaking. Don’t miss her presentation on ‘Cybersecurity and IPv6 from an Australian Industry Perspective’. And be sure to stay for the panel discussion at 3.00pm AEST, where IAA Board Chair, Matthew Enger (Leaptel) will be discussing the state of Cybersecurity, IPv6 and IoT.
It promises to be a packed program of insightful presentations on what’s shaping the future of cybersecurity and IPv6. CyberOz aims to foster global collaboration, promote knowledge exchange and awareness, and encourage innovation.
You can find the full two day program and register here:
https://cyberoz.org/
Corporate Members:
TILLERED AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
Tillered is revolutionising the internet performance industry with a primary focus on delivering competitively priced, high-quality internet performance products to small and medium-sized businesses’ corporate clientele. They achieve this through the utilisation of advanced automation technologies.
The Trustee for THE CONNECT TEL TRUST
ConnectTel was founded in the year 2000 to provide Business Phone Systems & Fixed Line Services to Geelong and surrounding areas. From this, ConnectTel has grown into a national provider with a full range of communications services across voice, video and data.
WESFARMERS INDUSTRIAL & SAFETY NZ LTD
Wesfarmers Industrial & Safety NZ (WIS) is a leading supplier of industrial, safety and workwear products, and services to a wide range of customers, including Australia and New Zealand’s largest corporate and government entities, through four main businesses: Blackwoods, NZ Safety Blackwoods, Workwear Group, and Coregas.
GOLD CORPOPATION
Gold Corporation is an Australian company owned by the Government of Western Australia, established by the Gold Corporation Act 1987, with a mandate to operate the Perth Mint, market Australian gold, and other related activities. By becoming a member, their stated primary goal is to foster stronger ties with local Internet service providers, enabling them to peer directly to enhance access to business systems for their customers, partners and staff.
Professional Members:
Shubham Agarwal
Grace Anning
Mike Antrobus
Deepak Baran
Ahm Bazlur Rahman
Neelam Chand
Isabelle Choi
Zarna Desai
Nicola Harrison
Jane Hocking
Adam Hughes
An Issac
Darryan McMullan
Chris Miller
Emma Mondy
Anna Mulingbayan
Rita Natalie Iro
Elyse Peacock
Dipeeta Phaiju
Sahani Ranasinghe
Jasmine Rehal
Maureen Salini
Prateek Singh
Divya Tadi
Rylie Tsang
Jessica Wei
Pearlie Zhang
