Kevin Robert Elz
Kevin Robert Elz,often referred to in computing circles asRobert Elz,or simplykre,is acomputer programmerand a pioneer in connectingAustraliato theInternet,and more recently, in connectingThailand.
Career
[edit]Some of his achievements include developing a number of important InternetRFCdocuments,[1]helping connect Australia to the world-wide Internet,[2]developing the internet-based research network within Australia, and operating the.audomain registry from 1986 through to the late 1990s.[3]He also managed theaus.*Usenethierarchy from its inception in the 1980s until the mid-1990s.[4]In 1979 he co-founded the Australian Computer Science network (ACSnet) and in 1989 with Torben Nielsen of theUniversity of Hawaiʻihe completed the connection work that brought the internet to Australia, which enabledAARNetto develop soon after.[5]
He is an HonoraryFellowat theUniversity of Melbourne,[6]where for some years he worked in theComputer Sciencedepartment.
An ardentcricketfan, Elz is also credited for pioneering online text commentary for cricket matches.[7][8]
Having previously lived and worked inMelbournefor many years, he currently lives inHat Yai,Songkhla,Thailand,[9]where he is an honorary lecturer in the Computer Engineering Department of thePrince of Songkla University.[10]
Operation of.au
[edit]As the architect of the early domain-name eligibility criteria for ".au", Elz was largely responsible for Australia's not experiencing a domain name gold rush in the mid-1990s. The eligibility policy required a direct connection between a company's official name and its domain name, in contrast to the strictly first-come-first-served policy of theregistry.[11]
Elz was, however, criticised during his tenure, as domain name applications often took many months to be examined, despite the commercialisation of the Internet and customer demands for quick turnaround times. In 1990, Elz delegated responsibility for the ".gov.au" and ".edu.au" domains toGeoff Hustonat theAustralian National University.Elz handed the operation of ".au" toMelbourne ITin 1996. Responsibility for other domains was transferred toauDAin 2001.[11]
References
[edit]- ^"Profile for Robert Elz".Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).Retrieved10 February2021.
- ^"'Link is up': 25 years since Australia connected permanently to the internet ".The Sydney Morning Herald.25 June 2014.Retrieved10 February2021.
- ^"The Internet in Australia".by Roger Clarke
- ^Michael Hauben;Ronda Hauben (3 August 1998)."On the Early Days of Usenet: The Roots of the Cooperative Online Culture. (Chapter 10)".First Monday.3(8).doi:10.5210/fm.v3i8.613.ISSN1396-0466.Retrieved10 August2022.
- ^Korporaal, Glenda (2009).AARNet - 20 Years of the Internet in Australia(PDF).AARNet. pp. 22, 30.ISBN978-0-646-52111-4.
- ^"It started with a ping".University of Melbourne Newsroom.Retrieved19 December2011.
- ^Seshadri, Badri (13 March 2018)."A bot called Cricinfo".Cricinfo.Retrieved10 August2022.
- ^Vaidyanathan, Siddhartha (29 August 2013)."The wizard Elz".ESPNcricinfo.Retrieved10 August2022.
- ^"Elz's staff listing at Thailand's Centre for Network Research".
- ^"Department of Computer Engineering at the Prince of Songkla University".
- ^ab"auDA and dot-au: History".Archived fromthe originalon 27 December 2011.Retrieved19 December2011.
