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IS AMAZON UNSTOPPABLE?
by Ali Hussein 31 Oct '19

31 Oct '19

Listers Relevant in this day of Dominance and Market Failures. Not since the heydays of General Motors in the early and mid years of the 20th Century has a company stood over the industry like a colossal. In many ways Amazon is the New General Motors. Regulators and Policy Makers are circling. Globally, led first by the European Union and now the Americans. On can probably say that the American Government has been generally ambivalent to these issues until early this year when arguably first shot was fired by Makan Delrahim, the head of the Ant-Trust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice., when he said of Tech Companies:- " They should think very seriously about their conduct, if you're one of the big guys, you should be careful to make sure you don't snuff out competitors because you think that's good for your business. That not what free markets really mean, and we're going to come down on you like a ton of bricks if that's what you do." This long article by The New Yorker <https://www-newyorker-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.newyorker.com/magazine…> exemplifies the conundrum of Capitalism today. At what point does success become poisonous? What is good and what is bad? Where do we draw the line? Regulators are coalescing around the Four 'Cs'. 1. *Concentration*: “The bigger a tech company becomes, the more they can bully, so we need to put hard caps on how big companies like that can grow, on what they can acquire.” said an FTC <https://www.ftc.gov/> official. 2.* Conflict*. According to Rohit Chopra <https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/biographies/rohit-chopra>, the second “C” is the conflict of interest that comes from “both controlling the pipe and selling the oil.” Chopra, who agreed to speak only about antitrust generally and not about Amazon specifically, explained, “If you do both, you will structure your marketplace in a way that ultimately is self-dealing, and you will use the data from those who sell on your marketplace to benefit yourself.” There’s a long history of the government forcing industries to separate distribution and sales; for years, movie studios have generally been prohibited from owning movie theatres. Unfortunately too often Amazon has been accused of this sin. Too often. 3.* Contracts*. The next area of concern is contracts. Big tech companies often make highly restrictive deals with smaller venders. Amazon retains a contractual right to hold sellers’ revenues for long periods after a sale and imposes limits on what data sellers can share with other companies. Another F.T.C. commissioner, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter <https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/biographies/rebecca-kelly-slaughter>, said, “There are a lot of terms that go into boilerplate contracts that consumers or workers don’t really have an opportunity to negotiate. It is absolutely appropriate for us to be thinking about banning those.” 4. *Complexity*. Lastly, regulators worry about the complexity of current antitrust law. “You really have to be an expert, or hire an expert attorney, if you feel like one of these companies is acting inappropriately,” an F.T.C. official said. “The law only works when it is simple enough for the little guy to bring an action on their own.” It is recommended reading to all business people, policymakers, activists and regulators. *Ali Hussein* Tel: +254 713 601113 Twitter: @AliHKassim Skype: abu-jomo LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with.

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Invitation to celebration at the iHub
by Nekesa Were 31 Oct '19

31 Oct '19

Good morning Listers! Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB) and iHUB are honoured to cordially invite you to join us as our guest at the official launch of NYOTA, our celebration of Africa’s technology and innovation champions, on Wednesday 6th November 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya. Date: Wednesday, 6th November 2019 Time: 5:00 p.m. Venue: iHub, 6th floor Senteu Plaza, Galana road, Nairobi, Kenya We are bringing together global stakeholders who have contributed immense value to the growth of the innovation and technology ecosystem on the continent. The launch will set precedence to the narrative of CcHUB and iHUB’s mission alignment with a focus on our work across Africa. At this event, we will honour key individuals whose work and influence have positively impacted the growth of technology and innovation on the continent. We call these champions; NYOTA - the Kiswahili word for star. Nyota celebrates our champions as guiding stars for the technology and innovation ecosystems in Africa from Cairo to Cape Town, Dakar to Dar es Salaam. Africa communities have used extensive, centuries-old knowledge of the stars for navigation. As a stakeholder in advancing innovation to catalyze economic and social change across the continent, we look forward to hosting you at this exhibition. Kindly RSVP for the official launch of NYOTA here <https://launchofnyota.splashthat.com/>. You can reach me on +254722625633 or nekesa(a)ihub.co.ke for clarification. -- Warm Regards, Nekesa Were iHub <http://ihub.co.ke/> Too brief? Here's why. <http://emailcharter.org/> +254.722.625.633

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WhatsApp/Facebook v. NSO Group
by Alice Munyua 29 Oct '19

29 Oct '19

Of nterest to those who follow privacy data protection issues. Here is the law suit against NSO group by WhatsApp https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6532441-WhatsApp-Facebook-v-NSO-Gro… https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6532441-WhatsApp-Facebook-v-NSO-Gro…

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African Digital Transformation Strategy and AUC and Advocacy Strategy
by Lydia gachungi 29 Oct '19

29 Oct '19

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Kenya Revenue Authority Data Collection
by tevin mwenda 29 Oct '19

29 Oct '19

Hi Listers, I came across this article today in the business daily on how the Kenya Revenue authority will be collecting data from all the other agencies https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/news/tech-KRA-kit-to-track-car-deals-da…. They have even gone further to request that any new power meter connection be linked to the KRA system. In as much as I know they are doing it with an effort of getting tax cheats I am just wondering what are the implications of such massive data sharing with no Data protection laws in place regarding how such Data should be shared between government entities and what should be shared. Kind Regards Tevin Mwenda Gitonga

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Georgia hit by massive cyber-attack
by Barrack Otieno 29 Oct '19

29 Oct '19

Listers, https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50207192 How prepared are we? Best regards Barrack Otieno

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Fwd: Educators in Uganda/Kenya
by Bitange Ndemo 28 Oct '19

28 Oct '19

If anyone is looking for a job please see below. Ndemo. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Julia Cook <Julia.Cook(a)dukece.com> Date: Mon, Oct 28, 2019 at 5:40 PM Subject: Educators in Uganda/Kenya To: Julia Cook <Julia.Cook(a)dukece.com> Good afternoon, We are looking for educators who deliver the following subjects in UGANDA or KENYA – ( no flights, should be a local educator based in Uganda or Kenya) in November/December this year. · Personal Mastery · High Performing Teams · Design Thinking 25 Senior Managers ( Excellence Programme ) 25 Middle Managers ( Core Programme ) We look forward to hearing from you if you qualify. Thank you *Julia Cook * *Director Network Development Africa* Mobile + 27 83 701-9730 or Landline + 27 87 353 4684 Eden Gardens Building | The Campus Office Park | 57 Sloane Street | Bryanston | Gauteng RSA 2021 Access our journal Dialogue <http://www.dialoguereview.com/> or follow us on LinkedIn <http://www.linkedin.com/company/duke-corporate-education>, Twitter <http://www.twitter.com/DukeCorpEd>, and Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/dukecorped> ------------------------------ DukeCE Privacy Statement: Please be advised that this e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential communication or may otherwise be privileged or confidential and are intended solely for the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient you may not rely on the contents of this email or any attachments, and we ask that you please not read, copy or retransmit this communication, but reply to the sender and destroy the email, its contents, and all copies thereof immediately. Any unauthorized dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited.

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BAKE & Lawyers Hub Event to discuss KICA amendments and Regulation of Social Media
by Linda Bonyo 28 Oct '19

28 Oct '19

Dear Listers, The Bloggers Association of Kenya and the Lawyers Hub are pleased to invite you to this public discussion on the KICA amendments this Thursday evening at 6pm at the Lawyers Hub in Upper Hill. Registration on the link below; tickets are limited, sign up early and we hope to see you on Thursday. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bloggers-lawyers-lawtech-meet-up-on-regulation… -- ______________________________________________ *Linda Bonyo* (Ms.) | CEO, *Lawyers Hub * Tech for Justice ACK Garden House| Block D, 6th Floor |Upper Hill, Nairobi| Kenya Email: bonyo(a)*lawyershub.ke* <bonyo(a)lawyershub.ke> | Skype*:* lawyershubke Tel: +254(0)207840228 Mobile : +254784840228 www.lawyershub.org | www.lawyershub.ke | *_**__________________________________________________________* *DISCLAIMER: The information contained in or accompanying this e-mail is intended for the use of the stated recipient only. It may contain confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information. No confidentiality or privilege is waived or lost by any mistransmission. If you receive this message in error, please immediately delete it and all copies of it from your system, destroy any hard copies of it and notify the sender. You must not, directly or indirectly, use, disclose, distribute, print, or copy any part of this message if you are not the intended recipient. Any views or opinions presented herein are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Lawyers Hub.*

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KICA Amendment- Regulation of Social Media
by kanini mutemi 27 Oct '19

27 Oct '19

Good morning Listers, As GG had alerted us last week, there is a bill before the National Assembly that seeks to amend the Kenya Information and Communication Act by including a part on Regulation of Social Media. I will lead us on a discussion on this Bill. Between 2016 to date, we have seen many attempts to regulate social media conduct. Interestingly, one such attempt, the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, where many of its sections on regulation of social media, have been suspended is coming up for hearing today. Now we tackle yet another attempt to ‘fix’ social media. To start with, I will post the definitions proposed in the bill of the word ‘social media platform’ and ‘blogging’: "*blogging" means collecting, writing, editing and presenting of news or news articles in social media platforms or in the internet;* *"social media platforms" includes online publishing and discussion, media sharing, blogging, social networking, document and data sharing repositories, social media applications, social bookmarking and widgets;* What are your initial thoughts? What ‘problem’ is Hon. Injendi trying to fix with this bill? Who will fall under those definitions? Contributions are welcome. -- *Mercy Mutemi, Advocate*.

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Migrating Russian eagles run up huge data roaming charges - BBC News
by Timothy- Coach- Oriedo 26 Oct '19

26 Oct '19

Anecdotal account of mobile phones tariffs disparities across borders. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50180781 When does e-sim kick into action in global markets? It will offer a solution for tarriff rationalization across borders. Restful weekend to you all. Kind Regards Timothy Oriedo Predictive Analytics Lab lab.predictiveanalytics.co.ke

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