Members of the organisation InternetNZ - the .nz domain name registry - will be looking at changing the organisation’s official name. The main reason for this is that they decided that there current title is rather long “The Internet Society of New Zealand” — during a series of meetings this month.

The meetings have been set up to allow members around the country to all consider the proposed name-change.

The organisation now trades under the InternetNZ name, but it has retained its original name as the official name under which it communicates with international bodies.

This has led to some confusion, says executive director Keith Davidson. The “Society” has never been an official member of the International Internet Society (ISOC). So this could, potentially, cause confusion for example at the United Nations.

The ISOC has also expressed a desire for us not to be seen as passing ourselves off as a chapter of their organisation. However, there is no friction with ISOC over the issue.

InternetNZ’s main areas of work have also differed from those of the ISOC in recent times. Increasingly, InternetNZ has been seen to be working with the government on policy’s affecting internet and domains use. Most ISOC chapters aren’t involved in such policy work.

Also, while the organisation’s trading name is InternetNZ, they are currently referred to as Internet New Zealand. To solve both problems, it is proposed that the official name be changed to “Internet New Zealand Inc”.

InternetNZ, and its accompanying branding, will remain, and continue to be the organisation’s public face in New Zealand.