- KICTANet - KICTANet

Misrepresentations?
by Gakuru, Alex 25 Aug '08

25 Aug '08

Dear Alice, Walu, and Edith <http://www.google.co.ke/search?hl=en&q=kictanet%2C+regulator%2C+discussions…> yields the document "Hello Munyua.pdf" published at that includes my name as a participant in a discussion(s) I openly and explicitly stated that I did not wish and never did thus your report contains misrepresentations. (below email forward clearly explains why I chose not to participate.) The report is factually incorrect, and also the said discussions did not take place in the cited time frame, (see list archives) Trivial as it may appear to be, it may have the effect of curtailing list subscriber's active participation in online discussions - not only for misrepresentation but because the output document was never posted onlist or members alerted despite this being the source of its information. It's authors would have had an opportunity for immediate validation and corrections of their points of view, among other members' reactions. Could Edith Adera of IDRC( funders), Alice Munyua and John Walubengo (the authors) kindly explain. Regards, Alex Gakuru PS: I note that in the same month, I asked why I got password reminders from other kictanet list I had never subscribed? That is yet to be answered. AG ---forward--- From: "Alex Gakuru" <alex.gakuru(a)yahoo.com> Add sender to Contacts To: "John Walubengo" <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> Cc: "editors" <mediaeditors(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke>, "media" <media(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke>, "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > > --- Alex Gakuru <alex.gakuru(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > > > > Walu, > > > > > > As you are aware, our consumer network is also > > > scheduled to discuss internet access problems > > facing > > > consumers from next week. This was occasioned by > > the > > > realisation that government and business both > > claim to > > > everything in our best interests only for us to > > > realise we end up with increased tax baggage on > > one > > > shoulder and heavy profit luggage on the other - > > each > > > blaming the other for the problem and neither > > > (honestly) engages consumers. I am still ready > to > > > participate, but only if consumer value > > proposition is > > > visibly clear. > > > > > > First, I am trying to understand whom we are > doing > > > this for? Did CCK ask for our help after they > > > published their Service Charter at > > > http://www.cck.go.ke/html/chatter.asp early this > > year? > > > If so, does it suggest the charter promises are > > not > > > being realised? > > > > > > 1. What motivated this discussion? > > > 2. What shall be the output, to whom, and for > what > > > purpose? > > > 3. "Information Access" crosscutting; > why pick one > > > agency? > > > 4. Would not FOI legislation discussion encompass > > > e-gov services? > > > > > > Freedom of Information guarantees every citizen > > access > > > to ALL information also requiring every public > > body > > > (ministries, state corporation, boards…any > > "person" > > > with the colour of the law) to "proactively > > disclose" > > > public information held in trust. > > > > > > Unless we adopt a holistic approach to access to > > > information, I fear we shall be lost in piecemeal > > > information access discussion (e.g. ECK, KRA, > > > "National Security", et. al.) > > > > > > > > > Alex > > > > > > --- John Walubengo <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > > > > > > I know I am competing for space with the > > overheating > > > > politics in .KE but I have no choice but to > give > > > > notice and > > > > invitation to participate in the above > > e-Discussion. > > > > > > > > The eDiscussions will kick of next Monday > > october > > > > 8th 2007 > > > > and shall ran for 10days. > > > > > > > > The Objective of the discussithe attachedon are: > > > > > > > > • Raise Awareness on the Role and > Objectives of > > > > Information > > > > and Communication Regulators > > > > • Establish the Opportunities that > Internet can > > > > provide in > > > > achieving Regulatory objectives > > > > • Establish the Threats that Internet > presents > > to > > > > Regulatory functions > > > > • Discuss how Regulatory bodies can > utilise the > > web > > > > to > > > > achieve their objectives > > > > • Establish appropriate eCommunication > > Strategies & > > > > Practices for Regulators > > > > • Way forward and conclusions > > > > > > > > Detailed Program is given below: > > > > • What is the Role of Information > Communication > > > > Regulators > > > > – 1day > > > > -Vision, Mission, Objective and functions > > > > -Customer Base (Public, Consumer, Operators, > > CSO, > > > > etc) > > > > • How can Regulators utilise the Internet > to > > achieve > > > > their > > > > objectives -5 days > > > > -What are the Opportunities & Threats > that the > > > > internet > > > > presents to Regulators? > > > > -What are the current web-based Challenges > and > > > > Practices > > > > and for Regulators? > > > > -What Content Should Regulators Provide > Online? > > > > • What are the available e-Communication > > Strategies > > > > for > > > > Regulators- 3days > > > > -What are the possible e-Tools that the > > Regulator > > > > can > > > > deploy in their Service Provision? > > > > -How can Regulators use the e-Tools to > enable > > > > synergies > > > > with Consumers, CSO and other players? > > > > • Way Forward and Conclusions -1day. > > > > > > > > > > > > walu. > > > > "Hello Munyua" http://www.regulateonline.org/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_download…

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Day 10 of 10:-IGF Discussion, Socio-Cultural Issues
by mwende njiraini 25 Aug '08

25 Aug '08

Morning! Today we enter our last day of discussion on Socio-cultural issues. To begin with, we discuss issues relating to content control and freedom of expression. The internet governance discussions on content focus on the need to control three groups of content. Firstly, content where a global consensus is in place including child pornography and terrorism. Secondly, content that might be sensitive to particular countries, regions or ethnic groups due to their religious and cultural values. Thirdly, politically and ideologically sensitive content. There already exist several initiatives that limit the potential misuse of the internet. Are there such initiatives in Africa? How can we enhance national legislation to include a content policy that would guarantee the protection of human rights, specifically freedom of expression and also remove the ambiguous role of ISPs, law enforcement agencies and other players? Secondly, we discuss issues relating to the delivery of education services over the internet (e-learning). Many students from developing countries are today opting for online education to overcome the challenge of prohibitive costs associated with foreign education. Increased cross-border education has brought about international governance issues in relation to accreditation of institutions, recognition of qualification and quality assurance. Is there an existing national policy on online education? What measures need to be put in place to assist our local universities develop e-learning programmes in order to protect our culture/traditions implicitly transmitted through our local institutions as well as prevent capital flight? References: 1. Kurbalija, J. and Gelbstein, E. (2005) Internet governance: Issues, Actors and Divides Again, you are encouraged to contribute to previous discussion threads. Kind regards Mwende Disclaimer: These comments are the author's own

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The Future of the Internet, Addressing the growth of the net and more...
by alice 22 Aug '08

22 Aug '08

. Stephen Colbert interviews Jonathan Zittrain on his book The Future of the Internet Fresh from being awarded his most recent Peabody award, Stephen Colbert interviews Jonathan Zittrain wants to save the good chaos of the Internet and separate it from the bad chaos that will stomp on everything. http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/videos.jhtml?videoId=174083 2. Analysis: FCC Comcast Order is Open Invitation to Internet Filtering Using words like "misdirection," "obfuscation," "absurd" and "verbal gymnastics," the Federal Communications Commission released its formal decision Wednesday ordering Comcast to stop throttling BitTorrrent traffic, a practice the carrier has repeatedly denied performing. http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/08/analysis-fcc-co.html 3. FCC Order scolds Comcast for changing story on P2P blocking "Surrender, Comcast!" declares the FCC in its Order on P2P blocking. The agency also calls on the public to stay vigilant on the issue and aligns itself more closely with the net neutrality movement. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080820-fcc-order-scolds-comcast-for-… 4. Telstra tops Canberra lobbyist list Telstra has emerged as the most active employer of Canberra lobbyists in the IT&T field, although others such as Apple and Google also employ external firms to push their agendas with politicians and government workers. ... Another organisation with an A-list roster of tech firms is Government Relations Australia Advisory, which has worked with ARIA, ICANN, Microsoft, eBay and PayPal. http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/Telstra-tops-Canberra-lobbyist-li… 5. ICANN to Hold Auctions for Disputes ICANN announced this week that it will handle any disagreements over who wins the right to new generic top level domains by auction. http://www.thewhir.com/marketwatch/081908_ICANN_to_Hold_Auctions_for_Disput… 6. ICANN to settle disputes by auction [sun req'd] The body behind the Internet's addressing systems has said that it will settle disputes over who wins the right to new generic top level domains (gTLDs) by auction. http://www.legalbrief.co.za/article.php?story=200808200827208 ********************** - ccTLD & gTLD NEWS ********************** 7. Govt meddling fears hit .hk domain - ISPs are concerned a new government-dominated structure to administer the territory's .hk domain name will leave end-users without a say. The proposed revamp of the Hong Kong Internet Registration Company will see its number of directors slashed from 13 to eight. http://thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=70535&sid=202708… <http://thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=70535&sid=202708…> 8. Boosting numbers in .ke domain names Domain names have increasingly become part of our daily lives, but the uptake of the .ke (dot ke) is still lagging behind. http://bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9451&Itemid=5… <http://bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9451&Itemid=5…> ********************** - DNS SECURITY ********************** 9. Cybersecurity and the Law: Dangerous Cybersilence Sometimes no news is worse than bad news. When a company's data is stolen by hackers, affected customers typically receive a disturbing note from the breached firm, warning that they could soon become victims of identity theft. http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/08/19/cybersecurity-infected-software… 10. Cyberwar isn't a grand struggle - it's a scary prospect of pure chaos When Russian tanks rolled into Georgia, it brought back memories of Soviet-era military conquest - a reminder of the cold war. But whether by accident or design, the fight for South Ossettia appears to have given us a taste of the future as well, with internet attacks on Georgian computer systems resulting in theories about 21st-century warfare spilling out everywhere. The BBC said the situation represented a "virtual echo of battles being fought on the ground", while Slate.com's Evgeny Morozov even enlisted as a Russian cybersoldier to see what was really happening. But while the past fortnight has seen plenty of conjecture, there's been very little hard evidence about the conflict that's taking place in cyberspace. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/21/blogging.internet 11. Cyber war or cyber riot? [ABC Radio audio] The Georgians maintain they've been the victims of cyber-warfare, but there is division within internet security circles about whether what is happening is in fact 'cyber-warfare', whether the Russian government is actually involved and also how significant the event really is. Jart Armin, a London-based internet security analyst, and Gadi Evron, an Israel-based internet security analyst, are interviewed. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2342237.htm 12. Georgia Cyberwar Overblown [Network World] Last week Russian tanks rolled into South Ossetia while Russian bombers were taking out critical communications infrastructure. But even before the first tank rolled across the disputed borders, another war was brewing in cyberspace. http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/150021/georgia_cyberwar_overb… 13. China Netcom DNS cache poisoning Websense Security Labs ThreatSeeker Network has detected that the DNS cache on the default DNS server used by the customers of China Netcom (CNC) has been poisoned. When China Netcom customers mistype and enter an invalid domain name, the poisoned DNS server directs the visitor's browser to a page that contains malicious code. http://www.mag-securs.com/spip.php?article11280 ********************** - DOMAIN DISPUTES ********************** 14. China's Internet chiefs ban names of the Games China's sport authorities have banned the issuing of Internet domain names based on the country's Olympic gold medal-winning athletes to anyone but the medalists themselves. http://english.people.com.cn/90002/94411/95075/6481206.html http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-08/20/content_6954726.htm http://china.org.cn/olympics/news/2008-08/20/content_16281739.htm http://english.eastday.com/eastday/englishedition/nation/u1a3816302.html 15. China limits use of Olympians' names online [AP] China has banned the use of its Olympic gold medalists' names as Internet addresses by anyone but the athletes themselves. The move announced Tuesday came after companies registered the names of winning Chinese athletes at the 2004 Athens Olympics as Web addresses, prompting an outcry by sports fans. http://www.thestate.com/techwire/story/496042.html http://news.smh.com.au/technology/china-limits-use-of-olympians-names-onlin… http://news.theage.com.au/technology/china-limits-use-of-olympians-names-on… http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/20/financial/f0033… 16. Max Levchin's Slide Loses Domain Name Challenge PayPal co-founder Max Levchin and his internet widget company Slide have lost a UDRP decision to obtain the domain SlideTV.com and 127 other associated domain names. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/08/19/max-levchins-slide-loses-domain-name-c… ********************** - IPv4/IPv6 ********************** 17. Addressing the growth of the net Regular commentator Bill Thompson sees no reason to worry about the future of the internet: ... But it's even better if you can focus on aspects of the network's core architecture that few users ever notice, like the unique numerical addresses assigned to every internet-connected device and the complex mechanisms used to move information between those devices. And if you've got an authoritative report from an international body calling for something to be done then you're on to a winner. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7572583.stm 18. Study Shows Glacial Pace of IPv6 Adoption [IDG] A study this week has revealed just how slow is the rate of adoption for IPv6, the next version of the Internet's main communications protocol, and some experts say black markets where companies trade unused IP addresses may be only a few years away. http://www.pcworld.com/article/150013/2008/08/.html http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/081908-study-shows-glacial-pace-of.ht… http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/08/19/Study_shows_glacial_pace_of_IPv6_… http://computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;883066691 http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&article… <http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&article…> 19. Lots of Foot Dragging on IPv6 The IPv4 address space is near exhaustion, yet a new report claims that traffic on the modernized IPv6 protocol is slow and migration to the newer address spaces is sluggish. In a year-long study of 2,393 peering and backbone routers conducted by Arbor Networks, the majority of respondents (customer and peering interfaces) said IPv6 traffic is a small percentage of overall traffic. http://www.opticallynetworked.com/news/article.php/3766321 ********************** - MISCELLANEOUS ********************** 20. "Wildcarding, the implications for the .au space" – Melbourne domain name seminar A seminar and cocktail party sponsored by Melbourne law firm Cooper Mills Lawyers to discuss the .au domain name space, wildcarding and the implications for .au with special guest Ehud Gavron will be held on Tuesday September 2. http://technewsreview.com.au/article.php?article=5688 http://www.domainpulse.com/2008/08/20/wildcarding-implications-au-space-mel… http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/wildcarding-the-implications-for-the-.… 21. Melbourne IT Seeks to Diversify to Ensure Future The internet is meant to be a safe harbour from recession. But no harbour is completely safe - otherwise it would be a lake - so domain registrar Melbourne IT is deepening its earnings streams through cyber diversification. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24208902-30538,00.html 22. Melbourne IT warns of slowing economic growth Slowing economic growth and a tight skills market will make it a challenging year for the IT industry, according to Melbourne IT's chief. http://www.arnnet.com.au/index.php/id;975653726 23. Melbourne IT spends up on systems Domain name and hosting specialist Melbourne IT today unveiled plans to embark on a year-long major technology refresh project, targeting everything from its accounting, billing and provisioning systems to its storage network and data centre. http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Melbourne-IT-spends-up-on-s… 24. Melbourne IT on track for profit growth [AAP] Domain name manager and online services provider Melbourne IT Ltd says it is on track to deliver a sixth consecutive year of growth in revenue and profit after booking a 20 per cent lift in half year profit. http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=507449 25. VeriSign adds SSLs for internationalised domain names [sub req'd] http://telecom.paper.nl/news/article.aspx?id=226636 ********************** - DOMAINING & AFTERMARKET ********************** 26. Sedo Sells JTR.com for $90,000 Three character domain name leads sales chart for Sedo this week. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/08/19/sedo-sells-jtrcom-for-90000/ 27. Domain parking is dead Why parking domains is dead and what you can do to join the web revolution. http://domaininformer.com/guides/General_Information/articles/080819domainp… 28. Search Engine Strategies Domain Live Auction We are live blogging the Domain Auction at the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose. Please note that these are not the official results and while we do our best to provide correct results, there may make an occasional mistake. See the live results after the jump. http://www.domainnamenews.com/domain-auction/search-engine-strategies-domai… _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann

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[Fwd: [governance] Two outrageous stories of so-called "intellectual property protection"]
by alice 22 Aug '08

22 Aug '08

Check this out.... -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [governance] Two outrageous stories of so-called "intellectual property protection" Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:20:53 -0400 From: George Sadowsky <george.sadowsky(a)attglobal.net> Reply-To: governance(a)lists.cpsr.org,George Sadowsky <george.sadowsky(a)attglobal.net> To: governance(a)lists.cpsr.org The two patents APPROVED this month are described below below. It's truly remarkable that such giants of of the information industry can make such unbelievable leaps into the future. I first thought that these were clever jokes. They are not. If you don't believe them, check them in: http://patft.uspto.gov/ http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fneta… http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2F… or just Google the patent numbers for some interesting commentary. Then take action to demand a complete overhaul of the patent system. George ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AWARDED TO IBM! On Tuesday,* IBM* was granted US Patent No. 7,407,089 for storing a preference for* paper* or* plastic* grocery bags on customer cards and displaying a picture of said preference after a card is scanned. The invention, Big Blue explains, eliminates the 'unnecessary inconvenience for both the customer and the cashier' that results when '*Paper* or* Plastic*?' must be asked. The patent claims also cover affixing a cute sticker of a* paper* or* plastic* bag to a customer card to indicate packaging preferences. AWARDED TO MICROSOFT! United States Patent 7,415,666 Sellers , et al. August 19, 2008 Method and system for navigating paginated content in page-based increments Abstract A method and system in a document viewer for scrolling a substantially exact increment in a document, such as one page, regardless of whether the zoom is such that some, all or one page is currently being viewed. In one implementation, pressing a Page Down or Page Up keyboard key/button allows a user to begin at any starting vertical location within a page, and navigate to that same location on the next or previous page. For example, if a user is viewing a page starting in a viewing area from the middle of that page and ending at the bottom, a Page Down command will cause the next page to be shown in the viewing area starting at the middle of the next page and ending at the bottom of the next page. Similar behavior occurs when there is more than one column of pages being displayed in a row. -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ George Sadowsky george.sadowsky(a)gmail.com 2182 Birch Way george.sadowsky(a)attglobal.net Woodstock, VT 05091-8155 http://www.georgesadowsky.org/ tel: +1._802_.457.3370 GSM mobile: +1._202_.415.1933 Voice mail & fax: +1._203_.547.6020 Grand Central: +1._202_.370.7734 SKYPE: sadowsky ____________________________________________________________ You received this message as a subscriber on the list: governance(a)lists.cpsr.org To be removed from the list, send any message to: governance-unsubscribe(a)lists.cpsr.org For all list information and functions, see: http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance

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Day 4 of 10:- IG Discussions, Internet Security.
by John Walubengo 22 Aug '08

22 Aug '08

Morning all, Looks like very little response on yesterday's topic...where's Waudo formerly WGIG member? Nway, today's IG theme is the one with the most consensus across all stakeholders. The fact that the internet is becoming a place to place to work, live, pray or play is widely acknowledged and hence the consensus on the need to protect it. The global and borderless nature of the Internet means that a secure internet needs a concerted global effort as earlier mentioned by Brian. A very secure US-territoial Internet is of no use if for example the Africa-territorial Internet is insecure since phising attacks, viruses, spam, eFrauds and other destabilizing conditions can be launched from there. Spam for example is known to constitute over 60% of email traffic on the Internet, which is a fairly significant chunk of Internet Bandwidth and Server Processing power going to waste. The main internet security debate that cross-cuts into legal/social baskets often centers around: I) How the Internet Protocol (IP) could be improved so as to trace-back the origin of the Spammers, eFraudsters, and other criminals. This may demand implementing IP tools that require all internet services (email, dns, web, etc) to be digitally signed - a feature that would come with some overheads (Mich could again assist here on which overheads these could be) II) The Jurisdiction and Arbitration of eCriminals e.g. How would one resolve a case where a Kenyan ISP is hosting an eCommerce site that sells content that is declared illegal in Germany (e.g Hitler's paraphanallia). Can/Should the Germans shut down the Kenyan business site? III) The delicate balance between pursing security and respecting citizen rights. To what extent should governments go into private emails, phone-logs, etc, in order to safeguard national security? Or what should be the mandatory procedures required of Businesses to safeguard sensitive electronic data of citizens? Plse feel free to add, clarify, object or modify the above. More importantly think of what would be an E.African position on the issues. As usual, 1day on this theme. walu.

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Re: [kictanet] Day 9 of 10:-IGF Discussion, Socio-Cultural Issues
by mwende njiraini 21 Aug '08

21 Aug '08

Great! Is Google East Africa tracking the utilisation of http://www.google.co.tz? I believe the statistics would provide information on the demand for kiswahili on the internet. Kind regards Mwende Disclaimer: These comments are the author's own. On 8/21/08, Joseph Mucheru <jmucheru(a)google.com> wrote: > > Just for your information we just launched the http://www.google.co.tzdomain yesterday with Swahili as the default language. We are also hiring > Luganda experts and this is just the start. > > -- Joe Mucheru > +254722522135 > Google East Africa > Sent from my iPhone > > On Aug 21, 2008, at 8:36 AM, "mwende njiraini" <mwende.njiraini(a)gmail.com> > wrote: > > > > Morning! > > > > Today we move to the final topic of our discussions: Socio-cultural issues. > > > > > The internet is increasingly being utilized as a means to deliver essential > services including health (Telemedicine), education (e-learning) and > governance (e-government services). This has lead to concerns that many > may not take advantage of these developments due to socio-cultural issues > such as language and other cultural barriers. > > > > The English language continues to dominate the internet ( > http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm) however there are several > successful initiatives that have enabled the use of other languages. Indeed, > the Tunis agenda encouraged the realization of multilingualism leading to > discussions on domain name management, access to local content, and > protection of cultural diversity. > > > > Kiswahili was recently voted an official language by the African Union, and > there are already several initiatives that seek to introduce Kiswahili on > the internet. With appropriate policies and incentives the internet can > become a cultural platform specifically for the preservation of language. In > your view is the use of the internet an effective means of language and > cultural preservation? > > > > Again, you are encouraged to contribute to previous discussion threads. > > > > Kind regards > > Mwende > > > > > > > > Disclaimer: These comments are the author's own > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: mucheru(a)google.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mucheru%40google.com > > >

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Unified license takes effect in Kenya]
by alice 21 Aug '08

21 Aug '08

Apologies for breaking the "rhythm" but this has IG implications as well :-) best alice Unified license takes effect in Kenya By Rebecca Wanjiku , IDG News Service , 08/20/2008 The much awaited unified license has taken effect in Kenya after the Ministry of Information and Communication issued new policy guidelines aimed at streamlining license requirements and attracting more investors. The guidelines, revealed in this week's Kenya Gazette notice, drop the multiple licensing regime where services were grouped on the basis of technology. ISPs (Internet service providers), for instance, were formerly required to obtain a separate license to offer VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol). Don't Miss! Read the latest WhitePaper - The Rise of USB in the Data CenterUnder the new license regime, operators and service providers will be licensed under three broad market segments: network facilities providers, application service providers and content service providers. The modified licenses will retain the original terms to give operators time to transfer to the new regime. Network facility providers will own communication infrastructure based on either satellite, terrestrial, mobile or fixed lines. There are three tiers of providers under this category: fixed line network operators; data carrier network operators; and network facilities providers, including local loop providers, international gateway operators and companies providing fiber optic cable landing facilities. Content service provider licensees will provide information and data processing services and include premium rate and credit card validation service providers The unified license policy guidelines were developed after complaints by industry players that the Communications Commission of Kenya required too many licenses and was not taking into consideration issues of convergence in the ICT sector. The guidelines stipulate that the CCK will regulate the adoption of the new licenses and the smooth transition of companies that may hold more than one license. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/082008-unified-license-takes- <http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/082008-unified-license-takes-> effect-in.html __._,_.___ __,_._,___

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Day 9 of 10:-IGF Discussion, Socio-Cultural Issues
by mwende njiraini 21 Aug '08

21 Aug '08

Morning! Today we move to the final topic of our discussions: Socio-cultural issues. The internet is increasingly being utilized as a means to deliver essential services including health (Telemedicine), education (e-learning) and governance (e-government services). This has lead to concerns that many may not take advantage of these developments due to socio-cultural issues such as language and other cultural barriers. The English language continues to dominate the internet ( http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm) however there are several successful initiatives that have enabled the use of other languages. Indeed, the Tunis agenda encouraged the realization of multilingualism leading to discussions on domain name management, access to local content, and protection of cultural diversity. Kiswahili was recently voted an official language by the African Union, and there are already several initiatives that seek to introduce Kiswahili on the internet. With appropriate policies and incentives the internet can become a cultural platform specifically for the preservation of language. In your view is the use of the internet an effective means of language and cultural preservation? Again, you are encouraged to contribute to previous discussion threads. Kind regards Mwende Disclaimer: These comments are the author's own

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Day 7 of 10:-IGF Discussion, Economic Issues
by mwende njiraini 21 Aug '08

21 Aug '08

Morning!! Thank you all for your contribution to various aspects of internet governance. Today we start our discussions on economic issues. The internet is increasingly playing a critical role in economic development specifically in facilitating international trade. The economic issues therefore basically relate to the framework that makes e-commerce possible. The participation of developing countries in e-commerce is limited by the lack the appropriate legislation, authentication technologies and electronic payment methods. The main limitation however is the lack of appropriate legislation that is essential in the protection of consumers in relation to confidentiality, misleading advertising and delivery of faulty products. In your view, who should be responsible for protection of the consumer in light of the fact that the national legislation may be faced with the limitation of jurisdiction? Given that mobile services are available to the majority, should developing countries concentrate their efforts in enabling m-commerce to overcome the challenges of e-commerce? What private sector initiatives are there in e-commerce particularly in e-Payments? Looking forward to hearing from you. Kind regards Mwende Disclaimer: These comments are the author's own

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Day 8 of 10:-IGF Discussion, Economic Issues
by mwende njiraini 21 Aug '08

21 Aug '08

Morning, Today we continue our discussions on economic issues. As the internet becomes critical to global trade, there is debate as to whether governments should expand their tax base to include internet transactions. Internationally there have been proposals for the introduction of e-taxation based on the "Ottawa principles" of destination and origin taxation. Under the destination principle supplies of goods and services are taxed in the jurisdiction in which the goods and services are consumed. This means that exports are zero-rated, while imports are taxed. On the other hand under the origin principle supplies are taxed according to their origin. This means that exports are taxed but imports are not taxed. In your view what principle should be adopted in relation to e-commerce for developing countries? Should the internet be a tax-free zone or have special taxation treatment? You are encouraged to contribute to previous discussion threads. Reference: 1. Internet Governance: Economic Issues Available at: http://textus.diplomacy.edu/textusbin/env/scripts/Pool/GetBin.asp?IDPool=62… August 2008] 2. Options for Taxing Imported Services. Available at: http://taxpolicy.ird.govt.nz/publications/files/html/gstimported/c4.html[Ac… August 2008] Disclaimer: These comments are the author's own

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