December 2007 - KICTANet

How Secure is the ECK data?
by John Walubengo 04 Jan '08

04 Jan '08

Based on the current impasse at ECK, I cant help sharing an article I send to the media 4weeks before the elections and it never got the attention it may have deserved... walu. ~~~~~starts~~~~ How Secure is the ECK data? (Late Nov 2007) Recently, there was the verbal exchange between politicians and the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) about whether or not the Voters Register was being tampered with at ECK, Headquarters Anniversary Towers. Rather than debating on who is lying and who is not, it is better to take a nationalistic and objective view by asking How Secure is the ECK data? The Voters Register and the subsequent Polling Data is, or should be categorised as a critical national resource and must be accorded the appropriate levels of protection from various threats. Any mismanagement of this data would compromise the peaceful existence of the Kenyan state as we know it today. Typical threats facing this data would arise from circumstances that can compromise the Confidentiality, Integrity Availability and Non-Repudability of the ECK data. Data or information is said to be Confidential if it is secured against un-authorised access. Indeed most of the ECK data is by nature public information such as the Voters Register but there must be some data that should be kept confidential since it may be used maliciously if placed in the wrong hands. To what extend has ECK put in place processes and systems to ensure that confidential data remains confidential? The Integrity of data is an aspect of whether the ECK data is secured against illegal changes. In other words, does ECK have systems or controls in place that can prevent, detect and correct un-authorised changes to the Voters Registers or the Polling Data? Are these controls effective and more importantly, are these controls regularly tested? Availability of data refers to its capacity to be delivered where and when it is needed by its stakeholders. You can imagine, if the voting was done, the tallying completed and then ECK was unable to announce the results because of a computer or more commonly hard-disk failure. Speculations arising from the delayed announcement of election results during those critical hours after the elections could make or break this nation irrespective of whether the delay was valid or otherwise. Non-repudability of data refers to the capacity to prove beyond reasonable doubt, the origin of data. Within the context of ECK, this may be important particularly during this year when ECK is adopting modern communication technologies to receive, relay and query their data. Assuming the Returning Officers would be sending in their Polling data via SMS, Internet, Telephone or even Fax are there systems in place to prove that indeed the incoming data is originating from the official and not impersonated sources? In the interest of the public, ECK must take the necessary precautions to protect its information from the above threats. Similarly, ECK must be seen or should demonstrate publicly that they have indeed done due diligence to provide the necessary security with respect to the safety of their data. In developed economies, the laws and regulations require that critical data of national importance must be subjected to regular Information Systems Audits along the same spirit as that of carrying out regular Financial Audits. Despite the lack of compelling legislation to do an Information Systems Audit, ECK can decide to act in the interest of the Public and engage professional Information Systems Auditors to execute an Information Systems Audit on their critical data and related processes. Such an exercise, if it has not already been done, may be the only weapon to silence the reckless politicians who will keep suspecting the integrity of the ECK data to the detriment of this nation. J. Walubengo Mr. Walubengo is a Lecturer at the Kenya College of Communications Technologies (KCCT) and a Board Member, Information Systems Audit & Control Association (ISACA). ~~~ends~~~~ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

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[Fwd: [At-Large] AAAA records to be added for root servers]
by alice 31 Dec '07

31 Dec '07

On 4 February 2008, IANA will add AAAA records for the IPv6 addresses of the four root servers whose operators have requested it. A technical analysis of inserting IPv6 records into the root has been done by a joint working group of ICANN's Root Server System Advisory Committee and Security and Stability Advisory Committee, a report of which can be found at http://www.icann.org/committees/security/ sac018.pdf. Network operators should take whatever steps they feel appropriate to prepare for the inclusion of AAAA records in response to root queries. More information will be posted to the IANA web site during January. Regards, Barbara Roseman IANA General OperationsManager ICANN _______________________________________________ ALAC mailing list ALAC(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac_atlarge-lists.icann.org At-Large Official Site: http://www.alac.icann.org ALAC Independent: http://www.icannalac.org

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An African exception and role model by Jeevan Vasagar, Monday December 31, 2007, , Guardian
by alice 31 Dec '07

31 Dec '07

Why it matters ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *An African exception and role model**Jeevan Vasagar* *Monday December 31, 2007* *Guardian* A few years ago, Kenya's government sponsored a competition to invent a new national dress. Ministers hoped citizens would trade their buttoned-up western suits for the slashed collar and cape of the "Kenyan cloak" and forge a unified national identity in the process. Kenyans, who knew better, rejected the fancy dress en masse, preferring to get on with the more urgent business of putting food on their family's tables. The episode was a reminder of why Kenya is an African exception. In a region awash with trouble, it is an island of stability - its people renowned for pragmatism, cohesiveness and their ability to ignore their rulers' whims. By contrast, neighbouring Sudan recently ended a civil war in the south only to confront a new crisis in Darfur, Uganda has suffered years of conflict at the hands of the Lord's Resistance Army and Somalia remains a basket case. Since independence in 1963, Kenya has not been troubled by bloodshed on a comparable scale. Instead, it has acted as an honest broker in peace talks - Sudan's southern peace deal was signed in the lakeside town of Naivasha. It is a base station for aid agencies and a haven for refugees. Kakuma in northern Kenya is one of Africa's biggest refugee camps, home to some 90,000 people. Unlike Zimbabwe, its postcolonial rulers did not turn on the whites. Unlike Uganda, they did not kick out the Asians. Kenya's ethnic diversity has been an unexpected strength. Although the Kikuyu, President Mwai Kibaki's tribe, accounts for a fifth of the population and has traditionally had the loudest voice, no single ethnic group has been strong enough to tyrannise the others. There is plenty of tribal friction, as well as tensions between Christians and the Muslim minority, but this has never brewed the havoc seen elsewhere. In recent years, Kenya has been a political role model. One of former president Daniel arap Moi's few decent deeds was to leave office gracefully after losing the 2002 election. Government sleaze continues, but corruption no longer paralyses the economy as it did under Moi. Public life has opened up. The basement of Nyayo House, in the centre of the capital, Nairobi, no longer houses torture chambers. Unlike many Africans, Kenyans can laugh at their leaders. When the first lady, Lucy Kibaki, stormed into a newspaper office to complain at its coverage, she became a laughing stock as comedians donned drag and a towering frizzy wig to parody her. Kenya's economy is one of Africa's best. Its highlands are blessed with the ideal blend of sunshine and cool altitude for growing tea, coffee and flowers - it's the world's biggest exporter of tea and supplies Britain with many of its Valentine's Day roses. It has a hardworking, educated workforce, many of whom speak good English, thanks in part to its colonial heritage. Mombasa is one of Africa's finest harbours, and Nairobi is an air transport hub for the continent. Transport is crucial here; the country was forged around the British-built railway line snaking from Mombasa to Lake Victoria and Nairobi began as a railway supply depot. The economy is emerging from the paralysis induced by corruption and the lethargic quangos that stifled business under Moi. Privatisation has gathered pace under Kibaki and the country has been touted as an African tiger. But economic growth remains painfully slow and the number living below the poverty line keeps rising. Progress is critical. Nairobi is still one of the world's most unequal cities, home to lavish gated compounds with servants and swimming pools as well as Kibera, Africa's biggest slum. The country has one of the highest profiles of any in Africa. Its flourishing wildlife make it a massive tourist destination, and a substantial chunk of Africa's foreign press corps make their base there. That focus may explain why it has twice been attacked by al-Qaida - in 1998, when the US embassy in Nairobi was bombed, and in 2002, when Israeli tourists were targeted in Mombasa. The country is a key western ally in the fight against al-Qaida in Africa. If Kenya descends into anarchy, one of the continent's brightest lights will have flickered out, but the most immediate wider effect will be felt by other countries in the region, who stand to lose their most reliable neighbour. *Tough road from independence* *1961* Jomo Kenyatta is freed from prison. The independence activist was jailed by the British. *1963* Kenya gains independence from the British. Kenyatta becomes Kenya's prime minister and later president. *1978* Kenyatta dies in office and is succeeded by Daniel arap Moi. *1982* Kenya becomes one-party state. *1987* Opposition groups suppressed. International outcry over political arrests and abuse of human rights. *1991* Agreement to reintroduce a multi-party political system. *1992* Moi re-elected. *1997* Demonstrations calling for greater democratic reform. World Bank holds back on $5bn of credit. Moi wins another election. Opposition cries foul play. *1998* Attack on US embassy in Nairobi, right, kills 224, injures 4,500. *2002* 10 Kenyans and three Israelis die when a hotel in Mombasa is destroyed by a car bomb. *2002* Mwai Kibaki wins a landslide victory to end Moi's 24-year rule. *2003* International Monetary Fund begins lending to Kenya after anti-corruption measures are put in place. *2004* A draft of the new constitution is finalised, outlining limitations to parliament and reining in presidential powers. Massive crop failures and drought cause havoc. *2006* Government ministers are alleged to have received kickbacks from a mysterious company. Finance minister resigns. *· *Jeevan Vasagar was the Guardian's east Africa correspondent from 2003 to 2006. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007

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NOVATECH Investment Forum
by alice 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

Dear colleagues and friends, I am pleased to inform you that the NOVATECH investment forum organisers would like key East African countries to submit information on potential ICT projects. In this context the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), would like you to submit the following information on potential ICT projects from your country for consideration: - Country Name - Project title - Sub-sectors involved - Project contents/components/description - Project amount/budget (or in the range of) - Project status (i.e. project idea, at tender stage, on-going etc.) May I take this opportunity to wish you a Happy New Year 2008. Thank you. Makane Faye United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) P.O. Box 3001 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Telephone :+251 11 5514534 Email: mfaye(a)uneca.org <mailto:mfaye@uneca.org>

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Nation Website "Live" Votes Reporting
by Alex Gakuru 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

Hi, Did you know Nation website has updated vote counts? Have a look at http://politics.nationmedia.com/ Nifty! Somebody should tell them to announce this on radio For consumers convenience! Best, Alex

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[Fwd: Kenyan Elections]
by alice 25 Dec '07

25 Dec '07

Hi all Interesting article on Kenyan elections on the Washington post best alice

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Best Wishes for Christmas and New year
by alice 25 Dec '07

25 Dec '07

(Apologies for cross posting) Dear all Wishing everyone and their families a very happy Christmas and New Year. Thank you for your contribution, time and efforts in making this virtual space a platform for information sharing and support. KICTANet lists moderators Walu and alice

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Horizons Story Today
by Vincent Ngundi 25 Dec '07

25 Dec '07

This makes an interesting reading. I guess the way forward is to setup an IPv6 task force to chart the way forward for Kenya. KENIC, in conjunction with AfriNIC, is planning to host an IPv6 workshop in June 2008. Our target is to train 150 engineers on IPv6 deployment. We shall announce registration for the same in due course. Regards, -Vincent >> [Daily Nation] >> Horizons Magazine >> 20 December, 2007 >> By REDEMPTOR ATIENO >> >> INTERNET: Connectivity capacity nears exhaustion >> The country must upgrade to a new platform before current >> capacity is >> exhausted >> >> In about two year time, aspiring internet users will be unable >> to get connected or publish new websites. >> >> Further it will not be possible to new cyber cafes, let alone >> the many government-fronted digital villages targeting rural areas >> throughout the country. Critical Internet addresses that uniquely >> identify users and resolves the location where a website is >> located on >> the internet will be exhausted, worldwide. >> >> According to the chairman of ICT Consumers Association of >> Kenya, >> Alex Gakuru, "The country will have depleted capacity for new >> internet >> connectivity unless internet infrastructure are upgraded to what is >> called Internet Protocol version six (or IPv6) because the world's >> current IPv4 will be exhausted." >> >> It will be too expensive, he says, and chaotic for the country >> to continue using the current IPv4 and the Government needs to >> address >> this problem urgently. "ISPs only need to upgrade their systems at no >> cost to consumers assuring room for more expression, choice, and >> opportunity. Consumers should not be charged because ISP equipment >> only need reconfiguration since most are already IPv6 compliant >> anyway." >> >> The ICAK chairman notes that the issue has been given the >> publicity and priority it deserves, yet it will be too expensive for >> the country to continue using IPv4 designed for the1977 Internet and >> acknowledges the Kenya Network Information Centre-KeNIC's leadership >> is best suited to ensure the smoothest transition to IPv6. >> >> Gakuru observes that with the worldwide increased connection of >> internet-enabled mobile devices, such as GSM and WiFi phones more >> hosts are making inroads into the internet each requiring an IP >> address in order to connect and thereby causing a faster depletion of >> IP addresses. >> >> An IP address is a unique number address that every computing >> device connected to the internet is assigned. IP addresses are >> used to >> route traffic on the internet and can be seen as the backbone of the >> internet. >> >> He explained that " the current IPv4 system can accommodate up >> to for billion IP addresses but with the current world population at >> six billion, then the internet cannot be for everyone. He says this >> upgrade should be prioritised. >> --ends--- -- KeNIC - The Kenya Network Information Center http://www.kenic.or.ke

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Eligible NGOs in Africa to apply
by Rebecca Wanjiku 22 Dec '07

22 Dec '07

Dear all -- Sorry for Spam - For those interested please apply directly - contacts are below The Africa-America Institute (AAI) is pleased to announce the next deadline for scholarship applications for the Transformational Leadership Program (TLP). AAI is partnering with The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation (TCCAF) on TLP to enhance capacity of professional management skills and leadership in Africa. Please feel free to share this scholarship opportunity with any interested and qualified individuals. This multiyear program offers both non-degree professional development and business degree training programs to African managers in Africa-based NGOs working in the fields of health, education, environment and entrepreneurship. The program involves three training providers with excellent track records in their respective fields: Emory University's Goizueta Business School (Atlanta, USA), The Aresty Institute of Executive Education at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, USA) and the United States International University ( Nairobi, Kenya). AAI invites the managers of eligible NGOs in Africa to apply for a TLP scholarship for a Master's of Business Administration (MBA) at the Goizueta Business School at Emory University in Atlanta, GA by January 21, 2008. Please download the following program and application information with which you can apply for a TLP scholarship to Goizueta Business School: TLP Scholarship Program Description TLP NGO Profile Form TLP Scholarship Application Packet Goizueta Business School MBA Program Details The general eligibility criteria are: Applicants must be residents of an African country. Applicants must have significant professional work experience (e.g. 5-15 years) working in NGOs. NGOs must be doing work in the critical areas of health, education, environment or entrepreneurship in Africa. NGOs must submit a current profile form to AAI for approval. Applicants must be proficient in English. Applicants must agree to return to their countries immediately upon completion of their training program and abide by the 2-year Home Residency requirement for US-based training, requiring them to remain in their home country for a period of two years after the completion of the program. Placement will be limited and we expect the application process to be competitive. Applicants should expect to receive a decision regarding their application within four weeks after the application deadline. For additional information you may contact: Tahnia Charles-Belle Program Officer, AHET Email: tcharlesbelle(a)aaionline.org Tel: +1 (212) 949-5666 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Africa-America Institute | 420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 1706 | New York, NY 10170 Tel: +1 (212) 949-5666 | Fax: +1 (212) 682-6174 | Email: aainy(a)aaionline.org | Web: www.aaionline.org The mission of The Africa-America is to promote enlightened engagement between Africa and America through education, training, and dialogue. If you are having trouble viewing this email, please click here or copy and past the following url into your web brower: http://www.aaionline.org/NewsAndEvents/174.aspx _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann -- Best Regards, Becky 254 720318925 beckyit.blogspot.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping

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Convergence of views on access at international internet forum
by Wanjira, Alice Munyua 20 Dec '07

20 Dec '07

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE DISSEMINATION Convergence of views on access at international internet forum RIO DE JANEIRO, 14 November, 2007 The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) recognises that access is the single most important element in any attempt to put in place a governance of the internet. A broad range of suggestions for making access to the internet a reality for the five billion unconnected people were put forward by governments, industry and non-profits currently taking part in the second Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There seems to be a high degree of convergence of views on how to improve access. The growth of mobile telephony in developing countries has shown that the competitive model can deliver services to vulnerable populations, including the poor, says Willie Currie, manager of the policy programme at APC. Many groups attending the IGF in Rio agree that what is needed, is for the principles of competition to be consistently and evenly applied to all areas of the telecom sector. Access to international and terrestrial backbone infrastructure, they say, depends on this commitment. However, we need to recognise that there are contexts in which the competitive model falls short of delivering the internet, adds Currie. When market forces alone do not suffice, collaborative models are needed to extend access to under-served areas. Since a competitive model needs to coexist with a collaborative one for access to become a reality, APC advocates for incentives to be put in place. Instead of hindering, information and communication technology (ICT) policy should stimulate the participation of diverse network operators and providers in service delivery. Talking from the IGF venue in Brazil, APC insists that the timing for promoting ICTs as a development tool has never been more appropriate. This is particularly true at the level of rural and local access. For a universal, affordable and equitable access to materialise, ICT regulation and policy need to be integrated to local development strategies. APC privileges a multi-sector model where different types of infrastructures are bundled. When laying down roads, the government can install water pipes and lay electricity along with fibre-optic ICT cabling, illustrates Willie Currie. This approach, IGF participants noted, reduces costs of infrastructure and contributes to a more effective use of scarce development resources. The APC network has been involved in global, regional and national ICT policy processes since 2000, with a focus on human rights and social inclusion in the information society and on promoting digital inclusion. On the eve of the 2007 edition of the IGF, APC organised a one-day event on equitable access. For more information Frédéric Dubois, Information coordinator, frederic(a)apc.org +1 514 660 0664 http://rights.apc.org ======================================= APC Forum is a meeting place for the APC community - people and institutions who are or have been involved in collaboration with APC, and share the APC vision - a world in which all people have easy, equal and affordable access to the creative potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve their lives and create more democratic and egalitarian societies. _______________________________________________ apc.forum mailing list apc.forum(a)lists.apc.org http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/apc.

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ICT Opportunity alert: Will the true entrepreneurs stand up?
by Al Kags 20 Dec '07

20 Dec '07

In these heady political times in Kenya, it is perhaps not sensible to discuss issues surrounding development. But then another school of thought would have it that, there isn't a better time to discuss matters surrounding development than these heady political times – even at the risk of seeming to campaign for one candidate at the expense of another. Then there is the thought that the electioneering (who came up with that word?) period is a brief interlude in the journey of life that we must go through so we must not interrupt our thoughts on development because of political events. Having said that, I find myself unable to proceed without joining the rounds of applause that have been going round for the remarkable team that the Minister for information and communications, Hon. Mutahi Kagwe and his Permanent Secretary, Dr. Bitange Ndemo for being the first in the leadership of that ministry to make huge significant strides in the development of ICT in Kenya – right up to setting up the infrastructure (Kenya will fully be networked and connected with fibre connectivity by May 2009) and the framework for capacity building through the fairly young Kenya ICT Board. The Kenya ICT Board has been mandated to mainly market Kenya as an ICT destination and to build capacity for the country to be competitive as an ICT destination – and taking from the speed and work ethic of the minister and the PS, the board does not have the luxury of slow development. In fact, the word "rapid" appears more than once in the various documents that it must work with and its mission. Through support from the world bank and the central government, the Kenya ICT Board has a significant budget that it is going to use to build capacity in various areas including the digital inclusion program that is going to be carried out through the facilitation of entrepreneurs across the country to start digital villages – essentially glorified cyber cafés that will provide access to training and to government and other services through the internet. The digital villages program will see the board provide training, direct IT support, business support and even a revolving fund to ensure that entrepreneurs can start the digital villages and sustain it as a business long after the Transparency and Communications Infrastructure Project (TCIP) has come to a close – the money is finite, after all. The outsourcing industry has also seen some significant attention as a key component of the ICT sector because of its strategic take-outs in terms of employment and wealth creation in the ICT industry. Before the fibre connectivity kicks in, the Kenya ICT Board is empowered to provide bandwidth capacity support (jargon for a bandwidth subsidy) that will enable the outsourcing industry players to enjoy the comparatively lower bandwidth costs that they would, if fibre connectivity was already in place. The intention is that that support will spur growth. These two projects in particular come together in various ways. Of course, the most obvious is that singularly and together they provide a very strong opportunity for employment and wealth creation for many Kenyans across the board, in a fairly short time. But the potential benefit to the economy goes beyond that direct benefit. An easy way to illustrate this is with an example that I have heard Dr. Ndemo give a number of times and that makes a lot of sense. The key challenge to having justice done is the time it takes for cases to continue. One of the key contributing factors is the amount of operational work that a judge must do in order to record a case and therefore come to a fair judgement. A judge must write down in English all of the evidence that he or she will hear as he listens to the witness. Writing being what it is, the evidence is given for a long time, factoring the pauses that the judge needs to write down what he hears. That information must then be collated, synthesised and understood for a fair judgement to then be issued and they have to write that down as well. Multiply this by the number of cases pending in the backlog of the courts and you will understand the delay in getting justice. The perils of such a system we already have experienced with corruption and sloppiness being a necessity for convenience. How many times do innocent Kenyans plead guilty so that they can pay a fine and move on with their lives instead of having to remain along the corridors of the courts of years on a minor case? How many times have Kenyans chosen to give "Kitu Kidogo" to the clerk or the judge or someone to hasten their case – and while hastening it have the judgement placed in their favour? This is easily solved with the help of ICT. We could record the proceedings of the court, outsource an audio recording to a digital village that has the transcription facility, where the proceedings are transcribed to text and then sent back to the judge to make a ruling. Time becomes less of an issue and transparency and accountability then become strengthened. In fact, if you have such a facility, you can ask some firm questions about the delay of cases because of the effectiveness of it all. It is clear that the government and the Kenya ICT Board have the concepts right in terms creating the opportunities for wealth and employment creation. What must now be ignited is the private sector. The entrepreneur must seize the opportunity that is beginning to show itself and make the most of it. Sadly, so far, the developments in the ICT sector have largely had the attention of activists – even those who have their businesses. When else did you hear of entrepreneurs fervently asking the government to regulate them?

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Notice of Implementation Date for WHOIS National Laws Procedure -- Registrars please read]
by alice 19 Dec '07

19 Dec '07

Notice of Implementation Date for WHOIS National Laws Procedure 18 December 2007 * * Today ICANN is publishing a notice of implementation of the ICANN Procedure for Handling WHOIS Conflicts with Privacy Law. The procedure will be posted for 30 days, and implemented on 17 January 2008. The draft procedure was first posted for comment on 3 December 2006, see http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/whois_national_laws_procedure.htm <http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/whois_national_laws_procedure.htm>. ICANN sought input on the draft procedure from the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC). The procedure has been revised to incorporate advice from the GAC, and is available at http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/revised-draft-whois-procedure-18… [PDF, 29K]. New language has been inserted into Sections 1.4, 2.1, 3.1 and 5.1 of the procedure, based on input received from the GAC and from members of the ICANN Board in the Los Angeles meeting. The ICANN Board discussed the draft procedure during the public meeting of the Board on 2 November 2007 in Los Angeles, and noted that "the next step now would be for the staff to update their procedure in taking into account that advice [from the GAC]." The procedure describes how ICANN will respond to a situation where a registrar or registry indicates (and seeks to demonstrate) that it is legally prevented by local/national privacy laws or regulations from complying with the provisions of its ICANN contract regarding the collection, display and distribution of personal data via WHOIS. The procedure is for use by ICANN staff. While it includes possible actions for the affected gTLD registry or registrar, this procedure does not impose any new obligations on registries, registrars or third parties. It aims to inform gTLD registries, registrars and other parties of the steps to be taken when a possible conflict between other legal obligations and the ICANN contractual requirements regarding WHOIS is reported to ICANN. Since publication of the first draft procedure, ICANN staff has been applying the draft procedure in handling potential conflicts between WHOIS provisions and national laws to test its effectiveness. * Background* In December 2003, the Whois Task Force 2 of the GNSO recommended the development of a procedure to allow gTLD registry and registrars to demonstrate when they are prevented by local laws from fully complying with the provisions of ICANN contracts regarding personal data in Whois. In November 2005, the GNSO concluded a policy development process on establishing such a procedure. The policy includes 'well-developed advice on a procedure' created through: extensive solicitation of community comment, recommendation by the WHOIS Task Force, and approval by the GNSO Council. In May 2006, the ICANN Board adopted the policy and directed ICANN staff to develop and publicly document a conflicts procedure. The draft ICANN Procedure for Handling WHOIS Conflicts with Privacy Law (http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/whois_national_laws_procedure.htm) was published on 3 December 2006. ICANN sought input on the draft procedure from the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC). On 28 March 2007, the GAC published its Principles Regarding gTLD WHOIS Services (http://gac.icann.org/web/communiques/gac27com.pdf [PDF, 209K]). GAC Principle 3.2 states that "gTLD WHOIS services must comply with applicable national laws and regulations." The GAC Communique from 28 June 2007 (http://gac.icann.org/web/communiques/gac28com.pdf [PDF, 177K]) included specific reference to the draft procedure: "The GAC welcomes the opportunity to respond to the 'draft ICANN Procedure for Handling WHOIS Conflicts with Privacy Law.' Since this draft procedure was produced in December 2006, the GAC has prepared its 'Principles regarding gTLD WHOIS Services.' These principles provide the framework for dealing with potential conflicts. "We recognise the importance of effective conflict resolution mechanisms for the WHOIS regime, and we expect to see this as an integral part of the GNSO proposals for a future ICANN WHOIS regime. "We will provide formal advice on the conflict procedures based on the GAC WHOIS principles at the meeting in Los Angeles. The GAC recommends that the Board reviews the draft procedure in light of this substantive contribution. "In the interim, specific cases should be referred to the relevant national government for advice on the authority of the request for derogation from the ICANN gTLD WHOIS policy." The GAC Communique issued on 31 October 2007 in Los Angeles (http://gac.icann.org/web/communiques/gac29com.pdf [PDF, 73K]) noted that: "the GAC welcomes the opportunity to respond to the 'draft ICANN Procedure for Handling WHOIS Conflicts with National Privacy Laws.' Due to the complexity of this issue related to the diversity of national policies and procedures among GAC members the GAC does not believe a uniform process is workable and accordingly the interim solution from the GAC's San Juan communiqué should be the basis for resolving any potential conflict: . specific cases should be referred to the relevant national government for advice on the authority of the request for derogation from the ICANN gTLD WHOIS policy." On 2 November 2007, the ICANN Board noted that staff would update the procedure to incorporate GAC advice (http://losangeles2007.icann.org/files/losangeles/LA-BoardofDirectors(Part1)… <http://losangeles2007.icann.org/files/losangeles/LA-BoardofDirectors%28Part…>). The revision described in this notice reflects the input received since the publication of the draft procedure on 3 December 2006. _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann

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Application Round for Fellowships for ICANN Paris Meeting 2008 OPne: Program makes sure global voices heard at ICANN¹s International Public Meetings
by alice 17 Dec '07

17 Dec '07

ICANN press release on fellowships for the Paris meeting: <http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-07dec07.htm>http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-07dec07.htm Application Round Opens for Paris Meeting Fellowships Program makes sure global voices heard at ICANN¹s International Public Meetings 7 December 2007 MARINA DEL REY, Calif. : The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is putting out the call for fellowship program applications for its 32nd International Public Meeting to be held in Paris from 22-27 June 2008. "The fellowship program plays a key role in making sure that global voices are heard at the ICANN meeting and in our various public forums," said Theresa Swinehart, ICANN's Vice President, Global and Strategic Partnerships. The 23 fellows from 22 countries who played an active role at the Los Angeles meeting were chosen from 167 applications received. An additional 10 candidates chosen in this round were deferred to the New Delhi meeting in February. Of the fellows at the Los Angeles meeting, 10 had never attended an ICANN meeting before, and seven were alumni from the inaugural program in San Juan this past June. Priority is given to applicants who are current residents of developing and least developed nations and interested in participating in ICANN and its supporting organizations, such as the Governmental Advisory Committee, the Country Code Names Supporting Organization, and the Generic Names Supporting Organization. The fellowship will assist in covering airfare, hotel and a stipend. Recipients will be expected to actively participate in and contribute to ICANN processes. As always, registration for ICANN¹s meetings is free for anyone wanting to attend. Applications will be accepted from now until 1200 PDT ( UTC -7) on 11 January 2008. More information, as well as a link to the application for a fellowship, is available online at: <http://www.icann.org/fellowships/>http://www.icann.org/fellowships/ About ICANN: ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers like domain names (like .org, .museum and country codes like .uk) and the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols that help computers reach each other over the Internet. Careful management of these resources is vital to the Internet's operation, so ICANN's global stakeholders meet regularly to develop policies that ensure the Internet's ongoing security and stability. ICANN is an internationally organized, public benefit non-profit company. For more information please visit: <http://www.icann.org/>www.icann.org. Media Contacts: Jason Keenan Media Adviser, ICANN (USA) Ph: +1 310 382 4004 E: <mailto:jason.keenan@icann.org>jason.keenan(a)icann.org International: Andrew Robertson Edelman (London) Ph: +44 7921 588 770 E: <mailto:andrew.robertson@edelman.com>andrew.robertson(a)edelman.com

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Living with confusion – African operators find themselves pulled in new directions
by alice 17 Dec '07

17 Dec '07

From Balancing Act Living with confusion – African operators find themselves pulled in new directions Once it was simple. There was the Government incumbent and all the other operators were against it. Then the incumbents ceased to be the incumbents and some of the new mobile operators found themselves taking on that mantle. With new power comes new responsibilities. Or does it? Once it was all about voice. Now there’s all this fancy convergence talk and anything you can think of sending down a phone connection will be sent. Increasingly operators are being pulled in new directions. Russell Southwood looks at three issues that are tugging from the edges. Three news items this week touched on some of the things that are pulling operators into looking at where their company’s activities begin and end. The pull towards content provision: This week France Telecom signed a “multiyear agreement” with MGM to be allowed to offer the studio’s movies to its video-on-demand customers. According to the reports, Orange is counting on video-on-demand as a new source of income for its fixed line business as its calling revenues go down. Cote d’Ivoire Telecom became the next of Orange’s African subsidiaries to start rolling out its “livebox” product that offers voice, Internet and television. But all is not easy in the new world of telco as content provider. In Senegal, Orange had to reach a content agreement with the more-or-less monopoly supplier of French-language, satellite pay TV content. As a result, it has to peg the price of its offer to that of its satellite content provider. Mauritius Telecom, despite having 15,000 people sign up for its “livebox” service again found itself talking unsuccessfully to what will probably become its competitor about getting content. In this context, having a large parent company sign global content deals makes a great deal of sense. But what if you’re not part of a global company? How do you sort out content to stay in the game? Or do you simply say, we’ll sit out this one out and stick to what we know? Deals between Vodacom and DStv may be easy in the short-term on a reseller basis but when it goes beyond this, who ends up getting the lion’s share of the revenues? Content is beset with a whole new range of problems that no-one in the African telco business seems to have thought their way through. Rights holders like Hollywood are not known for their generosity and too many of the available rights are still being given on a monopoly or duopoly basis. The court battles in Senegal over whether a third TV channel had the right to show Prison Break illustrate how far the market still has to develop. The pull towards infrastructure: At least three African countries – Kenya, South Africa and Uganda – have Governments that are in the advanced stages of putting together public interest companies to roll out national fibre infrastructure. Although the mobile operators bandy about the size of sums they are going to invest in infrastructure, they haven’t really worked out whether as the new incumbents they should be building infrastructure or not. It is one thing for MTN and Vodacom to announce infrastructure build-outs in South Africa but are they really going to extend the same principle to all of the countries they operate in? Mmm…Maybe. MTN is certainly putting down fibre in Ghana in order to overcome the historic inadequacies of both the network it acquired and that provided by the incumbent Ghana Telecom. Nevertheless an exchange at a regulators meeting in West Africa exemplifies the problem. Two of the large mobile operators chains had representatives on a panel who were asked why were they not rolling out cross-border links, given their networks were almost touching each other in several countries. Their responses were almost identical: we don’t think there’s enough traffic to justify it and therefore it is the Government’s responsibility. Nobody had thought that the private sector might create its own “carriers’ carrier” to act as a trusted transit operator to solve this problem. However, if the private sector operators sit on the sidelines of this discussion, they can hardly complain when Government decides to take the initiative and start taking responsibility through public interest backbone companies. The international fibres which everyone has shouted long and hard for will be here in 2009 and without regional connectivity, their impact will be frittered way. So the private sector really has to find a way to “put up or shut up”. All of which makes even stranger the announcement by Namibia’s power utility Nampower that it has granted a large contract that will connect several different power grids in South Africa. The line will connect the electricity networks of Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique and South Africa to create an alternative route for power imports and exports to and from neighbouring countries. Slipped rather quietly into the announcement was the fact that the transmission line would be fitted with a fibre-optical ground wire which will, apart from providing essential transmission communication, “expand NamPower's communication capacity”. Is any private sector company talking to Nampower about using this capacity or indeed increasing this available capacity for private operator’s voice and data traffic? Not as far as we know….So are operators interested in solving these problems either individually or together? Mmmm…That’s a bit difficult to tell. The pull towards energy provision: Recently MTN revealed the scale of money it was spending on generator fuel in Nigeria. Taken over a year, it was US$65 million. Try to imagine that if that is calculated on the basis of 5,000 base stations for one country, what the total cost looks like for all mobile operators across the continent. Unlike the pull towards infrastructure described above, this is straightforwardly a short-term, bottom-line issue. If the operators could find a way of using generators just for redundancy, then the amount paid in this direction would drop substantially. So what can the operators do? Well, there’s the high road and the low road. The low road is finding base station equipment that will not eat as much fuel. This week Vodafone Germany announced that it was the first operator to put in Ericsson’s new BTS that will make “an important contribution to cutting carbon-dioxide emissions” by lowering energy use. Compatible with all its base stations since 1995, it claims to save between 10-20 per cent of energy consumption “depending on the network traffic pattern.” During periods of low network traffic, the feature effectively puts those parts of the network that are not being used in standby mode - overcoming the traditional practice of having radio equipment continually turned on, which can result in energy being wasted. The high road is self-provisioning power transmission, either through an operator consortium JV or by one operator taking the initiative. The energy industry takes a long-time to respond to demand, sometimes as long as 10-15 years. So why not set up a small-scale power generation and transmission company that can address those base stations nearest to each other? Small-scale providers can generate power at scale: 40% of Holland’s energy needs come from small-scale providers. Then it is a case of delivering this power and possibly distributing it to a small number of other paying customers. Is it in the immortal words of Telkom SA’s new CEO Reuben September (talking about his mobile strategy) is it a case of “everything that is feasible is desirable”? Where do you draw the line in terms of what a company needs to be able to do in order to thrive? For without addressing these kinds pulls on company time and resources, all of Africa’s operators will continue to operate below their full potential. Balancing Act <http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/397/197296/123/0/>

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Candidates from Africa needed !!!
by Rebecca Wanjiku 15 Dec '07

15 Dec '07

This is a very lucrative appointment. please fwd your names Dear All, Africa is a region of interest for the Nom Com in 2008, as the ICANN Bylaws specify that there must be at least one director from each of the 5 ICANN regions. Njeri Rionge's term finishes in November 2008. And we have no representatives at the Generic Names Supporting Organisation. The website for the 2008 Nom Com (http://nomcom.icann.org) has complete information on the Statement of Interest and positions available for selection by the Committee. The Committee has also posted translations of the 2008 Nom Com flyer in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Translations of the flyer into Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Swahili will also be posted in the near future. If you need specific information do not hesitate to email me directly. For all who have other lists, please send to people whom you think would be interested and thanks for doing that. cheers, ar 2008 ICANN Nominating Committee Issues Invitation for Statements of Interest in ICANN Leadership Positions 14 December 2007 ICANN's Nominating Committee invites Statements of Interest from the Internet community as it seeks qualified candidates to assist in ICANN's technical and policy coordination role. Interested individuals are invited to submit a Statement of Interest to this year's Committee for the following positions: Two members of the ICANN Board of Directors One member of the Council of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) One member of the Council of the Country-Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) Two members of the At Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) ICANN's Nominating Committee (Nom Com) is an independent committee tasked with selecting a majority of the members of ICANN's Board of Directors and other positions within ICANN's Supporting Organisations. ICANN is an internationally organised, public benefit, non-profit corporation dedicated to: preserving the operational security and stability of the Internet; promoting competition; achieving broad representation of global Internet communities; and supporting the development of policies appropriate to its mission through bottom-up, consensus-based processes. Individuals selected by the Nominating Committee will have a unique opportunity to work with accomplished colleagues from around the globe, address the Internet's intriguing technical coordination problems and policy development challenges with diverse functional, cultural, and geographic dimensions, and gain valuable insights and experience from working across boundaries of knowledge, responsibility and perspective. Those selected will gain the satisfaction of making a valuable public service contribution towards the continued function and evolution of an essential global resource. Considering the broad public interest, nominees will work to achieve the goals towards which ICANN is dedicated in order to facilitate the Internet's critically important societal functions. Current Board members who have been selected by the Nominating Committee include: Harald Tveit Alvastrand, Susan Crawford, Roberto Gaetano, Steven Goldstein, Dennis Jennings, Rajasekhar Ramaraj, Njeri Rionge, and Jean-Jacques Subrenat (see, http://www.icann.org/general/board.html) Statements of Interest for the positions described above can be submitted through nomcom2008(a)icann.org. More information regarding the Nominating Committee can be found at http://nomcom.icann.org . Applications will be considered confidentially and should be received by 15 April 2008 for full consideration. Selections will be announced before mid September 2008. Successful candidates will take up their positions following ICANN's Annual Meeting in November 2008. Questions or comments may be emailed to ICANN at nomcom2008(a)icann.org. Background: The Nominating Committee is designed to function independently from the ICANN Board, Supporting Organisations, and Advisory Committees. Nominating Committee members act only on behalf of the interests of the global Internet community and within the scope of the ICANN mission and responsibilities assigned to it by the ICANN Bylaws. Nominating Committee members contribute understanding of the broad interests of the Internet community as a whole, and knowledge and experience of specific Internet constituencies who have appointed them. The challenge for the Nominating Committee is to integrate these perspectives and derive consensus in its selections. Although appointed by Supporting Organisations and other ICANN entities, individual Nominating Committee members are not accountable to their appointing constituencies. Members are, of course, accountable for adherence to the ICANN Bylaws and for compliance with the rules and procedures established by the Nominating Committee. Successful candidates are not remunerated, although direct expenses incurred in the course of duty will be reimbursed. These positions may involve significant international travel, including personal presence at periodic ICANN meetings, as well as regular telephone and Internet communications. Recent ICANN Meetings have been held in New Zealand, Canada, Luxembourg, Argentina, South Africa, Morocco, Brazil, Portugal, Puerto Rico and the United States. Meetings during 2008 are scheduled for New Delhi, India, Paris, France, and a city in Africa to be announced. The diverse locations facilitate participation across the world's Internet community. _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann -- Best Regards, Becky 254 720318925 beckyit.blogspot.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping

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Broadcasting Treaty: Council of Europe Picks Up Where WIPO Left Off
by Alex Gakuru 14 Dec '07

14 Dec '07

******************************************************************************************************** December 10, 2007. Broadcasting Treaty: Council of Europe Picks Up Where WIPO Left Off By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch The Council of Europe is deliberating on whether to negotiate a convention to protect broadcasters' signals against piracy and thereby take up the issue from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) where negotiations on a proposed broadcasting treaty came to a standstill earlier this year. The Councils decision to proceed depends on approval by its Committee of Ministers. The Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, France, predated and includes the European Union. Link to the article: http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=864 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

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Fw: KICTANET COMPETENCE STATUS SURVERY RPT
by Rebecca Wanjiku 13 Dec '07

13 Dec '07

Here is the report prepared by the lead consultant during KICTANet's institutional assessment. kindly read it and forward your response. best regards, becky ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

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Re: [kictanet] NSIS website hacked?
by James Kagwe 11 Dec '07

11 Dec '07

A dig reveals this; ; <<>> DiG 9.3.2 <<>> nsis.go.ke any ;; global options: printcmd ;; Got answer: ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 76 ;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 5, AUTHORITY: 2, ADDITIONAL: 5 ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;nsis.go.ke. IN ANY ;; ANSWER SECTION: nsis.go.ke. 38172 IN MX 10 mta.wananchi.com. nsis.go.ke. 38172 IN MX 20 mail.wananchi.com. nsis.go.ke. 29891 IN A 62.8.88.6 nsis.go.ke. 17830 IN NS dns2.wananchi.com. nsis.go.ke. 17830 IN NS dns1.wananchi.com. ;; AUTHORITY SECTION: nsis.go.ke. 17830 IN NS dns2.wananchi.com. nsis.go.ke. 17830 IN NS dns1.wananchi.com. ;; ADDITIONAL SECTION: mta.wananchi.com. 63997 IN A 62.8.88.64 mta.wananchi.com. 63997 IN A 62.8.88.63 mail.wananchi.com. 63574 IN A 62.8.88.102 dns1.wananchi.com. 64894 IN A 62.8.64.5 dns2.wananchi.com. 65700 IN A 196.200.36.3 ;; Query time: 15 msec ;; SERVER: 196.200.16.2#53(196.200.16.2) ;; WHEN: Tue Dec 11 17:22:50 2007 ;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 243 A ping reveals this; C:\Dig>ping www.nsis.go.ke Pinging www.nsis.go.ke [62.8.88.6] with 32 bytes of data: Reply from 62.8.88.6: bytes=32 time=50ms TTL=54 Reply from 62.8.88.6: bytes=32 time=31ms TTL=54 Reply from 62.8.88.6: bytes=32 time=29ms TTL=54 Reply from 62.8.88.6: bytes=32 time=36ms TTL=54 Ping statistics for 62.8.88.6: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss), Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: Minimum = 29ms, Maximum = 50ms, Average = 36ms Wananchi are the victims -----Original Message----- From: kictanet-bounces+jkagwe=kippra.or.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+jkagwe=kippra.or.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Odhiambo Washington Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 4:18 PM To: James Kagwe Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] NSIS website hacked? On Dec 11, 2007 3:19 PM, John Walubengo <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > For those who may not know NSIS stands for National > Security Intelligence Service, the Kenyan equivalent of the > American CIA, Russian KGB, Israeli Mossad and the British > M15 get the drift? > > Now these chaps website seems to have been hacked and > defaced. Check out... > > http://www.nsis.go.ke/ > > and please tell me am wrong. You are right, it's been "cracked". However it's hosted by third party, if you look at DNS records, and this can always happen when a server admin installs on a server stuff they don't quite understand, or even plays with a sensitive configuration without thinking much about it. Hey, Walu, it's just the website, the content of which is for public consumption (and public defacing whenever possible to prove a point). -- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254733744121/+254722743223 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "Oh My God! They killed init! You Bastards!" --from a /. post _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: jkagwe(a)kippra.or.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jkagwe%40kippra.or. ke

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Technology SMEs
by Dorcas Muthoni 11 Dec '07

11 Dec '07

You may have heard of the action taken by the Copyright board on software piracy in cyber cafe businesses. This article on Business Daily: http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4522&Item… captures it. We all acknowledge the role of cyber cafe businesses in driving Internet penetration. When small and medium enterprises business owners take decisions to start the Internet shops, they are basically supporting what we all want to see; an e-Kenya. Picking from a recent post on the list regarding the challenges being faced by local computer assembly firms, there is truly an issue with regard to the sustainability of Technology SMEs. These local firms have enabled many Kenyans have affordable computers/clones and Internet access respectively. On average, a cyber cafe with 30 computers requires up to about KES. 1.8million to have genuine copies commodity software frequently used by their customers. Open Source is an approach that can make these commodity software affordable and available to such SME businesses in a way that satisfies customers effectively. We all need to support local technology SMEs because they are really a driver for the this industry. OPENWORLD (www.openworld.co.ke) will conduct an Open Source workshop at the Grand Regency Hotel on, Friday, 14th December 2007 starting 9.00am. The purpose of the workshop is to inform Cyber Café Owners and Operators on how they can benefit from Open Source Software in order to sustain their businesses. It will be interesting to hear from others how we can support technology SMEs since they are a key driver in the growth of the industry. -- Muthoni My Blog: http://rugongo.blogspot.com/ -------------------------------------------- Mahatma Gandhi once said:- First they ignore you, Then they laugh at you, Then they fight you, AND THEN YOU WIN!!!

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Re: [kictanet] Faith in local web hosting
by robert yawe 11 Dec '07

11 Dec '07

Hi Brian, As you rightfully indicate in your post you are coming in late on this discussion, this is the problem with a mailing list unlike a blog or forum the history of a discussion is not maintained. Thus just to get us on the same page your arguments are actually in support of my position, which is that we need to develop local content and hosting capacity as well are reliable country wide connectivity before the arrival of the fiber optic marine cable. The road analogy was to explain my point that the cable is a highway which needs to arrive when we have already created linkages to the rest of the country and not what we seem to be doing which is waiting for the marine cable as the panaceas to all our slow internet issues. You do bring an interested issue in your point on the objective of the roads as a means to cart off our resources, could the fiber optic cable be a modern approach to the same? Regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 KEnya Tel: +254722511225 ----- Original Message ---- From: brian <brian(a)caret.net> To: robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke>; info(a)mediacorp.co.ke Sent: Tuesday, 11 December, 2007 1:44:53 AM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Faith in local web hosting I am coming late to this debate .... more follows: On Wed, 5 Dec 2007 06:03:46 +0000 (GMT), robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > > Your analogy of a Road from Mwea to Kericho is an interesting one, if you > have noticed all roads have led to Nairobi for many years it is only after > those satellite locations have grown sufficient traffic through Nairobi > that we have developed direct linkages. A case in point is the road > connecting from Machakos to Thika, Kitengela to Rongai, and the now being > constructed Njambini Road. > > Why didn't we develop this roads at independence? I differ strongly on this. Most roads in Africa were built to support the largely extractive industrial practices of colonial masters and the post-independence regimes which turned a blind eye to the economic pillage of our countries. Most of these roads are what we continue to re-carpet, repair and depend on for our basic transport. Same applies to telecommunications and other major infrastructure. Any new infrastructure in an African country, be it a road, an airline route or an optic fibre cable needs to be thought out from a fresh standpoint and a mindset that leans towards building internal capacity or providing the platform/environment/atmosphere for local/internal capacity to be built. I have elaborated on this in an AfrISPA position paper - "One Voice - A VOIP Position Paper" while Mucheru has highlighted the market structure and regulatory regimes to support African country's emergent and blossoming ICT sectors in another AfrISPA position paper entitled "The Rules of Engagement" Copies of these papers can be availed freely upon request. Mblayo ___________________________________________________________ Support the World Aids Awareness campaign this month with Yahoo! For Good http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/forgood/

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Re: [kictanet] Faith in local web hosting
by robert yawe 11 Dec '07

11 Dec '07

Dear Mr. Mucheru, I hear you but we are missing out on a vital point, never go to the negotiating table from a position of weakness. What is the likelihood of getting a mortgage from the bank if you have no savings, no job and no business? As I have said before, the fiber is going to land whether I like it or not, but that does not stop me from airing my views. You raise the issue of India have you looked at how much local content they have and their utilisation of local connectivity? If you follow the issue of India closely you will note that they first developed local capacity. India used the so called slow satellite connections to reach the outside world and because of the capacity they had developed the locally Microsoft, Motorola and other large American companies saw the need to increase the speed of connectivity to India. Safaricom should be a case in point for us, how many minutes of International calls do you think is the contribution to their 17 Billion profit. Imagine if they had setup shop & concentrated their efforts on International calling where would they be today? Your analogy of a Road from Mwea to Kericho is an interesting one, if you have noticed all roads have led to Nairobi for many years it is only after those satellite locations have grown sufficient traffic through Nairobi that we have developed direct linkages. A case in point is the road connecting from Machakos to Thika, Kitengela to Rongai, and the now being constructed Njambini Road. Why didn't we develop this roads at independence? What most of you are suggesting is that we put up a Kes. 500,000/- toilet with jacuzzi for a one roomed iron sheet house in Kibera so that the occupant can enjoy themselves for 20 minutes every day. Instead of us continuing to discus the pros and cons of landing the fiber in 2009, lets concentrate our efforts, skills and resources in preparing for its arrival. I do not pretend to have all the answers but together I believe we can better prepare this country for the marine cable than the West African countries did. PS. KAY System designs and implements appropriate local and wide area networks and we are currently working on an online payment system that will make e-commerce a reality to the majority of Kenyans. Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 KEnya Tel: +254722511225 ----- Original Message ---- From: Joseph Mucheru <jmucheru(a)google.com> To: robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke>; info(a)mediacorp.co.ke Sent: Friday, 30 November, 2007 5:15:20 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Faith in local web hosting Robert, I trust this email finds you well. Some important facts I, we are not alone, and neither is Kenya. We need to as a country remain competitive and further more we need to do so efficiently and quickly. Right now our competition in the digital is from all corners of the globe. As we speak bandwidth costs in Kenya are on average US$6,000 per MB while the same bandwidth costs US$ 400 in India, they are able to transact faster and further more hae the ability to have many other services on the same cable compared to our satellite only capacity. We need a highway to the rest of the world for two reason, one is a significant part of our economy is connected to the outside world, be it tourism, importation of medicines, education etc... We cannot ignore that part of the equation. This does not mean we ignore the local needs, the PS took time to outline the current projects gong on to provide national fiber connectivity and he further outlined the time lines for it's deployment. I simple way to look at this is even from a local perspective. We have the various towns in the country each with differing comparative advantages. For example, you get tea from Kericho, rice from mwea etc. It would be very unwise to say that Kericho does not need a road to Mwea because it has not completed building it's own local streets, or Mwea does not need a road or communication to other towns or regions. Kenya has it's own comparative advantages and so do other countries. We need to ensure we have as good if not better linkages the rest of the world not only for the world to access Kenya, but also for Kenya to access the world. I am very sure none of this new to you and it would be a big shame to pour cold water on a project that will be life changing for all of us. For instance, I will have better access to my sisters abroad, I will be able to do Video conferencing with them at an affordable rate. I will be able to watch the International stock markets and other financial markets in the same way. The fact I can do it today with Analogue (Marram road) does not mean Tarmac is bad and should be ignored. By the way Robert what is primary business of KAY System Technologies Ltd Joe Mucheru On Nov 30, 2007 5:33 AM, robert yawe < robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: Kagai, Like all the rest we are misplacing the importance of the marine cable and it is unfortunate that Dr. Ndemo is also unable to provide us with the logical reason for why we need to land this fiber cable. Your issue of digital TV has nothing to do with whether we have the marine cable or not as our transmission is local and thus what we need is a fiber network within the country. I have been listening to that story of digital TV being echoed by many a so called IT gurus. All that the fiber will do is create so much competition for our local stations before they have enough time to adopt or recoup their investments which will result in massive layoffs. If we can negotiate for the delay in opening our markets to sugar maybe we need the same team to look at the pros and cons of the fiber cable landing. Note that the signal sent out by MNet and other satellite channels is digital yet I can watch it on my Greatwall TV which is as analogue as you can get, even come 2010 all that will happen is that set top boxes will be so cheap that there will be no need to replace our TV's. Alternatively look behind your DVD player and tell me how many analogue and digital inputs you have? Just for information purposes do you know that Telkom Kenya has fiber optic cable laid to most high rise building in the city but only 2 or so locations have actually had the fiber terminated onto equipment? I ask anyone to challenge me on this point this includes Eng. Waweru and Mr. Kirui all of who have been party to this wasteful actions. We are being totally wasteful with our resources what makes us think that the landing of the fiber optic cable will change our habits. Kagai, I ask again why do we need to land the fiber optic cable and how will it change your life, leave alone mine? Have an analogue weekend Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 KEnya Tel: +254722511225 ----- Original Message ---- From: Bill Kagai <billkagai(a)gmail.com> To: robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> Cc: info(a)mediacorp.co.ke; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Thursday, 29 November, 2007 10:19:51 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Faith in local web hosting On Nov 28, 2007 8:24 AM, robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > End user ---> Telkom ---> ISP ---> KDN --> ISP --> Telkom --> end user > > Do the math Yawe, you probably need to look at this cable beyond internet. The kind of technology we use today for broadcasting TV is being phased out in Europe by August 2008. TV is now being broadcast on cable or ADSL specifically for beyond quality purposes. You need to ensure that commercial components reach the right people. For instance, that is why CNBC opted to pull out its channel from DSTV bouquet to local stations like KBC with a wider reach. 'Measurement of reach' is capable through adsl/cable connected to the international fibre network. ADSL via optic fibre reinforces the copper that we are not about to do away with anyway in the near future. Copper is not obsolete yet. Optic fibre allows u freeview channels where internet becomes secondary to primary data and voice transmission...and most of all...things we have learned to leave with..such as attenuation distortion...become an old way of life for us in the Africa north of the limpopo but south of of the sahara. Another way of looking at it...when they tell you that computers are down in a bank..most of the times they mean the link to the server is unsteady since they need to ensure that you don't withdraw twice or thrice on the same transaction..satellite does not give you redundancy [read back-up] channels as cable would. With cable, you are able to re-wind live tv instead of having a local disk imersed in your decorder...thanks to the cable. In essence, if u look at the submarine cable minus the copper telephone system and electricity grid then u will not see much. If u look at it in terms of how it adds value to the existing infrastructure, then you will see...how significant albeit small....the hole the international link plus the terrestrial cable needs to fill to sort out our big problems. Bill... Support the World Aids Awareness campaign this month with Yahoo! for Good _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: mucheru(a)google.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mucheru%40google.com -- Joe Mucheru Office Lead, East Africa Google Kenya 7th Floor, Purshottam Place Westlands Road P O Box 66217 - 00800 Westlands Nairobi, KENYA +254 20 360 1701 Office +254 20 360 1100 Fax +254 20 360 1000 Switch Board (Regus) +254 722522135 Mobile http://www.google.com This email may be confidential or privileged. If you received this communication by mistake, please don't forward it to anyone else, please erase all copies and attachments, and please let me know that it went to the wrong person. Thanks. ___________________________________________________________ Support the World Aids Awareness campaign this month with Yahoo! For Good http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/forgood/

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Re: [kictanet] Projections
by robert yawe 11 Dec '07

11 Dec '07

Dr. Ndemo, It is interesting what you have said about how the Koreans used their high speed links initially for pornography, my take would then be why don't we concentrate on providing local pornographic content so that we can get more people online. This will allow us to exist this unproductive use of bandwidth so that we will have higher utilisation of the fiber when it lands. I know the concept here is that the reasons for the initial uptake of a technology is not necessarily what it was designed to do. Regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 KEnya Tel: +254722511225 ----- Original Message ---- From: "bitange(a)jambo.co.ke" <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> To: robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Thursday, 6 December, 2007 1:03:44 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Projections Dear Walubengo, Studies have shown that if you constantly think that you will fail, indeed you fail eventually. I gather that you have already decided to be too pessimistic about the future of ICTs in this country. When the Koreans built their broadband networks, virtually all men were into pornography. After overcoming the spiteful start, they have built wonderful local content and search engines that rival google. You can now project how we shall use the ICTs to remove poverty from our midst. Regards Ndemo. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/robertyawe%40yahoo.co.… ___________________________________________________________ Support the World Aids Awareness campaign this month with Yahoo! For Good http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/forgood/

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Computer parts and peripherals
by Nieri, Diana MainaX 10 Dec '07

10 Dec '07

Hi all, Please check out today's story from PS. Dr. Ndemo on taxes on computer components http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4777&I temid=5847 <http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4777& Itemid=5847> Computer parts and peripherals attract Import Duty and VAT whereas fully assembled systems imported from outside the country attract neither Duty nor VAT .This move has affected Locally assembled Systems adversely, as the very components used in integrating these systems now attracts VAT and Duty thus making them not competitive with International brands. We need to support our own local people to ensure faster access of affordable computers Regards Diana Maina --------------------------------------------------------------------- Branch office of Intel South Africa Corporation 2nd Floor, South Wing, Building 14, The Woodlands Western Service Road, Woodmead, 2148 Johannesburg, South Africa The above is a branch office of: Intel South Africa Corporation A Corporation registered in Delaware, USA Registered Office: 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801, USA Registered No: 2501764 This e-mail and any attachments may contain confidential material for the sole use of the intended recipient(s). Any review or distribution by others is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender and delete all copies.

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latest domain name brief attached DEC 07]
by alice 07 Dec '07

07 Dec '07

Dear all Domain name industry brief by Verisign attached. best alice _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann

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Re: [kictanet] Fibre Optic & Cyber Security, March 2009
by Pauline Muthigani 07 Dec '07

07 Dec '07

Walu, True, Kenya and the whole region have become the preferred destination for executing cyber crimes . Top on the agenda for the ICT fraternity, and the board should be to see to it that the e-legislation bill is passed and enacted much sooner than 2009. My experience with ICT investors especially in eCommerce and eBusiness, confirms that unless the Cyber Security issues are dealt with( investigations and prosecutions etc), Broadband or no Broadband , Kenya still is not a competitive destination as we would wish her to be.Even for the really great digital village initiatives, the risk is high there..I hope the owners are being made aware. What we need is a 'conducive environment and security assured infrastructure' the rest will fit in. The Dubai model is worth borrowing a leaf from. First things first. rgds, Pauline > Security is going to be a mega-issue once the submarine > fiber lands in Mombasa. At the moment Kenya is spared the > full-scale exposure from international cyber crooks simply > because our slow satellite links don't lend themselves to > modern tools of cyber-attacks. > > Here is my macro-projection of what will occur on the > internet-security landscape in March 2009 or thereabout > when the submarine cable is launched. > > 1. Continued delay of national and regional legislation > makes Kenya and E.Africa a safe-haven for cyber-crooks. > > {following the delayed debate and enactment of the > pre-requisite Cyber-legislations (e-Transaction Act, > Cyber-crime Act, Data-protection Act, etc) Kenya has become > the preferred destination for executing cyber crimes and > getting away with it. The crooks are taking advantage of > the lack of legislation as well as the incapacity for the > authorities to investigate, collect, preserve digital > evidence as well as prosecute cyber-crime. > > The newly launched submarine cables seem to have provided a > conducive superhighway for the crooks to deploy there tools > from the comfort of their Chinese, Eastern Europe and other > territories. The Kenya Government seems to have been > caught off-guard and the Internal Security Minister could > not be reached for comment because he was holed up in a > crisis-meeting....} > > 2. Local domains hosting critical national infrastructure > get hit (Banking, KRA, Immigration, Medical Data) > > {....In particular, the successful deployment of > eGovernment initiatives such as KRA, KPA, Banking, Medical > and other data have become a soft-target for the criminals. > They

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