May 2011 - KICTANet

Congress to ICANN: No You Can’t
by Alice Munyua 05 May '11

05 May '11

Congress to ICANN: No You Can’t <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&winname=addthis&pub=ra-4d95fcbc4c…> By David Hatch <http://www.nationaljournal.com/reporters/bio/33> May 4, 2011 | 7:58 p.m. Updated: May 4, 2011 | 10:03 p.m. An effort to dramatically expand the number of Internet suffixes beyond those already in use—such as .com, .net, and .org—met with bipartisan resistance on Wednesday in a House Judiciary subcommittee. During a hearing before Judiciary’s Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet Subcommittee, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (better known as ICANN) said its proposal would pave the way for hundreds or even thousands of additional suffixes, resulting in more choices and innovation. But critics suggest that ICANN, a non-profit based in California, would reap a financial windfall at the expense of companies and non-profits that would be forced to “defensively” register their websites with the new suffixes to protect their trademarks. “I would ask that we balance the costs and benefits of this proposal before a final decision is made to go forward,” said Subcommittee Chairman *Bob Goodlatte*, R-Va., who joined members from both parties in urging ICANN to delay final implementation until concerns about trademark infringement, identity theft, and increased business sector costs can be adequately resolved. While he doesn’t oppose a limited expansion of Internet suffixes, the specifics of ICANN’s approach are troubling to him, he said.** With Goodlatte and other hearing participants projecting that ICANN could earn tens of millions of dollars in additional fees, Rep. *Maxine Waters*, D-Calif., asked: “Where will all this new money end up?*”* Kurt Pritz, senior VP of stakeholder relations at ICANN, said strong safeguards would be in place to protect trademarks, including the ability of parties to object to the adoption of new suffixes. He said ICANN would constantly evolve its plan in an effort to respond to concerns that might arise. But Goodlatte challenged him on those points, noting that ICANN has not taken any preemptive steps to ensure that “legitimate businesses” and non-profits such as the Red Cross and the U.S. Olympic Committee would not be victimized as a result of the changes. Trademark holders are worried about a flood of knock-off sites designed to confuse consumers. For example, Coca Cola could have headaches if someone were to register “Coca-Cola,” with the suffix .soda, to create a new address, www.Coca-Cola.soda <http://www.coca-cola.soda/>, not affiliated with the company. Echoing Goodlatte’s concerns was ranking member *John Conyers*, D-Mich., who said: “I’m worried that the benefits will not outweigh the concerns raised by stakeholders." Conyers recommended a follow-up hearing on the matter and called for ICANN’s proposal to be “held up.” “This has such enormity—the scale of it, the magnitude of the change, the implications for the public, that it behooves everybody to take the time necessary to make sure that we do our best to get it right,” agreed Mei-Lan Stark, senior VP for Fox Entertainment Group, who testified on behalf of the International Trademark Association. --

1 0

Re: [kictanet] Website - I GAVE A BRIBE
by Francis.Hook＠gmail.com 05 May '11

05 May '11

@Andrea, in a sense it would be "nice to know" - nice to know to avoid Ngong Road at 6pm because of errant cops....nice to know that I just need abt half a mil to get a murder charge dropped :-) No but seriously....even if there is no action...at least there will be growing indications of how big the problem is....and if Kenyans can be sensitised about this...then the action can start with them...to avoid the pitfalls, to start taking pictures and recordings knowing that there IS a place to take this - even if KACC or the police do nothing, it puts to shame those doing it. @Norman - that site, yes, based on Ushahidi - but the premise I think was wrong and its mainly traffic and road related. And most of the info it collects is overt (except the police bribes) - the rest of the issues we either know about or are not really measurably relevant (eg reckless driving can be on a short stretch of Mpaka Road (electric avenue) at 3am...or it can be from Kangemi all the way to Westlands by a bus... - how does knowing that help? With corruption, its an unseen evil and most times fixed to certain places. My two zlotys On , Norman Boinett <nboinett(a)gmail.com> wrote: > A solution had been developed and publicized in this list a few months > ago. visit www.overlap.co.ke and revert. > On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 4:09 PM, Francis Hook francis.hook(a)gmail.com> > wrote: > How about one modeled on Ushahidi with some few common categories > (traffic police, regular police, immigration, city council, judiciary, > public service, etc). Then perhaps we can see patterns emerging and if > KACC are watching, then they can better monitor certain geographic > regions/localities/offices by type of graft. > Also interesting information that can be gathered - esp when it comes to > our awareness of our rights, whether such posts can contain details of > why a bribe was eventually paid - most times we are (or suspect we are) > on the right side of the law but get frustrated for nothing (rather > frustrated to offer a bribe) - eg a non-traffic policeman keeping you at > the roadside assking abt fire extinguishers, safety triangles, etc....). > Or a school head delaying with admission of a qualified child, or a > customs agent delaying processing of documents, etc. > Another feature, and assuming people are really honest and not malicious > - if such data could be collated to size up how much we fork out every > day/week/month and what for...now THAT would be interesting. > On 5 May 2011 15:26, Eric Aligula jairah(a)kippra.or.ke> wrote: > Colleagues > Just a thought. As we operationalise county governments, what is the > possibility of setting up a website that would allow those who have or > are forced to or are aware of situations where bribes have been given > and/or asked to anonymously tell their stories? > Can I hear from the community? > Kind regards > EMA > The Lord bless thee and keep thee ........ > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/francis.hook%40gmail.c… > The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform > for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and > regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT > sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and > development. > KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors > online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and > bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect > privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. > -- > Francis Hook > +254 733 504561 > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/nboinett%40gmail.com > The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform > for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and > regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT > sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and > development. > KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors > online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and > bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect > privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.

1 0

Shared Services Masterplan Finalized
by Paul Kukubo 05 May '11

05 May '11

Listers The Kenya ICT Board would like to announce the finalization and handover of the Shared Services Masterplan for government of Kenya. Details on http://www.ict.go.ke/index.php/public-sector-shared-services The project now moves into execution phase. Indeed Ministry of Finance has already commenced the re-engineering and redeployment of the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS). The 6 volume masterplana documents were handed over to PS Ndemo, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Information and Communications and Sam Mwale, Principal Administrative Secretary Cabinet Office, by Accenture's Jessica Long and Victor Kyalo Director of Infrastructure and Projects Kenya ICT Board. The handover took place in the presence of a private and public sector guests at Panafaric Hotel on May 3rd 2011. The lead consultants Accenture Development Partners have worked with the Kenya ICT Board, and Egovernment Directorate for over a year on this project. The eventual aim is to create a world class government back-end system for Human Resources, Financial Management, IT Collaboration and email. Directorate of egovernment and the respective shared services agencies now move into the execution phase. More details on the Kenya ICT Board website. www.ict.go.ke Paul Kukubo Chief Executive Officer, Kenya ICT Board PO Box 27150 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya 12th Floor, Teleposta Towers Koinange Street Tel +254 20 2089061, +254 20 2211960 Fax: +254 20 2211962 website: www.ict.go.ke local content project: www.tandaa.co.ke, www.facebook.com/tandaakenya twitter:@tandaaKENYA BPO Project: www. doitinkenya.co.ke Digital Villages Project: www.pasha.co.ke personal contacts _______________ Cell: + 254 717 180001 skype: kukubopaul googletalk: pkukubo personal blog: www.paulkukubo.co.ke personal twitter: @pkukubo ____________________ Vision: Kenya becomes a top ten global ICT hub Mission: To champion and actively enable Kenya to adopt and exploit ICT, through promotion of partnerships, investments and infrastructure growth for socio economic enrichment

1 0

Government helpless as cyber criminals target women
by Edith Adera 05 May '11

05 May '11

Listers, This article, forwarded to me by a journalist, covers a pertinent issue in the country, which has not been debated much. Congrats Alice for the study and raising some important policy issues that require attention and can make for some interesting debate on this list. Click here for more details http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000034341&cid=4& It's timely given the earlier email shared by a lister in which his life was threatened. I'm shocked to learn from the report that after Government trained policemen for 4 months in the US to set up a cybercrime unit within CID, nothing has taken off and the same "well trained staff" have been redeployed elsewhere! when we all know that current and future crime will take place in cyberspace....are we going forward as a country? Any one knows if there are any plans to resuscitate this unit? Thanks Alice for bringing these issues to our attention! Edith

2 1

Call for Papers and Exhibitions: 1st International Conference on Emerging and Future ICTs (ICEFICT) 2011
by Kamotho Njenga 05 May '11

05 May '11

Fellow Lister, Please find attached the information poster over the above cited conference. The 1st International Conference on Emerging and Future ICTs (ICEFICT) is organized by the ICT Association of Kenya (ICTAK) and hosted by the Kenya Methodist University. Some of the expected final outcomes of the ICEFICT 2011 conference are: -A consensus strategy document that will provide guidance on how scholars and business leaders can cultivate a sustainable relationship to anchor innovative practice -An authoritative case book of experiences that will detail how organizations have taken advantage of technology and how they continue to resolve emergent business and management oriented challenges -Launch of annual proceedings which will act as a repository for technology based knowledge and research -Publication of presented papers in a special edition of the International Journal of Professional Practice (IJPP). This will be an invaluable reference point of home grown knowledge that is extremely relevant for scholarly leadership Thus, by bringing together academicians, industry members and government, we hope to ensure that the bridge between theory and practice is strengthened. Being the premier ICT discussion list it would be great to have KICTanet members seize the conference moment to disseminate seasoned technology based ideas, share research findings, ventilate useful perspectives or stimulate discussion on emerging trends of ICT applications and appropriation. In light of the above, kindly regard this as a special invitation to participate in your preferred mode in the ICEFICT 2011. Kamotho Njenga Secretary, ICEFICT 2011

1 0

AfriNIC Board Election : Opening of the candidacy nomination period for vacant board seats.
by Walubengo J 05 May '11

05 May '11

In case you know suitable candidates from Central Africa or Indian Ocean areas, plse ask them to apply to sit on the AfriNIC Board. NB: AfriNIC is one of the five Regional Internet Registries - organisations that are mandated to allocate and manage global IP resources. walu. --- On Wed, 5/4/11, Ernest - (AfriNIC) <ernest(a)afrinic.net> wrote: From: Ernest - (AfriNIC) <ernest(a)afrinic.net> Subject: [afnog] AfriNIC Board Election : Opening of the candidacy nomination period for vacant board seats. To: "Afnog Mailing List" <afnog(a)afnog.org>, announce(a)afrinic.net, "AfriNIC Resource Policy Discussion List" <rpd(a)afrinic.net>, africann(a)afrinic.net Date: Wednesday, May 4, 2011, 7:34 PM Dear Colleagues, According to Section 11 of the AfriNIC Bylaws, the following members occupying seats on the AfriNIC Board will retire at the end of June 2011: Primary: Viv Padayatchy (Mauritius) - Indian Ocean sub-region Didier R. Kasole (DRC) - Central African sub-region Alternate Lala Andriamampianina (Madagascar) - Indian Ocean sub-region Jean Philemon Kissangou (Congo) - Central African sub region As a result, two (2) seats on the AfriNIC Board will be open for election: A) Seat 3: The Indian Ocean sub-region (Primary and Alternate) Mandate: 2011 to 2014 B) Seat 4: The Central African sub-region (Primary and Alternate) Mandate: 2011 to 2014 We are pleased to invite nominations to fill in the above seats. Any suitable natural person residing in one of the above sub-regions can be nominated provided they comply with the minimum qualifications stipulated in Section 11 of the Bylaws. Self-nominations are also acceptable but need to be endorsed by two AfriNIC members in good standing. Nominees should demonstrate at least three years of managerial experience in the Internet Protocol Service/ Business or other Internet related organisation and preferably hold a senior level position such as Board member or similar. Candidates should be able to actively participate and contribute to all activities conferred to the Board under Section 13 of the AfriNIC bylaws: http://www.afrinic.net/corporate/bylaws.htm. Candidates should have a good comprehension of the English language (the working language of the Board). Nominations should be sent to nomcom2011(a)afrinic.net with the following information: 1. Candidate Information - Nominee (Full name): - Organisation (or affiliation): - Position: Physical address: - e-mail address: - Phone number: - Fax number: - Country of Residence: - Sub-region nominated for: 2. Nominator: Name, e-mail address, organisation and motivation. 3. Seconder Information – in the case of a self-nomination (must be a member of AfriNIC in good standing). Seconder 1: Name, e-mail address, organisation and motivation. Seconder 2: Name, e-mail address, organisation and motivation. 4. Referees : 1. (Name, e-mail address, organisation) 2. (Name, e-mail address, organisation) 5. Brief statement explaining the candidate's background and motivation (in English, and in not more than 500 words). Please highlight what expertise and experience you will bring to the organisation in general and to the board in particular. A copy of the candidate’s CV (in English preferably), should also be attached. The deadline for nominations is Thursday 19 May 2011 at 20:00 UTC. For more information on the election process, please refer to http://www.afrinic.net/elections/process or, in case of clarification you can contact us at nomcom2011(a)afrinic.net Note: It is highly expected that candidates attend the AfriNIC-13 meeting in person on the Election Day (09 June 2011) where they may be afforded an opportunity for introduction and to make a short presentation. More information about AfriNIC is available at http://www.afrinic.net/about.htm Sent on behalf of the Chair, 2011 Nominations/Elections Committee _______________________________________________ afnog mailing list http://afnog.org/mailman/listinfo/afnog

1 0

FW: Journalist Competition Announcement - Extension Conference
by John Matogo 05 May '11

05 May '11

Dear colleagues, This may be of interest to some of you on the list. Regards, John Matogo From: Chevouline, T. Sent: 04 May 2011 17:33 To: Media for Development (Media4Dev) Subject: [ctaseminar2009] Journalist Competition Announcement - Extension Conference Pour les francophones, la version française sera disponible la semaine prochaine. Merci de votre compréhension Dear all, CTA in collaboration with its national, regional and international partners is delighted to announce the launch of the 2011 ACP Media Competition. Open to all media and communication professionals from the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, the competition aims to encourage investigation of challenges and opportunities in providing extension and advisory services to farmers. The competition is being held in conjunction with the International Conference on Innovations in Extension and Advisory Services, which will take place from 15 - 18 November in Nairobi, Kenya. The top six finalists will be supported to attend the conference and provide media coverage. The top three winners will be announced during the event. Submissions are invited to discuss one or more of the following themes: - Policy issues in extension - Capacity Development - Tools and approaches for delivering extension services - Learning networks fostering innovation in extension Interested candidates are invited to send in one original print or audio-visual piece in English, French or Spanish to extension2011(a)cta.int<mailto:extension2011@cta.int>, copying info(a)fara-africa.org<mailto:info@fara-africa.org> and info(a)g-fras.org<mailto:info@g-fras.org> by 15 August. For additional information, please read the attached announcement of the competition. For full details of the competition would be soon available, please visit http://extensionconference2011.cta.int. Contacts: Mr. Samuel Mikenga Mrs Judith-Ann Francis Tel: +31 317 467101 Tel: +31 317 467190 Email: mikenga(a)cta.int<mailto:mikenga@cta.int> Email: francis(a)cta.int<mailto:francis@cta.int> Thilda Chevouline (Ms) Young Professional Officer CTA | P.O. Box 380 | 6700AJ Wageningen |The Netherlands | www.cta.int<http://www.cta.int/> Follow CTA on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/CTApage> and Twitter<http://www.twitter.com/ctaflash> ... Sharing knowledge, improving rural livelihoods ... P please consider the environment before printing this email pensez à l'environnement avant d'imprimer ce message ________________________________ Strathmore University provides all-round education in an atmosphere of freedom and responsibility. This email and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for use by the recipient(s) to whom it is addressed and may contain confidential information. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and permanently delete this email and/or any files attached to it from your computer. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Strathmore University. The University accepts no liability whatsoever for any loss or damages incurred, or suffered, resulting, or arising, from the use of this email and/or its attachments. The University warrants neither the integrity of the e-mail nor its freedom from errors, viruses, interception or any other form of interference. ............................................................................ Website: www.strathmore.edu

1 0

Deadline reminder: call for project write-ups, climate change ICTs and water
by Alan Finlay 04 May '11

04 May '11

Dear all This is a reminder that the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is calling for short two-page project write-ups from initiatives in Africa, LAC and Asia dealing with climate change, ICTs and water. These will be collated into a publication to accompany research in those three regions. Three of the authors of the case studies will be invited to a workshop in South Africa in July. Details of the call, with French and Spanish translations at the bottom of the page, can be found at: http://www.apc.org/en/news/icts-climate-change-and-water-call-project-and-i… For further information on this, please contact Alan Finlay (alan(a)apc.org ). **** Alan Finlay Co-ordinator: ICTs and Environmental Sustainability Association for Progressive Communications (APC) www.apc.org Skype: alan_finlay

1 0

Re: [kictanet] Stingy solution to cable vandalism
by harry＠africanedevelopment.org 04 May '11

04 May '11

Hey Francis, You use armoured fiber in such cases. Harry Quoting Francis Hook <francis.hook(a)gmail.com>: > Interesting...I wonder would corrosive liquids/caustic chemicals (flushed > down toilets) not compromise the fibre? Just wondering... > > > > On 4 May 2011 09:59, robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > >> Hi, >> >> I was reading through the CIO May issue and came across and interesting >> article on the roll out of metro fibre optic cable in South Africa. >> >> i3 Africa is rolling out their national fibre optic cable through the >> sewerage system, this should increase the cost of hiring vandals to sabotage >> the competitors network, this could be a new revenue stream for our local >> authorities. >> >> Regards >> >> "One man's waste pipe is another's data pipe" >> >> Robert Yawe >> KAY System Technologies Ltd >> Phoenix House, 6th Floor >> P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 >> Kenya >> >> Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696 >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> kictanet mailing list >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> >> Unsubscribe or change your options at >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/francis.hook%40gmail.c… >> >> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for >> people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and >> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT >> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. >> >> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors >> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, >> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do >> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. >> > > > > -- > Francis Hook > +254 733 504561 >

2 1

KRA & Postal
by robert yawe 04 May '11

04 May '11

Hi, Yesterday I went to the post office to clear a parcel that had been sent from the US, after inspection by the KRA officer the charges due to KRA where calculated at Kes. 1,130/-. I promptly dipped into my pocket and retrieved the cash but alas I was informed that payment could only be made at a Co-Op or National Bank branch. Well, off I went to the bank, cutting a short story shorter one and a half hours later I was back at the post office to collect the parcel. What is so difficult with KRA having the cash collected at the post office or even better why can't they make it possible for one to pay them using mobile money? This seems a lot like another of those salient schemes to have politically correct organisations make money at the expense of convenience. If KPLC and many other organisations are comfortable with Postal collecting cash for them why does KRA not have the same level of confidence. I hope someone out there will forward my sentiments to the powers that be to resolve this issue. Liko, this might be a good opportunity for PesaPal to expand its reach. Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696

5 5