February 2011 - KICTANet

Country Domain Names Becoming Source of Revenue
by Alice Munyua 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/07/technology/07dotco.html Country Domain Names Becoming Source of Revenue By ERIC PFANN <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/eric_pfanner/i…> The keystroke-saving shortcut is possible because the government of Montenegro makes its “country code top-level domain” — the .me suffix — available to commercial and private Internet users, for a fee. Facebook and other companies have snapped up such addresses to help draw more users to their sites — or to prevent rivals from doing so. The sale of country codes by governments that got lucky when the endings were allocated, securing two-letter combinations that double as widely recognized words or symbols, is not new. The island nation of Tuvalu, for example, has sold its code, .tv, for more than a decade. With a few exceptions, Internet addresses that end with country codes have failed to catch on with consumers, and .com remains the suffix of choice for marketers seeking to establish their Web credentials. But now companies that market country codes like .me, .tv and .co, for Colombia, are stepping up their efforts to sell them worldwide. “The opportunity for us is to become the platform of choice for entrepreneurs around the world,” said Juan Diego Calle, chief executive of .CO Internet, a Miami-based company that operates the .co registry under license from the Colombian government. “To do that, we want to build massive awareness.” One reason for the renewed push is a shortage of potential names ending with the most widely used domain suffix, .com. More than 90 million .com addresses are already in use, and the companies that sell them say few letter combinations are still available. Another reason is a liberalization of the domain name system. The Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, the organization that oversees Internet addresses, recently made it possible to create domain names in non-Latin alphabets, including Cyrillic and Arabic; next year, the organization wants to make it possible to create all sorts of new endings, like .paris or .shopping. Countries like Colombia and Montenegro want to get in before their country codes are lost in the crowd. For cash-strapped governments, the sale of country code domain names is also a nice little earner. Colombia, for example, gets 25 percent of the revenue from sales of the .co name under its deal with .CO Internet. Last year, the company generated a total of $20 million from the sale of .co domains; this year, that is expected to rise to more than $30 million, Mr. Calle said. More than 600,000 .co addresses have been sold, in more than 200 countries, he said. Only about 20,000 of those are actually from Colombia, with the most interest coming from the United States and Europe. The company predicts that the total number of .co registrations will rise to five million within five years. Mr. Calle is hoping for a surge of interest after a high-profile marketing pitch over the weekend. During the Super Bowl <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/super_bowl/i…>, the championship game of American football, the world’s largest domain name registrar, Go Daddy, was set to highlight .co in an advertisement — featuring, as is typical of the company’s cheesy but attention-grabbing spots, “Go Daddy girls” in tight T-shirts and hot pants. In advance of the game, Go Daddy said it planned to introduce a new member of the team, a “.co girl.” While some country codes have had a hard time attracting anything other than niche interest, analysts say the Colombian suffix may have a better chance to rival .com because the letters “co” are recognized in many languages as an abbreviation for “company” and are not merely seen as an abbreviation for the country’s name. “As long as it doesn’t become well-known that it’s just a bastardization of the country code for Colombia, it could take off,” said Josh Bourne, managing partner of FairWinds Partners, which advises companies on the use of domain names. Many of the names with suffixes like .co or .me are simply defensive registrations by companies that want to prevent practices like “cybersquatting” or “domain name parking” — that is, the registration of their name by a third party that essentially holds it for ransom. To prevent that, the operators of a new top-level domain like .co are now generally required to let brand or trademark owners register their own names during a so-called sunrise period. As a result, the address apple.co <http://apple.co/>, for example, automatically redirects traffic to the company’s main site, apple.com <http://apple.com/>. Some companies have been making more creative use of country code domain endings. Like Facebook, a number of well-known Web sites have used them for abbreviated addresses; these include Overstock.com <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/overstockcom-inc/inde…>, an online retailer, which recently added a shorter address, o.co <http://o.co/>, using the Colombian country code. DoMEn, the company that operates the .me registry, has been promoting the use of .me for social media sites and bloggers, seeing it as a natural appendage for people who want to tell the world about themselves. The suffix has been employed, for example, by About.me <http://about.me/>, a start-up that lets users create personal profile pages that aggregate their presence on other social networking services; About.me <http://about.me/> was acquired by AOL <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/aol/index.html?inline…> in December. Other country codes that have been adopted for similar uses include .at (Austria), .cc (Cocos Islands) and .tm (Turkmenistan.) Yet not every country is eager to see its two-letter code adopted by marketers all over the world. France, for example, requires users of .fr to have a physical presence in the country. “Some countries wanted to keep their domains clean and restrictive, but most of them have given up on that by now, in the search for additional revenue,” Mr. Bourne said. While some of the companies selling country code domain names play down their affiliation with the countries that own the rights to these endings, seeing it as a barrier to wider international adoption, that is not the case for doMEn. “It’s a good promotion for Montenegro, said Natasa Djukanovic, international sales director at DoMEn. “A lot of people who didn’t even know we existed now know where we are.” A version of this article appeared in print on February 7, 2011, in The International Herald Tribune.

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Social media & the demolition of a church & clinic
by robert yawe 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

Hi, Many of us have commented on how social media was used in Tunisia and Egypt to pressure the incumbent and we suggested that Kenya might be at the precipice of the same. From the actions over the past two weeks namely the demolition by unknown people with undated court orders and blank title deeds of a Church off Juja Road in Eastleigh and a council clinic in high-ridge is an indication that social media in Kenya is basically that, social. If social media was going to drive change in this country Christians should have been mobilised 2 weeks ago to prevent the demolition of the church and the rest of us over the past weekend to stop the demolition of the public clinic. Kisia got notified so late that by the time he got to site of the clinic the bulldozer had pulled down one side of the building and had already exited the location. No one was even able to get through to the tsar if corruption Dr. P Lumumba, he never appeared on site and neither had the Minister of Public Health. The minister of medical services is away in the US, as per article on the press, but should have gotten a posting on his wall about what was transpiring or even an earlier alert of what was being planned. If social media will create a change then the intention to demolition either of the 2 facilities should have started chatter ignited by a single posting by the typist at NCC who typed the order, or the driver of the bulldozer or anyone else who was privy to such information and when this posting was done it should have a viral effect not only in the spread by also in the reaction. We should have descended on the sites like white blood cells to the site of an infection in the body. For social media in Kenya to have the effect it had in Tunisia or the British student demonstrations aka riots we need to regularly use the media for advocative action such as avoiding a particular matatu because the driver is known to be reckless or the makanga never washes. When there is an accident on the highway causing a major jam we should be able to update other drivers so that they can take action even though it might mean beginning the Mututho hour closer to the office. We need to use it regularly so that we internalise the usage, we should not expect that it will just happen suddenly when a message is posted on a wall and we experience a revolution. President Obama did not just wake up on the eve of the election to make a posting on facebook or twiter no, he used the medium to mobilise people to town hall meetings in nondescript locations many years before he even become senator. Then and only then will the new order manifest itself in Kenya, Mapambano. Regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200e Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696

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Media council Draft bill 2010 (Day Eight--Code of Conduct/Wrapping up)
by Solomon Mburu Kamau 04 Feb '11

04 Feb '11

Back in college, we were studying a unit called 'Communication Ethics' and the introduction was like this: “A doctor, who prescribes medicine for a patient without proper examination, WILL be violating the Code of Ethics. He/she MAY lose the right to practice. A lawyer who deliberately misled a client WOULD be violating a code of ethics. He/she MAY lose the right to practice. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) knowingly signs the statement misrepresenting a company's financial position, WOULD be violating a Code of Ethics. He/ she WOULD lose the right to practice. A journalist who accepts stolen document and poses as a police investigator as to get private telephone conversation, MIGHT be violating a Code of ethics.” It further went on to explain that a doctor, a lawyer and a CPA have mandatory Codes of ethics prescribed and enforced by their professions, while journalism does not have these mandatory code because of the fear that it might infringe upon the right to information. The prescription of a code of conduct for media practitioners is essential in running the profession in a responsible and unbiased manner. The media’s role is to inform, educate and entertain, therefore it must be guarded by the same tenets that are acceptable to the wider population, although, while democracy states the majority rules, not all that the majority say is morally acceptable. While I think it should be accepted, there are some pointers I’ve in regards to the Code of Conduct of the Bill (Second Schedule): Clause 1: (Accuracy and Fairness) Part (a), I still find it recognizing a journalist as a basis for the general term to refer to a reporter, editor or a broadcaster (same as in preliminary). There is a need to having these practitioners identified so as to have diverse players catered for. Part (b): “...it should be corrected promptly.” What is the measurement of prompt? A day, a week, an hour? Time limit should be provided for so that the media practitioners are bound by correcting inaccurate information from being misconstrued to be the true position. Part (c) needs to provide the time that an apology should be published or broadcast. Part (g) misses the element of reporting balancing subject of news, though addressed loosely in Part (c) and distributed widely within the Code of Conduct. Clause 3: (Integrity) Part (a): ‘Confidential sources should be used only when it is clearly in public interest...’ How will their privacy be protected? I’m thinking of members of the Defence Forces or the Civil Service who are not allowed to disclose their sources of information and guarded by respective regulations where they work in. I’m finding Clause 7 (Confidentiality) contradicting Clause 3 (Integrity). While the latter has a room for identifying the sources of news if the lives of the source are at risk, the former is direct opposite in a way. Clause 8 (Misrepresentation):This clause identifies subterfuge as misrepresentation but still the clause give a leeway for journalists to use it to get information. By my understanding, subterfuge is getting news/information by means deception. By using ‘public interest’, the journalist/media enterprise will create an impression that the information is necessary in the interest of the public. The same applies to Clause 9 (Obscenities, Taste and Tone in Reporting). This clause mentions public interest in part (a) and (b), but why should images of the dead, or obscenities have to be published? There is no public interest in displaying such stuff not unless we are promoting the ‘Gutter Press.’ Clause 18 and Clause 19, should, in my view, be integrated with what is in existing legislatures such as Children Act and Sexual Offences Act respectively. Clause 24 (Advertisements): “...the editor should be guided by the Advertiser’s Code of Conduct.”Do we have such a Code in the public domain or it’s the property or individual media enterprises? Clause 25 (Hate Speech): Do we have a statutory definition of what constitutes to “Hate Speech”? What is the definition of “Hate Speech” according to the National Integration and Ethics Commission? Generally, looking at the Code of Conduct, it needs to be fully or partially integrated with the laws of the land for example the Defamation Act (Cap 36) can be a pointer in preventing media houses from defaming the image of people. In my view, clause 25 forms a basis for Cap 36. Media organizations MUST subscribe to the Code of Conduct as one of the basis for operating in Kenya. Those who refuse to prescribe to this Code should have their licences revoked, but then without a transition clause, it remains quiet impossible to effect this. -- *Solomon Mbũrũ Kamau* ***************************************************** *Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill!* AND *It is better to die in dignity than in the ignominy of ambiguous generosity! * http://smiley2.wordpress.com http://mburu.sikika.co.ke

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http://twitter.com/Insafenetwork#
by Barrack Otieno 04 Feb '11

04 Feb '11

Listers, In case you are interested, you can follow Safer Internet Day 2011 on Twitter as well. Best Regards -- Barrack O. Otieno Afriregister Ltd (Kenya) www.afrire <http://www.afriregister.com>gister.bi, www.afriregister.com<http://www.afriergister.com> <http://www.afriregister.com>ICANN accredited registrar +254721325277 +254-20-2498789 Skype: barrack.otieno

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Safer Internet Day 2011
by Barrack Otieno 04 Feb '11

04 Feb '11

Listers, http://www.sidfair.org/web/kenya/home http://www.sidfair.org/web/guest/home <http://www.sidfair.org/web/kenya/home>Best Regards -- Barrack O. Otieno Afriregister Ltd (Kenya) www.afrire <http://www.afriregister.com>gister.bi, www.afriregister.com<http://www.afriergister.com> <http://www.afriregister.com>ICANN accredited registrar +254721325277 +254-20-2498789 Skype: barrack.otieno

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Fw: Last 5 /8s distributed (read, last block of IP version 4s)
by Walubengo J 03 Feb '11

03 Feb '11

Adiel, indeed this is quite a historic moment - that the LAST block of numbers used by the current internet have just been distributed to the five regional internet registries does signal the eminent end of an era (IPv4) and should entrench the beginning of an even more exciting phase of the Internet (IPv6). walu. --- On Thu, 2/3/11, Adiel A. Akplogan <adiel(a)afrinic.net> wrote: From: Adiel A. Akplogan <adiel(a)afrinic.net> Subject: [kictanet] Last 5 /8s distributed To: jwalu(a)yahoo.com Cc: "IOZ" <ioz(a)internet.org.za>, "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, February 3, 2011, 7:23 PM Dear Colleagues, At a ceremony taking place today in Miami (http://www.nro.net/news/icann-nro-live-stream) the last /8s from the IANA IPv4 pool have been distributed to the RIRs and AfriNIC got 102 /8. The rest has been allocated as followed: 103/8 APNIC 2011-02 whois.apnic.net ALLOCATED 104/8 ARIN 2011-02 whois.arin.net ALLOCATED 179/8 LACNIC 2011-02 whois.lacnic.net ALLOCATED 185/8 RIPE NCC 2011-02 whois.ripe.net ALLOCATED You can still follow live the press conference currently going one right now. The central IPv4 pool is gone. Let look at IPv6 the protocol that will support the next generation of the Internet. Thanks.______________________________________________________________________Adiel A. Akplogan Tel. +230 403 51 00Chief Executive Officer, AfriNIC Fax: +230 466 67 58adiel(a)afrinic.net - www.afrinic.net sip: adiel(a)voip.afrinic.net -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: jwalu(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.com

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Last 5 /8s distributed
by Adiel A. Akplogan 03 Feb '11

03 Feb '11

Dear Colleagues, At a ceremony taking place today in Miami (http://www.nro.net/news/icann-nro-live-stream) the last /8s from the IANA IPv4 pool have been distributed to the RIRs and AfriNIC got 102 /8. The rest has been allocated as followed: 103/8 APNIC 2011-02 whois.apnic.net ALLOCATED 104/8 ARIN 2011-02 whois.arin.net ALLOCATED 179/8 LACNIC 2011-02 whois.lacnic.net ALLOCATED 185/8 RIPE NCC 2011-02 whois.ripe.net ALLOCATED You can still follow live the press conference currently going one right now. The central IPv4 pool is gone. Let look at IPv6 the protocol that will support the next generation of the Internet. Thanks. ______________________________________________________________________ Adiel A. Akplogan Tel. +230 403 51 00 Chief Executive Officer, AfriNIC Fax: +230 466 67 58 adiel(a)afrinic.net - www.afrinic.net sip: adiel(a)voip.afrinic.net

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Re: [kictanet] Media council Draft bill 2010 (Day Nine--Wrapping up/Any other business)
by toby＠law-democracy.org 03 Feb '11

03 Feb '11

Hi there, I have a few remaining concerns with the draft Bill: 1) s. 11(1)(c) and (e) refer to subjective grounds for removing members from the Council (incapacity and lack of fitness). Who will decide on this? One idea would be a 2/3 vote of other Council members. 2) s. 12 provides for the Council to receive 'reasonable' remuneration. I would suggest that this be linked to benefits provided to an existing position (eg Human Rights Commission or something along those lines). The same point applies to s. 26 for members of the Complaints Commission. 3) s.19(d) provides for the Council to receive funds from levies and fees that is imposes. This is not inappropriate as long as the level of those fees is set by another body. Unfortunately this is not the case, since s. 20 allows the fees to be set by the Council (ie it can determine its own revenues through fees imposed on the media). 4) s. 23 provides for annual accounts. The Council should also be required to produce an annual report on its activities. 5) s. 36(1) refers to a number of vague obligations on the media. It is not appropriate to require the media by law to inform the public (although this is of course a professional obligation). Otherwise, these obligations should be part of a code of conduct, generated in close consultation with the media and other stakeholders, rather than directly in the law. Best, Toby ___________________________________ Toby Mendel Centre for Law and Democracy toby(a)law-democracy.org Tel: +1 902 431-3688 Fax: +1 902 431-3689 www.law-democracy.org

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Food for Thought
by Edwin Onchari 03 Feb '11

03 Feb '11

Dear Listers, An open ended food for thought! What are the limits (rules of engagement) of demanding better governance i.e. government accountability and efficiency (modern technology) in service delivery and job creation for the majority (read youth/rural folk) through the most applicable (can be open to debate) open channels such as FB/online Forums/Social media (exclusive of the modus operandi in Egypt & Tunisia)? I ask this because, whatever is happening (if at all it is) in that respect, just does not seem to reach the intended crowd (under/unemployed youth/rural folk)! Will this be sustainable?...just wondering! Ed

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Need for BPO sector re-alignment?
by Edwin Onchari 03 Feb '11

03 Feb '11

Dear Listers and passionate BPO industry practitioners, In recent constructive discussions on the state of the BPO sector in Kenya, and how this will impact the contribution to realizing our Vision 2030 goals, one thing clearly emerged. As a country, we have a fragmented strategy of creating a sustainable industry. I strongly feel that we need to a have a joint communiqué (re-aligning of strategies) from the following and any other agency that has/should have BPO as part of its TORs: 1. Kenya ICT Board (The line ministry and supporting agencies such as CCK) 2. KenInvest 3. OPM- BPO/ITES working group 4. Brand Kenya 5. Vision 2030 secretariat 6. The Kenya BPO Society and by membership extension; KEPSA 7. Any other auxiliary industry/government agencies It is imperative that we have a unified, well thought through, strategy for the sector if we were to achieve much. This call is in the back-drop of many industry start-ups and auxiliary service providers, either shutting shop altogether, or suspending BPO departments in their operations (over 40 start-ups have shut down in the last 4 years with a potential loss of 5000 direct jobs). What are your thoughts? Kind regards, Edwin Being on par in terms of price and quality only gets you into the game.Service wins the game. TONY ALESSANDRA

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