August 2008 - KICTANet

Mailing List problems: Bouncing/Unsubscription Issue
by Brian Munyao Longwe 04 Aug '08

04 Aug '08

Dear all, Please note that for what seems to be the past 72 hours the KICTANET mailing list server has been experiencing problems that have led it to trigger a feature that automatically unsubscribes mailing list members. Without going into too much detail, the listserv is hosted by a local ISP who has provided a couple of "outgoing" servers that it relays mail through. One of these has had issues and been illegitimately bouncing back messages to the KICTANET server. If you receive a message asking you to confirm your subscription by clicking on a link, please do while you are online and your normal subscription will continue. We apologise for these technical issues and are working with the ISP in question to have them resolved as soon as possible. Best regards, Brian Munyao Longwe Chair, KICTANET

1 0

Re: [kictanet] ISPs and Bandwidth: CCK Problem
by James Kagwe 04 Aug '08

04 Aug '08

This problem of sharing bandwidth is especially worse in buildings using a common infrastructure e.g. WIMAX or fiber. There is no QOS with almost all these providers and during peak hours all the users experience terrible slow down. The providers will mostly woo you by telling you of possibilities of getting even higher bandwidth than you're paying for when traffic is low, but this only happens in the evenings and over the weekends. Internet is however critical to a business during working hours when real business is transacted and real work done. I think it's only good policies and proper enforcement methods that can help us out in this one. But even worse is the way the SLA's for the provisioning of internet are done. Th common practice is where the ISP's does the document while the customer / consumer just sign it. I think there is need for this practice and role to be reversed so that the consumer does the SLA and ensures there are means to measure whether the ISP is keeping to their part of the bargain and what to do when in violation of the agreement. Otherwise for now they have been having their cake and eating it at the same time, as they are the players and also set the rules of the game. CCK can do this, but there's a need for greater technical capacity to enforce it. Regards ________________________________ 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 wesley kiriinya Sent: Friday, August 01, 2008 1:07 PM To: James Kagwe Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] ISPs and Bandwidth: CCK Problem I should also add that we should accept that the said bandwidth will not always be constant, but a certain acceptable margin should be guaranteed. For example someone signing up for 512 may not receive less than about 400. For some businesses where bandwidth is critical then a smaller variance may apply. I've also heard that the 512 (or whichever amount of bandwidth) can be shared. As long as a client is aware of sharing and s/he knows the net bandwidth they should recieve and the variance to expect, and the client goes ahead and signs the contract then no problem. All in all it's a serious issue that leads to a lot of losses when employees can't work because net is down or too slow. If there was a sturdy on this I wouldn't be surprised if the economy is loosing lots(billions) of money. Also consider companies that are afraid to come into the country because of this bandwidth issue. Regards. --- On Fri, 8/1/08, waudo siganga <emailsignet(a)mailcan.com> wrote: From: waudo siganga <emailsignet(a)mailcan.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ISPs and Bandwidth: CCK Problem To: kiriinya2000(a)yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Friday, August 1, 2008, 12:44 PM Wesley - Your concern is an important one, especially for consumers. I agree with what Mhseshimiwa Rege said yesterday that CCK needs to take more seriously its obligations of ensuring service providers and operators meet obligatory service levels. I do not think that ISPs or other operators/service providers can police themselves. A service like Telkom's ADSL is another example that Kenyans are willing to live with extreme complacency. This service takes to another level what was taught at University that data communications are "bursty", Sometimes you will be lucky to get a few "bursts" in an hour. Two weeks ago our office even lost the ADSL service for about 5 days and yet we are paying a fixed charge of 9,188/= per month. CCK needs to move beyond issuing licences and do its duty under law to ensure that the licensees are meeting the Service levels. This is the only way consumers (who are often ignorant of what to expect) can be protected. Waudo On Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:17:47 -0700 (PDT), "wesley kiriinya" <kiriinya2000(a)yahoo.com> said: Hey, I was wondering whether it's possible for ISPs to be forced under a law (which can be enacted if one doesn't exist) to host applications on their servers that clients can use to check how much bandwidth the client is recieving. I believe it's very unfortunate when ISPs say they are giving a client x bandwidth but the client is experiencing far much less. Isn't that stealing? Bottom line is that the clients need some assurance as to what they are paying for. o_O? People make a plan work, a plan alone seldom makes people work (Confucius).

1 0

U.S. Intends to Remain in Full Control of Internet Root Zone and more
by alice 03 Aug '08

03 Aug '08

1. US: We Will Not Give Up Oversight Of Internet Domain Name Root Zone The Bush administration has no intention of giving up United States oversight role of the management of the central root zone of the internet domain name system (DNS), the essential database storing information on how to reach domain names on the global internet. http://ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1185 2. U.S. Intends to Remain in Full Control of Internet Root Zone, Says Letter from NTIA In a letter sent by bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to ICANN, the department has made it clear that despite recent discussions in Paris meetings, the U.S. department intends to remain in full authority over the Internet root zone. http://www.circleid.com/posts/87315_us_in_control_of_internet_root_zone/ 3. Public Comments: Improving Institutional Confidence in ICANN Dear Chairman Dengate-Thrush: On June 16, 2008, the ICANN posted for public comment a series of interrelated documents prepared by the President's Strategy Committee (PSC) regarding improving institutional confidence in ICANN. The Department of Commerce (Department) takes this opportunity as a member of the community and ICANN's partner in the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) to offers its views on such an important topic. http://www.ntia.doc.gov/comments/2008/ICANN_080730.html 4. Egypt / ICANN meeting [news release] The Government of Egypt has the honor to host, in Cairo, the next ICANN meeting, from 2 to 7 November 2008, at InterContinental CityStars Hotel. The ICANN meeting was previously hosted in Cairo in March 2000, by the Egyptian Ministry of Communications, the Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) and the Internet Society of Egypt. http://appablog.wordpress.com/2008/07/29/egypt-icann-meeting-2/ 5. ICANN To Offload Domains from De-Accredited Registrar When RegisterFly lost its ICANN accreditation, GoDaddy swooped in to take over the registration of RegisterFly clients' domain names. It was a nice pickup for GoDaddy of nearly 1 million domain names. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/07/31/icann-to-offload-domains-from-de-accre… ********************** - ccTLD & gTLD NEWS ********************** 6. Olympic organisers agree to China blocking 'sensitive' internet sites Olympic organisers 'regret' agreement to restrictions but China claims censorship will not affect reporting of Beijing 2008 ... Chinese officials said the censorship would not hamper journalists in their job of reporting the Games. A BOCOG spokesman Sun Weide said that the plan had always been to provide "sufficient" Internet access for foreign reporters. Sites run by the Falun Gong religious sect remain inaccessible, as do most with the word Tibet in their internet address. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4431162.ece 7. Personalize your domain using .ME The .ME Registry officially opened for live, real-time registrations and was met with huge international demand. .ME after .com, .biz, .eduis spreading around the world with more than 50,000 new domain names with the first "live" name registered being: yusu.me. http://www.ciol.com/Developer/Enterprise-Tools/News-Reports/Personalize-you… 8. Barack Obama Goes .Mobi United States Presidential candidate Barack Obama is leveraging the mobile web to get his message out. His campaign is using ObamaMobile.mobi. And unlike most popular .mobi domain names, it actually resolves to a .mobi domain rather than just forwarding to a mobile version of a .com we site. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/07/29/barack-obama-goes-mobi/ 9. Dot-na Doman Remains Hot Potato THE controversy surrounding Namibia's Internet domain name (.na) is not likely to die down soon, given the recent formation of a new Ministry of Information and Communication Technology. http://www.namibian.com.na/2008/July/national/081AFB7980.html http://allafrica.com/stories/200807310688.html 10. InternetNZ selects web advocate board members InternetNZ has appointed four members to its executive board, formed earlier this year as part of a structural review of the society in order to act as an advocate for internet users. http://www.itbrief.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2464&Ite… 11. The WashBiz Guest Blog: A Day At .ORG Welcome to Day 2 of our little experiment in guest blogging, something we hope captures a small slice of Washington at work. All this week we plan to run posts from Adam Palmer, policy counsel for .ORG, the Public Interest Registry based in Reston. Adam works on policy issues dealing with Internet governance, cyber security, and e-commerce. Today, he talks about what one actually does at .org. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/washbizblog/2008/07/the_washbiz_guest_blog_a… 12. UCC abandons attempt to control Uganda domain name The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) says it is not interested in taking over control of the Uganda country code, .ug. The country code is registered to and controlled by Charles Musisi, an Internet entrepreneur who has managed Uganda domain names over the past 12 years. http://www.independent.co.ug/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=736&… 13. Number of domains in the UZ zone exceeds 7,000 The number of domains registered in the .UZ zone exceeded 7,000 as of 25 July, the administration of the .UZ domain zone said. According to the statistics, the number has grown by about 22% from 5,766 since the beginning of the year. http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=58005 ********************** - DNS SECURITY ********************** 14. DNS patches cause problems, developers admit Patches released earlier this month to quash a critical bug in the DNS (Domain Name System) have slowed servers running BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain), the Internet's most popular DNS software, and crippled some systems versions of Windows Server. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&article… http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/07/29/DNS_patches_cause_problems_develo… http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/scrt/EA56EA85FA872164CC257496000F71E7 15. Apple skewered over missing DNS patch Apple has come under fire for failing to patch the critical Domain Name System (DNS) flaw which prompted a (rest of) industry wide response earlier this month. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/29/apple_dns_patch_mia/ 16. With Security at Risk, a Push to Patch the Web Since a secret emergency meeting of computer security experts at Microsoft's headquarters in March, Dan Kaminsky has been urging companies around the world to fix a potentially dangerous flaw in the basic plumbing of the Internet. http://nytimes.com/2008/07/30/technology/30flaw.html http://iht.com/articles/2008/07/30/technology/30flaw.php 17. Hackers start DNS attacks, researcher says Hackers are now actively exploiting a critical flaw in the Domain Name System, but they're not using any of the already known exploits, said a researcher who crafted the first attack code to go public. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&article… 18. Internet providers in Vietnam battle DNS flaw Local internet service providers (ISPs) say they are taking action to overcome a serious flaw inherent in the Domain Name System (DNS) that could allow an attacker to re-direct unwilling web users to dangerous sites. http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2008/07/796258/ ********************** - MISCELLANEOUS ********************** 19. Asia Pacific Internet Community to descend on Christchurch - NZ to host APNIC 26 [news release] Next month, InternetNZ (the Internet Society of New Zealand Inc) and the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) will jointly host APNIC 26, one of the most important meetings in 2008 for the local Internet community. http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/2008/apnicevent 20. InternetNZ appoints Executive Board members [news release] InternetNZ (the Internet Society of New Zealand Inc) is pleased to announce it has appointed Peter Dengate-Thrush, June McCabe, Miki Szikszai, and Judy Speight as members of its recently-established Executive Board. http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/2008/execboard 21. InternetNZ launches Liz Dengate Thrush Foundation [news release] InternetNZ (the Internet Society of New Zealand Inc) is pleased to announce the launch of an Internet entrepreneurship foundation established in memory of Liz Dengate Thrush, a former Councillor of the Society. http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/2008/ldtf 22. Barack Obama Goes .Mobi United States Presidential candidate Barack Obama is leveraging the mobile web to get his message out. His campaign is using ObamaMobile.mobi. And unlike most popular .mobi domain names, it actually resolves to a .mobi domain rather than just forwarding to a mobile version of a .com we site. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/07/29/barack-obama-goes-mobi/ 23. Why We'll Never Replace SMTP by John Levine John Levine An acquaintance asked whether there's been any progress in the oft-rumored project to come up with a more secure replacement for SMTP. Answer: No. Truly, spam isn't a technical problem, it's a social one. If we could figure out some way to make mail recipient networks and hosts willing to shun known bad actors, even at the cost of losing some real mail for a while until the bad actors cave, it would make vastly more difference than any possible technical changes. http://www.circleid.com/posts/replacing_smtp/ 24. Emirates airline website plummets offline in A380 excitement Dubai's government-owned airline, Emirates, forgot to renew its domain name this week, sending its website crashing offline on the same day it was trumpeting delivery of its first Airbus A380 superjumbo. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/31/emirates_domain_loss/ ********************** - DOMAINING & AFTERMARKET ********************** 25. Find an Undervalued Asset. Fix It Up. Flip It. (Now It's Web Sites, Not Houses) Dave Hermansen did not own a bird or a cage when he bought bird-cage.com, an online store, for $1,800 three years ago. He simply saw a Web site that was "very, very poorly done," and begged the owners to sell it to him. He then redesigned the site, added advertising and drove up traffic. Last December, he sold it for $173,000. http://nytimes.com/2008/07/29/technology/29flip.html 26. Matt Bentley Leaving Sedo Sedo Chief Strategy Officer Matt Bentley is leaving the company, Sedo announced today. The move is effective the end of this month. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/07/29/matt-bentley-leaving-sedo/ 27. Imminent Domaining: The domain name market is a hot investment opportunity for entrepreneurs. One hundred domains. Sounds like a good, round, impressive number. And 100 felt like a lot for Howard Hoffman, who began snapping up domains like HealthWater.com and SportsWater.com to help redirect web surfers to his bottled water company's site, taking advantage of what's called "type-in traffic," when users just enter words or a guessed-at domain into the browser address bar. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25932453/ 28. Moniker/Snapnames accidentally sell the wrong domain Imagine the following scenario: A registrant owns a .NET version of your .COM domain and decides to list it with SnapNames. However he mistypes the domain by entering the .COM version in the spreadsheet he sends to his account manager. http://www.domainnamenews.com/registrars/monikersnapnames-accidentally-sell… 29. Crash Course Guide to Domain Name Appraisals Ever looked for new domains to buy in auctions, pending delete, or expired? I'm sure all of us have some difficulty appraising the value of domains. The process is both easy and hard at the same time, especially when considering the long term value and not necessarily the present value. Grabbing a domain name now that holds a potential-value in the future is a real-niche and requires some strategy. Though the remaining names market and especially the gTLDs (Generic Top Level Domain Extensions, e.g. .COM/.NET/.ORG) is saturated and sometimes impossible to get a nice ones but there are some techniques to grab excellent and superior names using some technique we had successfully put on trial and lead us successfully to acquire many domains such as EVERNET.com and PreLanding.com. In this article, I will be highlighting some quick techniques to evaluate domains for the present or near-future resale value. http://www.dotsauce.com/2008/07/31/domain-name-appraisals/ 30. Google makes 6 Figure Offer for KNOL.com For a vacuum cleaner reseller from Dordrecht in the Netherlands, Europe, this week may very well be the time of their life!. The family Knol have been the owner of the domain name knol.com for many years and it looks like Google is interested in purchasing the domain! Google has reportedly offered "a sum of five zeros." http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/google-makes-a-5-figure-offer-for-knol… ********************** - NON-ENGLISH NEWS ********************** 31. Österreicher lieben heimische Domains "Die .com-Ära ist vorbei – wir leben in einem Zeitalter des lokalen Internets, wo regionale Anker immer wichtiger werden", bringt nic.at-Geschäftsführer Richard Wein das Hauptergebnis der Domain-Studie 2008 auf den Punkt. Die im Mai vom Meinungsforschungsinstitut Marketagent durchgeführte Befragung der webaktiven Bevölkerung in Östereich zeigt: ".at" ist im Vormarsch und mit Abstand am beliebtesten bei heimischen Internetnutzern. http://www.computerwelt.at/detailArticle.asp?a=116636&n=5 32. DNS-Lücke in Mac OS X weiter ungepatcht Drei Wochen nach Bekanntwerden der Sicherheitslücke im Domain Name System (DNS) hat Apple bisher noch kein Update für Mac OS X veröffentlicht. "Apple nutzt den populären BIND-DNS-Server des Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) für Mac OS X Server. Obwohl der BIND-Server zu den ersten Anwendungen gehört, für die ein Update zur Verfügung stand, hat Apple die korrigierte Version noch nicht für Mac OS X Server freigegeben", kritisiert der Sicherheitsforscher Rich Mogull in einem Blogeintrag. http://www.zdnet.de/security/news/0,39029460,39194237,00.htm 33. Online-Reisen im Schatten der Typosquatter Reisen werden mittlerweile sehr gerne online gebucht. Netnames, Spezialist für Domainnamen-Management, warnt in diesem Zusammenhang: Schon ein unbedachter Tippfehler in der Internetadresse und Kunden laufen Gefahr, in die Fänge so genannter Typosquatter zu geraten. "Beim Tippen der Domainnamen schleicht sich, egal, ob aus Unwissenheit oder durch die allgemeine Vorurlaubshektik, so mancher Fehler ein. Wollen Reiseanbieter, die das Internet als Vertriebskanal nutzen, potenzielle Kunden nicht verlieren und sich vor Online-Betrügern schützen, gibt es ein einfaches Rezept: Sie können dafür sorgen, dass selbst die nicht ganz korrekte Schreibweise der URL zum richtigen Ziel führt", rät Bernd Beiser, Geschäftsführer der Netnames nicht gänzlich uneigennützig. Unternehmen sollten sich daher auch Domainnamen sichern, die gängige Tippfehler oder Buchstabendreher enthalten. http://www.computerwelt.at/detailArticle.asp?a=116615&n=4 34. Olympisches Komitee akzeptiert Internetzensur in China Kürzlich sprach IOC-Präsident Rogge noch von einem "unzensierten Zugang zum Internet" zu den Spielen in Peking. Ein leeres Versprechen, denn die Zensur geht weiter, auch für die chinesischen DW-WORLD-Seiten. ... Um beispielsweise einen Zugriff auf die Seiten www.dw-world.de/chinese unmöglich zu machen, wird unter anderem verhindert, dass Browser-Eingaben wie www.dw-world.de/chinese mit einem sogenannten Domain Name Server (DNS) in die technisch notwendige Zieladresse in Form einer IP-Adresse (194.55.30.46) übersetzt werden. Gleichzeitig wird der Zugriff auf diese Server-Adressen blockiert, so dass Internet-Anwender auch mit der direkten Eingabe der IP-Adresse nicht zum Ziel kommen. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3524889,00.html 35. Wie China unliebsame Websites blockiert Was den Journalisten im Pressezentrum der Olympischen Spiele in Peking widerfährt, ist im Rest des Landes Alltag: In der Volksrepublik China - mit Ausnahme von Hongkong und Macao - gibt es keinen freien Zugang zum Internet, unliebsame Inhalte lassen die Machthaber blockieren. ... Will man eine Adresse wie «amnesty.org» mit dem Browser aufrufen, muss dieser Name erst in eine für Computer verwendbare, eindeutige Nummernkombination übersetzt werden - die IP-Adresse. Diese Aufgabe erledigen Domain Name Server, welche die Internet Provider betreiben. Die Unternehmen können mit Filtern verhindern, dass die Datenbanken die IP-Adressen regimekritischer Portale ausliefern. http://www.ov-online.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=129170&It… http://www.rhein-main.net/sixcms/detail.php/rmn01.c.5014507.de/v2_rmn_sport… http://www.digitalfernsehen.de/news/news_381044.html 36. Internet-Tippfehler können schnell teuer werden Der britische Domainspezialist Netnames ist ein Unternehmen, das sich auf die Fahne geschrieben hat, Firmenidentitäten und Marken vor Domainmissbrauch zu schützen. http://www.channelpartner.de/knowledgecenter/security/263772/index.html 37. Ist der Provider sicher? [DPA] Auf eine besonders tückische Sicherheitslücke bei der Internetnutzung macht das Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI) in Bonn aufmerksam. Die Lücke besteht im sogenannten Domain Name System (DNS) und betrifft daher potenziell alle Nutzer. http://www.pcwelt.de/start/sicherheit/sicherheitsluecken/news/173581/expert… http://www.n-tv.de/Erst_Update_dann_Virus_Ist_der_Provider_sicher/310720080… 38. Sicherheitslücke: Das Virus kommt per Update Auf eine tückische Sicherheitslücke bei der Internetnutzung macht das Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI) in Bonn aufmerksam. Die Lücke besteht im sogenannten Domain Name System (DNS) und betrifft daher potenziell alle Nutzer. http://www.volksstimme.de/vsm/magazin/digital/digital_news/?&em_cnt=1118023 39. UDRP : la Czech Arbitration Court veut lancer un projet pilote La Czech Arbitration Court (CAC), accréditée comme institution de règlement depuis le 23 janvier 2008, a saisi l'ICANN d'une requête visant à lui permettre d'expérimenter un projet pilote. http://domainesinfo.fr/actualite/1598/udrp-la-czech-arbitration-court-veut-… 40. Express.com : transfert judiciaire d'un nom "hijacké" Après avoir perdu le contrôle du nom de domaine express.com dans des conditions relativement mystérieuses, une société américaine en obtient le transfert devant le juge californien. http://domainesinfo.fr/actualite/1590/express-com-transfert-judiciaire-d-un… 41. Perfectionnement du DRS de Nominet L'institution de règlement des litiges relatifs au .UK a procédé à un ajustement du DRS, faisant de cette procédure un modèle du genre. http://domainesinfo.fr/actualite/1600/perfectionnement-de-la-drs-nominet.php 42. Internet: i domini del registro italiano sono milione e mezzo I domini internet del registro italiano (.it) hanno superato il milione e mezzo con un picco massimo diregistrazioni nel maggio scorso. Si rafforza così la posizione della rete "made in Italy", che conquista così ilquinto posto in Europa ed ilsettimo nel mondo. http://www.nove.firenze.it/vediarticolo.asp?id=a8.07.30.13.56 43. Argentina: Nombres de dominio internacionalizados. Resolución 616/2008. Resolución 616/2008 - REGISTRACION DE NOMBRES DE DOMINIO EN INTERNET. Incorpóranse caracteres multilingües pertenecientes al idioma español y portugués, para la registración de nombres de dominio de Nivel Superior Argentina (.AR). http://www.leandrotoscano.com/2008/07/argentina-nombres-de-dominio.html 44. Aprueban los caracteres en español para dominios web El Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores aprobó los signos en castellano y portugués en la registración de los nombres de dominio de internet de la Argentina. http://www.derf.com.ar/despachos.asp?cod_des=213889&ID_Seccion=21 45. Encuentro LACNIC-CARIBE, se realizó en Curazao, 21-22 de Julio/2008 Más de 70 participantes provenientes de más de 15 países de la región de América Latina y el Caribe se reunieron los 21 y 22 de Julio en Curazao (Antillas Neerlandesas) en el encuentro LACNIC-CARIBE. El encuentro fue seguido por el 4to Foro de Gobernanza de Internet en el Caribe organizado por la Unión de Telecomunicaciones del Caribe (CTU) y contó con el apoyo de la Oficina de Telecomunicaciones y Correo (Bureau of Telecommunication and Post) de Curazao. http://www.latinoamericann.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=articl… 46. Incorporan caracteres multilingües a dominios de internet El Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Internacional y Culto incorporó los caracteres multilingües de los idiomas español y portugués en la registración de los nombres de dominio de internet de Argentina, según publica hoy el Boletín Oficial. http://www.lacapital.com.ar/contenidos/2008/07/31/noticia_0018.html http://www.territoriodigital.com/nota.aspx?c=2778576382109578 http://ar.news.yahoo.com/s/31072008/40/n-argentina-incorporan-caracteres-mu… 47. Story in Vietnamese on DNS http://vn.news.yahoo.com/vne/20080730/ttc-p-a-viet-nam-a-khac-phuc-uoc-60-w… _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann

2 1

Cloud computing - moving the country ahead
by wesley kiriinya 01 Aug '08

01 Aug '08

Good Furahi-day Gentlmen & Ladies, I believe the govenment, parastatals, related agencies and private organizations like financial institutions e.g. CMA, should consider cloud computing as a way to move Kenya ahead. Why? I will answer that briefly with some examples. 1. Any organization (e.g. NGOs) who wants to transact with govenment can link with their Web Service applications. A Web Service application is a piece of software that runs on a server. It encapsulates the business rules of an organization and it is specialized in performing a particular function. More than one Web Service application can be used to create an entire business process. Institutions have rules and services that they provide and sometimes it's not really their interest to act on those rules i.e. they can create rules meant to be followed by other institutions/organizations, these are good candidates for Web Service applications. For example the ministry of immigration can host a Web Service application that simply maintains the records of people in Kenya, and any other institution (e.g. banks) that wants access to this information knows where the official place for getting the information is. Therefore software running in the bank meant should link with the Web Service application from the immigration department to obtain people's records. This point is very summarized. I would encourage you to open your mind and think of the possibilities. One of the basic ideas here is Separation of Concerns i.e. do what you are meant to do and do it well! 2. It is independent of the platform on which the Web services/cloud computing is taking place. 3. There is great investment in the local fibre connection and in the next few years it seems network connection will be very good. 4. Business for data centers. 5. It is local content! 6. It is cheaper to build and maintain. One barrier might be whether the current software systems bought (by government) can be easily configured to work in a cloud computing environment, i.e. having the software run as web services. If these systems were done locally (apart from the obvious gains of employment, utilizing the country's knowlegable workforce, encouraging research in higher education institutions, etc) adjusting them to new technology is convinient and the client buying the software is bound to Kenyan law and not the laws of the country where the software originated. Another advantage of going local is that foreign companies that charge expensively for their software might be reluctant to adjust the software to work with technology that is cheaper for the client and in this case Web Services are probably cheaper as refactoring (changing) the software is less complex because the components are loosely coupled. This is a big topic and I should probably write a proper/formal paper on this but due to time I cannot, though if anyone manages to write one have the courtesy to credit me (if u got the idea from this email). Regards. 8~)

1 0

Cloud computing - moving the country ahead
by wesley kiriinya 01 Aug '08

01 Aug '08

Good Furahi-day Gentlmen & Ladies, I believe the govenment, parastatals, related agencies and private organizations like financial institutions e.g. CMA, should consider cloud computing as a way to move Kenya ahead. Why? I will answer that briefly with some examples. 1. Any organization (e.g. NGOs) who wants to transact with govenment can link with their Web Service applications. A Web Service application is a piece of software that runs on a server. It encapsulates the business rules of an organization and it is specialized in performing a particular function. More than one Web Service application can be used to create an entire business process. Institutions have rules and services that they provide and sometimes it's not really their interest to act on those rules i.e. they can create rules meant to be followed by other institutions/organizations, these are good candidates for Web Service applications. For example the ministry of immigration can host a Web Service application that simply maintains the records of people in Kenya, and any other institution (e.g. banks) that wants access to this information knows where the official place for getting the information is. Therefore software running in the bank meant should link with the Web Service application from the immigration department to obtain people's records. This point is very summarized. I would encourage you to open your mind and think of the possibilities. One of the basic ideas here is Separation of Concerns i.e. do what you are meant to do and do it well! 2. It is independent of the platform on which the Web services/cloud computing is taking place. 3. There is great investment in the local fibre connection and in the next few years it seems network connection will be very good. 4. Business for data centers. 5. It is local content! 6. It is cheaper to build and maintain. One barrier might be whether the current software systems bought (by government) can be easily configured to work in a cloud computing environment, i.e. having the software run as web services. If these systems were done locally (apart from the obvious gains of employment, utilizing the country's knowlegable workforce, encouraging research in higher education institutions, etc) adjusting them to new technology is convinient and the client buying the software is bound to Kenyan law and not the laws of the country where the software originated. Another advantage of going local is that foreign companies that charge expensively for their software might be reluctant to adjust the software to work with technology that is cheaper for the client and in this case Web Services are probably cheaper as refactoring (changing) the software is less complex because the components are loosely coupled. This is a big topic and I should probably write a proper/formal paper on this but due to time I cannot, though if anyone manages to write one have the courtesy to credit me (if u got the idea from this email). Regards. 8~)

1 0

Fwd: NSE @ Week 31
by Bill Kagai 01 Aug '08

01 Aug '08

MediaCorp (c) Empowering Investors** *Global Overview* MediaCorp last week finalised an agreement setting ground for establishment of MediaCorp [UG] Ltd which will now be housed on Plot3, Pan Africa House along Kimathi Avenue in Kampala. This will help us serve our Uganda Clients better and also provide Kenyan investors with better intelligence on the Uganda financial market. MediaCorp [TZ] and MediaCorp Dubai Offices will also be operational by December 2008. Dubai is increasingly becoming the *financial hub closest to Nairobi *and quickly overtaking Johannesburg's relevance more so, due to easier requirements for visa processing and larger capital base supporting the emerging new economy in East Africa. MediaCorp in collaboration with our partner in Dubai will soon be releasing new indices to gauge investment coming from Asia/Middle East into East Africa. As Africa continues to privatise national assets in line with *structural policies of the Bretton Woods institutions*, the mortgage crisis in America which has hit banks severely *prompts new thinking on how effective this strategy really is*. In an election year, the U.S. Congress approved a massive housing market rescue bill on Saturday, offering emergency financing to mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and setting up a USD 300-billion fund to help hundreds of thousands of troubled homeowners. Though this eases but not ends the crisis, it does prove how critical Government involvement is in sensitive facets of the economy. Private finance in mortgages has simply been withdrawn, and *the bill seeks to empower Treasury/Government to buy shares into these companies should they run into trouble*. In other words, Nationalisation has gripped America through the back door and serves as a lesson to African Governments in a hurry to release national assets to private companies who will quickly fold in when signs of economic distress become visible. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac problems can easily be compared to Rift Valley Railways which is clearly on its deathbed should the Government fail to intervene. Running the port and railway as one unit could be the solution East Africa should be pursuing. Globally, stocks behaved badly. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 1.1 percent and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX slipped 0.2 percent. In contrast, the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.2 percent. Britain's blue-chip FTSE index ended 0.2 percent lower on Friday, as banking and insurance stocks fell on a gloomy economic outlook, outweighing gains in commodities and retail sector shares. In Hong Kong and Tokyo, stocks fell by 2% though both markets reported the best weekly gains in 3 months. *Local Highlights* Nothing much to write home about in the local market. Turnover this week declined to Kshs.2.3bn from the previous week's Kshs.5.6bn. The number of shares traded stood at 228M against 231M posted the previous week. The NSE 20-share index was down 1.24% during the week to close at 4963.46 points. The NSE All share index shaved-off a total of 0.23 points during the week to stand at 105.71. *Dividends Update* BAT • 1st & Final Dividend: 4.50/= • Payment: 5-Sep-08 Olympia • Dividend: 0.20/= • Payment: 11-Aug-08 • Books closed: 23-Jul-08 Centum • 1st & Final Dividend: 0.45/= • Books close: 7-Aug-08 • Payment: 16-Oct-08 Kapchorua • 1st & Final Dividend: 0.50/= • Books close: 25-Jul-08 Williamson Tea • 1st & Final Dividend: 0.50/= • Books close: 25-Jul-08 Kenya Airways • 1st & Final Dividend: 1.75/= • Payment: 24-Oct-08 Agriculture sector traded 187,000 shares, which accounted for 0.08% of the week's traded volume. Sasini was the most heavily traded counter in this sector, with 142,000 shares changing hands at between shs.12.80 and shs.14.00. Rea-vipingo unchanged at shs.18.70 moved 41,000 shares. Commercials had 209M shares traded, which accounted for 91.95% of the week's traded volume. Safaricom Ltd was the week's biggest mover with 204M shares dealt at between shs.6.20 and shs.6.95. CMC Holdings eased fifteen cents to close the week at shs.19.85 on a volume of 2.8M shares. Financials had 9.8M shares traded and represented 4.29% of the week's volume. Equity Bank down 0.32% to shs.307.00 moved 879,000 shares despite Kshs 3 Billion in profit for H1. KCB actively moved 3.5M shares at between shs.29.50 and shs.31.00. Centum Investment down 4.81% to shs.24.75 moved 1.6M shares. Industrial sector had 8.1M shares, which accounted for 3.59% of the week's volume. KenGen moved 3M shares during the week and closed at shs.24.50. Mumias Sugar moved 3M shares at between shs.11.00 and shs.12.00. Alternative Investment Segment moved 209,000 shares, which accounted for less than 1% of the week's traded volume. Express Ltd down 0.51% to shs.19.40 sold 200,000 shares. *NSE Highlights* * * * * *18th July* *21st July* *22nd July* *23rd July* *24th July* *25th July* *Price Change * *Price Change * *Shares Traded Last Week* *Total Shares Issued* *Agricultural* *Code* *Unilever Tea* *UNLV* 45.00 45.00 45.00 0.00 0.00% - 48,875,000 *Kakuzi* *KAKZ* 34.50 40.00 39.75 35.00 35.00 0.50 1.45% 3,800 19,599,999 *Rea Vipingo* *RVPL* 18.70 19.80 19.40 18.75 18.75 18.70 0.00 0.00% 41,764 60,000,000 *Sasini* *STCL* 13.55 13.75 13.00 13.05 13.15 13.45 -0.10 -0.74% 142,150 228,055,500 * * * * *Commercial & Services* * * *Access Kenya Group* *AKGL* 34.25 35.50 35.50 32.50 34.75 33.00 -1.25 -3.65% 1,531,783 199,885,578 *Car & Gen* *CAGR* 52.50 50.00 51.00 50.50 51.00 -1.50 -2.86% 3,622 22,279,616 *CMC* *CMCH* 20.00 21.00 20.50 19.95 20.50 19.85 -0.15 -0.75% 2,854,852 582,709,440 *Hutchings Biemer* *HUBM* 20.25 20.25 0.00 0.00% - 360,000 *Kenya Airways Ltd* *KAIR* 48.50 49.00 48.50 47.75 48.75 47.50 -1.00 -2.06% 295,409 461,615,484 *Marshalls*** *MSHL* 30.00 30.00 30.00 30.00 30.00 0.00 0.00% 1,000 14,393,106 *Nation Media Group.* *NATN* 333.00 345.00 346.00 338.00 344.00 339.00 6.00 1.80% 64,589 71,305,260 *Safaricom* *SCOM* 6.20 6.30 6.90 6.45 6.95 6.35 0.15 2.42% 204,880,376 40,000,000,000 *Scangroup Ltd* *SCGP* 31.00 32.00 32.25 30.75 32.00 30.50 -0.50 -1.61% 301,324 160,000,000 *Standard Group Ltd * *STDG* 57.50 59.00 59.50 60.50 56.50 -1.00 -1.74% 12,961 73,275,029 *TPS Eastern Africa (Serena) Ltd* *TPEA* 69.00 69.00 68.50 67.50 69.50 68.50 -0.50 -0.72% 30,486 105,864,742 *Uchumi Supermarkets* *UCHM* 14.50 14.50 0.00 0.00% - 180,000,000 * * * * *Financial* * * *Barclays Bank* *BARC* 68.50 69.00 68.50 68.50 68.00 67.00 -1.50 -2.19% 442,420 1,357,884,000 *CFC Bank* *CFCB* 109.00 115.00 115.00 110.00 111.00 108.00 -1.00 -0.92% 32,599 273,684,211 *Diamond Trust* *DTBK* 94.50 95.00 95.00 94.00 95.00 94.50 0.00 0.00% 99,084 163,037,108 *Equity Bank Ltd* *EQTY* 308.00 306.00 307.00 302.00 307.00 307.00 -1.00 -0.32% 879,717 362,209,905 *Housing Finance* *HFCK* 30.00 32.25 30.50 28.75 28.50 28.75 -1.25 -4.17% 1,274,218 115,000,000 *Centum Limited* *CENT* 26.00 26.50 26.75 25.00 26.00 24.75 -1.25 -4.81% 1,642,000 549,951,880 *Jubilee Holdings Ltd* *JBLH* 181.00 185.00 185.00 177.00 185.00 179.00 -2.00 -1.10% 26,250 45,000,000 *KCB* *KCBL* 30.50 30.25 30.00 30.00 31.00 30.00 -0.50 -1.64% 3,524,598 *Kenya** Re* *KERE* 15.95 16.25 16.00 15.70 16.00 15.75 -0.20 -1.25% 1,239,485 600,000,000 *National Bank* *NBKL* 65.00 61.00 60.50 63.00 61.50 63.50 -1.50 -2.31% 398,706 200,000,000 *National Industrial Credit* *NICB* 58.00 58.50 58.00 56.00 57.50 56.00 -2.00 -3.45% 188,523 296,692,383 *Pan Africa Insurance Holdings Ltd* *PAIH* 73.00 70.00 70.00 70.00 70.00 -3.00 -4.11% 6,200 48,000,000 *Standard Chartered Bank* *SCBL* 202.00 204.00 205.00 200.00 208.00 201.00 -1.00 -0.50% 46,204 271,967,810 * * * * *Industrial & Allied* * * *Athi River Mining Ltd* *ARML* 113.00 105.00 106.00 112.00 108.00 112.00 -1.00 -0.88% 62,801 94,000,000 *BOC (K)* *BOCK* 160.00 160.00 0.00 0.00% - 19,525,446 *Bamburi* *BMBR* 195.00 195.00 192.00 192.00 192.00 190.00 -5.00 -2.56% 5,570 362,959,275 *British American Tobacco* *BATK* 158.00 164.00 161.00 160.00 161.00 159.00 1.00 0.63% 15,087 100,000,000 *Carbacid* *CARB* 137.00 137.00 0.00 0.00% - 11,326,755 *Crown Berger * *CRBG* 38.75 40.00 39.25 38.00 38.75 38.00 -0.75 -1.94% 31,400 23,727,000 *E.A.Cables* *EACL* 38.75 40.25 40.00 38.25 39.50 37.00 -1.75 -4.52% 172,983 202,500,000 *E.A.Portland* *EAPC* 115.00 110.00 108.00 -7.00 -6.09% 400 90,000,000 *E.A.Breweries* *EABL* 194.00 191.00 192.00 194.00 197.00 194.00 0.00 0.00% 393,464 790,774,356 *Eveready East Africa Ltd* *EEAL* 5.10 5.50 5.75 5.10 5.50 5.40 0.30 5.88% 199,650 210,000,000 *Kenol* *KOCL* 90.00 92.50 90.50 89.50 92.50 91.00 1.00 1.11% 670,257 147,176,120 *K.Pow.& L.* *KPLC* 203.00 206.00 201.00 198.00 201.00 191.00 -12.00 -5.91% 142,410 79,128,000 *KenGen* *KEGN* 24.00 23.50 23.25 23.50 23.25 24.50 0.50 2.08% 3,013,895 2,198,361,456 *Mumias* *MSCL* 11.65 12.15 11.95 11.65 11.55 11.20 -0.45 -3.86% 3,004,576 1,530,000,000 *Olympia** Capital Holdings* *OCHL* 15.20 15.20 15.35 14.95 15.10 14.55 -0.65 -4.28% 71,780 40,000,000 *Sameer Africa Ltd* *SAMR* 9.00 9.60 9.50 8.95 9.50 9.10 0.10 1.11% 218,859 278,342,393 *Total* *TOTL* 32.50 30.25 30.00 32.00 29.75 31.75 -0.75 -2.31% 149,600 175,064,706 *Unga* *UNGA* 12.60 13.45 12.65 12.60 12.75 12.45 -0.15 -1.19% 45,354 63,090,728 * * * * *Alternative Investment Market Sector (AIMS)* *A.Baumann* *ABCL* 11.10 11.10 0.00 0.00% - 3,840,066 *City Trust * *CITL* 135.00 148.00 150.00 133.00 -2.00 -1.48% 2,200 5,207,558 *Eaagads* *EAGD* 37.00 35.00 -2.00 -5.41% 4,800 8,039,250 *Express * *EXPK* 19.50 19.55 19.05 19.40 19.40 19.40 -0.10 -0.51% 200,306 35,403,790 *Williamson Tea* *WTKL* 73.00 73.00 73.00 75.00 2.00 2.74% 2,000 8,756,320 *Kapchorua* *KTCL* 75.00 78.00 80.00 78.00 75.00 0.00 0.00% - 3,912,000 *K.Orchads* *KEOL* 3.00 3.00 0.00 0.00% - 12,868,124 *Limuru Tea* *LTCL* 338.00 338.00 0.00 0.00% - 600,000 * * Bildad Kagai MD - MediaCorp Limited Nairobi Stock Exchange Authorised Information Vendor Suite B2, Tetu Apartments, State House Avenue P. O. Box 20311 - 00200 Nairobi, Kenya Tel. 254 20 272 8332 Fax. Rendered Obsolete S - 1°17'13.8" E - 36°48'22.7" --- www.mediacorp.co.ke

4 3