The Domain Name Commission and the Department of Internal Affairs have agreed to co-operate to combat behaviours that would threaten a safe, secure and trusted .nz online environment.
A Memorandum of Understanding between the two organisations provides for information such as domain name registration, electronic messaging compliance and online restricted publications to be shared.
InternetNZ (parent organisation of the Domain Name Commission) says this will help to prevent negative impacts for online New Zealand.
Department of Internal Affairs’ digital safety director Jolene Armadoros said the DNC’s knowledge and expertise of the .nz environment would be critical to helping the DIA keep New Zealanders safe online.
"Working closely with the DNC helps us identify, disrupt and remove harmful content that targets New Zealanders or abuses our trusted online environment," she said.
Both organisations say the MoU will "result in significant achievements over the next few years in the sphere of trust and confidence and good compliance approaches."
The MoU provides for co-operation on
- Referring complaints to the other agency where appropriate;
- Use of technical expertise from each agency;
- Voluntary capacity building between each agency;
- Sharing of best practices and international benchmarking practices;
- The exchange of intelligence relating to .nz domain name enquiries and messaging compliance complaints gathered as a result of enforcement activities;
- Co-operation to raise awareness and educate consumers about safety and security issues that may arise in the .nz domain name space;
Facilitating research and education related to compliance techniques and any necessary investigative assistance;
- Communicating and sharing information and know-how to enable the effective monitoring of overall or system problems (including scams, phishing, fraud and malware), issues or trends in the .nz domain name space;
- Stimulating discussion on learning of new approaches and good practices;
- Stimulate discussions on complaint handling processes and promote enforcement of the processes.
Domain name abuse forum this week
The Domain Name Commission, and InternetNZ, are convening a free one day Domain Name Abuse Forum in Wellington on 27 November to facilitate discussions with various organisations and identify issues surrounding domain name safety and security. Registration details here.
Read more: Domain Name Commission clamps down on dodgy .nz domain names
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