Some people pronounce it "fack", others "f-a-q". Never try to argue the correctness of either.
ftp.apana.org.au/pub/apana/apana_faq
It is also posted every month to the newsgroup apana.general.
APANA® is not an isp.
It was founded in 1992 by Mark Gregson, and is the successor to PubNet, a similar organisation.
APANA had very humble beginnings, but it's grown to a size even its founder probably didn't envisage.
It also aims to be a friendlier and less confrontational environment for the new user than that provided by commercial internet-access providers.
APANA operates its own Intranet through which members gain open acess to the Internet at bulk rates, using local isps in their regions. APANA also provides an environment where programmers and other enthusiasts can indulge their interest in the Internet and networking in general.
In the beginning, APANA was just a bunch of people who got together so they could defray the cost of their rather expensive hobby. In many respects, APANA is just as much about this today.
Acces is provided by a local hub operated by the regional committee. A region can exist in any part of any State or Territory of the Commonwealth of Australia, when sufficient APANA members reside there. UUCP feeds can be provided elsewhere.
APANA membership is open to individuals and non-profit, non-government organisations. Access to the APANA network(tm) is available to members and their guests for personal, non-profit and non-commercial purposes.
This FAQ has been written in response to the questions we often get from new members (and many old ones!) about the organisation and how it works. It is not a how-to guide to the Internet.
If you already have access to the Internet, the information kit is located at ftp.apana.org.au/pub/apana/General. If you need an old-fashioned printed copy, you should phone or email the APANA representative nearest to you. Their phone numbers can be found in the general information sheet, which can be retrieved separately by sending email to info@apana.org.au
But even if you're not yet a member of APANA, read on. The FAQ almost certainly contains answers of interest to you too.
The peak governing body is the Management Committee (MC). It consists of the Officers of APANA - President, Secretary and Treasurer - and regional representatives or "Ordinary Members" of the MC.
The Officers are elected at APANA's Annual General Meeting.
At the 2006 AGM, the following people were elected:
President: Marc Walters president@apana.org.au
Secretary: Jeff Toll secretary@apana.org.au
Treasurer: Carolyn Baird treasurer@apana.org.au
The regional representatives are elected at their respective region's Annual Regional Meeting.
The regions themselves are each governed by a 4-6 member Regional Committees, also elected at an Annual Regional Meeting.
If you're an ordinary member of APANA, you're entitled to run for election to the MC or the Regional Committee in the region to which you belong. In fact, we encourage you to do so. All ordinary members of APANA are entitled to vote in committee elections.
Serving on the MC or a Regional Committee can be a rewarding experience. David Keegel, a former Vice-President of APANA says: "It builds up your skills in communication, leadership and working in a team. It's also good to put down on a resume!"
Of course, there are many, many other APANA members who assist in the day-to-day running of the organisation. There's work on the membership database to be done, assisting new users and the innumerable technical tasks required to maintain a computer network which reaches all corners of the continent. Let it be known that when it comes to expanding the ranks of our volunteer workforce: APANA needs you!
Each is governed by a Regional Committeee except the "other" region which is run by the MC. The "Other" region is what you belong to when you don't really fit the definition of a member of one of the other regions.
You can choose which region to belong to, but a region may deny you access to its network unless you are a member of that region. You may well be an ordinary member of APANA), but you must also be a member of a specific region of APANA. National APANA membership does not in itself guarantee access to APANA's network.
A representative of a particular region can be contacted by mailing the name of the region at apana.org.au. For example, you can contact brisbane my mailing brisbane@apana.org.au, South Australia by mailing sa@apana.org.au.
A region of APANA is not a separate legal entity. Only the MC may transact business on behalf of APANA although day to day running has been delegated to the regions.
In Brisbane, mail bris-rc@apana.org.au
In the Hunter / Newcastle, mail hunter-rc@apana.org.au
In Melbourne, mail melb-rc@apana.org.au
In Northern Wollongong, mail woll-rc@apana.org.au
In South Australia / Adelaide, mail sa-rc@apana.org.au
In Sydney, mail syd-rc@apana.org.au
In Western Australia / Perth , mail wa-rc@apana.org.au
Independently connected members, mail ic-rc@apana.org.au
Regions are now much more responsible for their own affairs than was once the case.
APANA has no head-office, owns no buildings. Its administration exists in cyberspace, if you'll pardon the term. We save a lot on electricity and stationery that way.
All fees paid by members go directly to APANA and are banked by the Treasurer. APANA has accounts with the Commonwealth Bank and the signatories to these accounts are the President, Secretary and Treasurer.
The MC has ultimate control over where APANA's funds are spent, but will also act when duly elected regional committees make financial decisions on behalf of their region.
Each month the Treasurer produces a Financial Statement which is posted to the newsgroup apana.announce. Income and expenditure are divided up by region.
The Secretary (or his automatic mailing program) should send you some mail about a month before your membership is due to expire. Please contact the Secretary if your E-mail address (or other details) change.
These rules are lodged with and approved by the Registrar of Incorporated Associations in Victoria. They are, therefore, legally binding.
You can find them on APANA's Web site at http://www.apana.org.au/ or a plain text version at ftp.apana.org.au/pub/apana/Rules.
They're quite easy to follow, written in plain English and it would be wise to make yourself familiar with them.
The rules of APANA are where you find the detail on such things as how to nominate for the MC, how to call for a special regional meeting, or how to change the rules themselves.
You can query the APANA membership database at https://database.apana.org.au. This may not function from non-APANA sites.
Membership statistics are also traditionally published in the minutes of meetings of the Management Committee.
The AUP can be altered by the Management Committee, but the convention has been that no alteration should be made without proper consultation and the clear support of members.
Every member of APANA is responsible for ensuring that traffic originating from his or her site complies with the AUP. The MC can act against your site even if you weren't directly responsible for the breach.
A current copy of the AUP is located at ftp.apana.org.au/pub/apana/acceptable_use_policy
One of the most important clauses in the AUP is the ban on commercial use of the APANA network(tm).
APANA, both the non-profit organisation and the network, is run by volunteers who put a great amount of their own time and money towards its operation. Without them, APANA simply wouldn't exist. It was felt that allowing members to use APANA for commercial gain was not compatible with the spirit in which APANA was formed, not to mention exploitative of its volunteers. Furthermore, the affordable Internet access which APANA intended to provide would have been wasted on many businesses which could easily afford to pay commercial rates for access to the Internet.
On the more pragmatic side, APANA faced severe bandwidth and volume restrictions in those days. Commercial users were recognised as being likely to place proportionately greater strain on the network than "hobbyists". There was also the reality that APANA is not a "service provider". It doesn't provide a "service" in the commercial sense and membership of APANA gives no guarantee of service when it comes to the Internet. A service guarantee was something commercial users were more likely to expect. APANA also wanted to create an environment in which its members would be encouraged to volunteer and become active members of the organisation who were enthusiastic about its purpose. Again, APANA's survival depends on such people. Commercial use of the network was seen to discourage that.
Because of changes over the years to the way APANA works, some of these reasons are less compelling now than they once were, but the others are still the foundation of the argument for the ban on commercial use today.
The bottom line is as follows: The receipt of any money or the equivalent in kind ('Money") in any respect of the supply of services provided to the Member by APANA constitutes a 'commercial use' for the purposes of this Acceptable Use Policy where the said receipt would be considered taxable income under the Income Tax Assessment Act.
During the middle of 1995, the Management Committee took another look at the ban on commercial use. As part of that re-examination, it mailed a questionnaire to all ordinary members of APANA. The results of that questionnaire showed an overwhelming majority of those who responded were happy with the current restrictions.
As stated earlier, the ban on commercial use goes back to the beginnings of APANA. Much later, Connect.com.au offered us IP connectivity at a significant discount partly because we already had an established ban on commercial use.
Of course, as you know, Connect.com.au decided in 1994 not to renew the contract and those regions which use Connect.com.au as their service provider now pay commercial rates.
One-off, private sales of second-hand goods by individuals are fine. You must restrict advertising to appropriate areas though - the newsgroup aus.ads.forsale, for example. You should also resist the temptation to advertise excessively.
If you want to connect your machine to the network, either permanently, through dialup IP or a UUCP feed, you must join APANA as a member, which involves paying a membership fee directly to APANA.
This is a minimum condition applied nationally, but you should be aware that regions are free to impose stricter conditions. For example, a region could require that anyone who uses their network be an member of APANA.
Another advantage to being a member and having your machine connected to the network is that you're entitled to your own site name.
Of course, as a member of APANA you also have full voting rights and can stand for election to a committee.
You simply dial your host and everything happens automatically. Mail and news are sent between your site and its host, the call ends, and mail and news that your site has received is sorted.
UUCP software is available for virtually every personal computer and operating system: Unix, DOS, Windows, OS/2, MacOS, Amiga, etc.
But remember, you must be an member of APANA to attach your machine to the APANA network. Many members run a UUCP site in addition to having a shell account or using dialup SLIP/PPP.
But remember, all traffic originating from your site must comply with the Acceptable-Use Policy.
But certain types of non-profit organisations may subject to approval by the appropriate regional committee.
Some APANA newsgroups also have their equivalent at the regional level; for example, apana.melb.general and apana.syd.announce.
For more information contact the newsmaster Dean Hollister at newsmaster@apana.org.au,
If you want to create a regional APANA newsgroup(tm), contact your regional committee.
Sometimes you might see an apana newsgroup that has escaped onto a newsserver outside the APANA network. You should mail that site's administrator and ask him or her to remove it and cc our newsmaster at newsmaster@apana.org.au.
PLEASE NOTE: APANA newsgroups "escape" when somebody cross-posts them with outside newsgroups.
The central archive of APANA-related material is located at ftp.apana.org.au/pub/apana/. It contains past financial reports, minutes of meetings and the standard plain text versions of APANA documents like the Rules, Acceptable-Use Policy and the application form.
APANA's home page is at http://www.apana.org.au/
There are also many individual APANA members who specialise in particular types of software or sources of information. They often post announcements in the newsgroup apana.archives
If you offer something which you think would be of interest to all APANA members, mail faq@apana.org.au with the details.
APANA's DNS is managed by Michael Judd hostmaster@apana.org.au
APANA® is the Registered Trademark of the
Australian Public Access Network Association Inc.
APANA® newsgroups (tm),
APANA® network (tm) and the
APANA® logo (tm) are
trademarks of the Australian Public Access Network Association
Inc.