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The Reckoning - Regulating #BigTech
by Ali Hussein 26 Feb '19

26 Feb '19

Washington is late to the party but its' implications can be global. This will be interesting to watch. William Barr, in his January confirmation hearings to become the U.S. attorney general, entered into the lexicon a valuable, if redundant, expression to describe the biggest technology companies in the land. “I think a lot of people wonder how such huge behemoths that now exist in Silicon Valley have taken shape under the nose of the antitrust enforcers,” said Barr, an establishment Republican lawyer from central casting—and therefore an unlikely antagonist for Big Business. His locution stuck, heightening the sense that the “behemoths”—Facebook, Google <http://fortune.com/fortune500/alphabet/>, Amazon <http://fortune.com/fortune500/amazon-com/>, Microsoft, Apple <http://fortune.com/fortune500/apple/>, and a handful of less-gigantic competitors—now face a greater regulatory threat than at any other time in their relatively brief existence. Read on:- How Washington will tame #BigTech <http://fortune.com/2019/02/25/silicon-valley-tech-washington-politics/?utm_…> *Ali Hussein* *Principal* *AHK & Associates* Tel: +254 713 601113 Twitter: @AliHKassim Skype: abu-jomo LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> 13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing, Chiromo Road, Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya. 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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[2 Lessons from India's a-duh! moment] 1. Fingerprints can be stolen 2. Aadhaar data leak was the world’s biggest
by Patrick A. M. Maina 20 Feb '19

20 Feb '19

[~10 minute read] [Links below] Two important takeaways from India's "a-duh!" moment: 1. The value of proactive and strategic industry engagement with Government: India has some of the world's smartest techies, but it looks like they have very sub-optimal influence in strategic policy and politics because Aadhaar issues could have been easily foreseen and mitigated. This is the same situation we have in Kenya where the tech industry is often reacting to policies / laws that seem to materialize from "thin air" as different arms of Government operate in silo mode. The reactive approach by industry is dis-empowering and leads to antagonistic / mistrusting relationships or engagements between industry and government whereas the goal should be to get optimal systemic gains through proactive influencing and cooperation. Governments are primarily political organizations and indigenous businesses in Kenya (and Africa) must come to terms with the fact that their operating environment is greatly influenced by the political environment (and government policies / projects / priorities / deadlines are often driven by political goals). It is therefore imperative that indigenous Tech stakeholders get more active and visible in politics to boost local industry's influence on government activities. We should not just engage (as an industry) with/via ICT ministry, but also form direct working links with Finance, Education, Industrialization, Agriculture, Lands, Foreign Affairs and Culture ministries - among others, as well as Parliament and the Senate; and such engagement should go as far as proactively (and strategically) fielding pro-local-industry candidates for parliamentary, senate, cabinet and permanent secretary roles as well as influencing selection of working groups and committees. Be assured the MNCs have dedicated full-time teams that are actively engaging governments 24x7x365 (often dangling carrots - that somehow never materialize - to win undeserved concessions to the detriment of reticent local players). The same MNCs, having external loyalties, aggressively avoid contributing meaningfully to the local society's long-term or strategic well being, e.g. by paying much less relative taxes, thanks to tax havens and Transfer Pricing; suppressing local wages; exacerbating inflation via predatory pricing or exploitative business models; blocking skills transfer; committing immigration corruption to facilitate race-nepotism; and many other value-destroying activities (which are then whitewashed with "CSR" and PR). 2. Corruption is a cultural phenomena: Legislation or technical measures have minimal or greatly degraded impact in an entrenched culture of corruption; so pushing for excessive / draconian laws; adding layers of bureaucracy or introducing intrusive surveillance systems does not (and will never, by itself) solve corruption; it only pushes the vice to higher level of elitism where real unaccountable power is held (as is the case in western countries where corruption is largely a preserve of the super-elite); and that ultimately makes corruption far more difficult - if not totally impossible - to solve. In Kenya, we have a paradoxical advantage of being a young republic... things like corruption are not as entrenched as they are in the more mature republics (hence the low levels of sophistication). I think as a country, we have a better chance of solving the problem, if we look for new ways of thinking about the vice. At the heart of our problem is a system of extrinsic values (excessive reliance on external indicators of achievement e.g. paper certification or displays of material opulence). This needs to be replaced with a system that extols intrinsic values (instilling a deep love for country, vocation and society - and emphasizing that as the most worthy indicator of achievement). Its impossible to superficially declare, impose or proclaim intrinsic values - they have to be modeled in everyday scenarios at all leadership levels, so they can be willingly admired and emulated. This requires a deliberate and strategic highlighting, in collaboration with mass media networks, of strategic role model archetypes that embody the precise values or vocations that are beneficial to our society. Example: The people who do the most critical work in society (e.g. Doctors, Nurses, Educators, Job creators / Small business founders) would be prominently and routinely celebrated. Those employed would be paid well enough to have comparative financial dignity and accorded high levels of respect and admiration in society. Because these professions require intelligence, conscientiousness, hard work, technical mastery, problem solving, ethics and patience - among other desirable qualities, uplifting them will create an environment where society desires to emulate their habits. Now contrast with qualities that politicians need have if they want to get ahead... :-) Further, when the elites who set policy live in a different and disconnected, parallel world: how can they empathize with problems that don't affect them? Their only connection with the populace is the ballot - hence the recurrent cycles of high, but superficial, engagement with society only during voting time where promises of "a better tomorrow" abound. How about a better today, for a change? a. How many Kenyans (% of 45 Million) can fly to America, London, India or South Africa for medical treatment? Would striking Nurses be paid poorly if one condition for getting into public office, for all senior government officials, is that they exclusively use local public hospitals (or resign to access private / international ones)? Wouldn't the public health system improve immediately? This kind of thinking can be extrapolated to nearly all sectors. b. Is education really important? Then why doesn't the status of educators in society (and their pay) reflect their role as the trustees of our economic destiny? c. Does merit matter? If yes, how can we measure merit in a consistent and transparent way? Some countries have a map that links all training offered to real vocation prospects - in view of strategic contexts, economic trends & projections. d. Can we design a "national dream"? A systematized model for merit based achievement where sincere inputs (initiative, effort, innovation) get a high chance of desired outputs; and where dream-hacking like nepotism and cronyism is shunned? National dreams must be anchored on systems and institutions. Let's get engaged with Government in a more proactive and strategic way so that we can address the real issues and reduce the endless firefighting. Best Regards, Patrick A. M. Maina [Cross-Domain Innovator & Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations] Aadhaar Operator's Biometrics Stolen And Misused, UIDAI Documents Prove | | | | | | | | | | | Aadhaar Operator's Biometrics Stolen And Misused, UIDAI Documents Prove Tech-support emails accessed by HuffPost India prove that the biometric identity of an Aadhaar operator were sto... | | | Aadhaar leak biggest data breach of 2018, claims Avast Antivirus study | | | | | | | | | | | Aadhaar leak biggest data breach of 2018, claims Avast Antivirus study The report refers to the incident in which anonymous sellers on WhatsApp charged Rs 500 or less for access to Aa... | | |

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Critical Infrastructure Protection Bill
by Lawrence Dinga, CISSP 20 Feb '19

20 Feb '19

Dear Listers, Could someone kindly direct me where I can find the above Bill. Thanking you in advance Regards [image: Mailtrack] <https://mailtrack.io?utm_source=gmail&utm_medium=signature&utm_campaign=sig…> Sender notified by Mailtrack <https://mailtrack.io?utm_source=gmail&utm_medium=signature&utm_campaign=sig…> 02/20/19, 11:20:20 AM

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Fwd: [afnog] Expression of Interest on collaborative R&D projects with AFRINIC
by Barrack Otieno 19 Feb '19

19 Feb '19

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Amreesh Phokeer <amreesh(a)afrinic.net> Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2019 11:14 Subject: [afnog] Expression of Interest on collaborative R&D projects with AFRINIC To: <afnog(a)afnog.org> Dear Colleagues, AFRINIC is pleased to invite you to express your interest in collaborating on its Research and Development projects. Please find more information on how you can collaborate with AFRINIC by reading this blog article. https://www.afrinic.net/blog/429-expression-of-interest-on-collaborative-pr… ……………………………………………………. Chers collègues, AFRINIC a le plaisir de vous inviter à exprimer votre intérêt pour collaborer à ses projets de recherche. Vous trouverez plus d’informations sur cette collaboration avec AFRINIC en lisant cet article de blog. https://www.afrinic.net/blog/429-expression-of-interest-on-collaborative-pr… Best regards, -- Amreesh D. Phokeer R&D Manager, AFRINIC t: +230 403 51 00 | f: +230 466 6758 | tt: @afrinic | w: www.afrinic.net facebook.com/afrinic | flickr.com/afrinic | youtube.com/afrinicmedia @amreesh Skype: amreesh.afrinic _______________________ _______________________________________________ afnog mailing list https://www.afnog.org/mailman/listinfo/afnog

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Fwd: [afnog] AIS 2019 - CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS - ENGLISH & FRENCH
by Barrack Otieno 19 Feb '19

19 Feb '19

Dear Members, This is for your information attention and action. Thank you Best Regards ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Nancy Dotse <nancydotse(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, Feb 18, 2019 at 9:05 PM Subject: [afnog] AIS 2019 - CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS - ENGLISH & FRENCH To: afnog <afnog(a)afnog.org> Dear Colleagues, We invite all individuals wishing to make presentations during AIS’19, which will be held from 9 to 21 June 2019 in Kampala, Uganda to submit abstracts. The meeting website is now up at https://www.internetsummit.africa To enrich the discussions and share knowledge with the technical community at AIS’19, we are seeking presentations of a wide range of issues, broadly related to growth, access and development of Internet in Africa. Please read the event concept note at https://www.internetsummit.africa/images/AIS19_EN_concept_note.pdf We are specifically interested in presentations focusing on the following areas: • The Internet and Sustainable Development • Internet Governance • Business Practices and Technology • E-governance • Cyber Security • Core Internet Infrastructure • Access, Utility and Development • Internet Number Resources Management • Internet Measurements • Higher Education in the Age of Technology • Cloud Computing • Open Data/Big Data • Technology and Content Production • Relations between Mobile Operators and the Internet Community • Mobile Applications • IPv6 • Peering and Interconnection • DNS • RPKI • IXPs Your contribution can be in the form of a presentation during a session, a tutorial, or a live technical demonstration. Kindly read all information carefully before submitting your proposal. Speakers’ Guidelines • The maximum time allotted per presentation will not exceed 30 minutes. • The presenter(s) will be required to upload their final presentation in PDF format, no later than five (5) days prior to the presentation date. • Presenters are responsible for producing any handouts if required. There are usually approximately 200 delegates in each session. Presentations with marketing and/or commercial content will not be considered. How to submit a Presentation Proposal • Please register/login on the AIS-19 website at: https://www.internetsummit.africa/en/?option=com_afmeeting&view=register • Fill in the online form with the requested information. • In the Speakers section, provide your abstract, your biography and slides if available, then click submit and you are done! Important dates to note • Deadline for submitting an application - 5 April 2019 • Notification of acceptance of application - 12 April 20119 • Submission of presentation - 25 April 2019 …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Appel à Présentations pour AFRINIC-29 est Ouvert Chers collègues, Ceci est un appel à présentations pour la prochaine réunion de l’AIS’19 du 9 juin à 21 juin 2019. Visitez le site web de la réunion à https://www.internetsummit.africa. Nous recherchons des orateurs qui souhaitent partager leurs idées et savoir sur un large éventail de sujets principalement liés à l'accès et au développement de l’Internet en Afrique. Merci de lire la note de concept de la réunion à https://www.internetsummit.africa/images/AIS19_EN_concept_note.pdf Nous sommes plus spécialement intéressés par des présentations mettant l’accent sur : • L'Internet et le développement durable • La gouvernance de l’Internet • La technologie et le business • L’e-gouvernance • La cyber sécurité • L’Infrastructure Internet de base • L’accès, l'utilité et le développement • Gestion des ressources numériques d’internet • Mesures de l'internet • L'enseignement supérieur à l'ère de la technologie • Le Cloud Computing • L’Open Data / Big Data • La technologie et la création de contenu • Les relations entre les opérateurs mobiles et la communauté Internet • Les applications mobiles • L’IPv6 • Le Peering et l’interconnexion • Les DNS • RPKI • Les Points d’Echange Internet Votre contribution peut être sous la forme d’une présentation durant une session, un tutoriel ou une démonstration technique en live. Si vous souhaitez intégrer notre équipe d’intervenants lors de notre future réunion, il vous suffit de suivre ces instructions. Conditions à Remplir • Le temps maximal alloué par présentation ne doit pas dépasser 30 minutes. • Merci de soumettre votre présentation finale en format PDF, au plus tard cinq jours avant la date de votre présentation. • Les présentateurs sont responsables pour produire des documents de support en cas de besoin. Nous avons habituellement une audience constituée d'environ 200 délégués pour chaque session. Les présentations avec un contenu commercial ne sont pas autorisées. Veuillez soumettre votre proposition de présentation selon les étapes suivantes : • Inscrivez-vous sur le site d’AIS’19 : https://www.internetsummit.africa/en/?option=com_afmeeting&view=register • Remplissez le formulaire en ligne • Dans la section ‘Speakers’, soumettre un résumé de votre présentation, votre biographie et des diapositives si disponibles, et cliquer sur sauvegarder et c’est fait!. Dates Clés • Date limite pour soumettre une/des application/s le 5 avril 2019 • Notification d'acceptation de l'application le 12 avril 2019 • Soumission finale de la présentation le 25 avril 2019 _______________________________________________ Announce mailing list Announce(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/announce _______________________________________________ afnog mailing list https://www.afnog.org/mailman/listinfo/afnog -- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254733206359 Skype: barrack.otieno PGP ID: 0x2611D86A

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New Zealand joins global efforts to tax online MNCs (the FANGs)
by Patrick A. M. Maina 19 Feb '19

19 Feb '19

"New Zealand that it plans to update its laws so it can tax revenue earned by multinational digital firms such as Google, Facebook and Amazon, extending a global effort to bring global tech giants into the tax net. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the cabinet had agreed to issue a discussion document about how to update the country's tax framework to ensure multinational companies pay their fair share. "Our current tax system is not fair in the way it treats individual tax payers, and how it treats multinationals," Ardern told reporters at her weekly post-cabinet news conference." New Zealand to target online firms like Google, Facebook and Amazon with digital tax | | | | | | | | | | | New Zealand to target online firms like Google, Facebook and Amazon with... CNBC New Zealand said on Monday that it plans to update its laws so it can tax revenue earned by multinational digita... | | |

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UK Parliamentary report accuses Facebook of behaving like "Digital Gangsters" and calls for urgent regulation.
by Patrick A. M. Maina 18 Feb '19

18 Feb '19

"British politicians accused Facebook of knowingly and intentionally violating data privacy and antitrust law in a damning report into fake news." "Facebook is either 'unwilling' or 'unable' to prevent malicious content". “Companies like Facebook should not be allowed to behave like ‘digital gangsters’ in the online world, considering themselves to be ahead of and beyond the law,” the report warns. Key takeaways from damning UK report on Facebook’s world of “digital gangsters” | ZDNet | | | | | | | | | | | Key takeaways from damning UK report on Facebook’s world of “digital gan... Charlie Osborne The committee report on fake news and data misuse says Facebook maximizes revenue “at all costs” -- even when th... | | | https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/18/facebook-fake-news-inves… Facebook broke law, must be regulated to protect democracy, politicians say | | | | | | | | | | | Facebook broke law, must be regulated to protect democracy, politicians say Katie Collins A report on fake news from Parliament condemns Mark Zuckerberg's "contempt" towards the UK and other countries a... | | | - - - -

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Facebook needs regulation as Zuckerberg 'fails' - UK MPs
by Victor Kapiyo 18 Feb '19

18 Feb '19

Facebook needs far stricter regulation, with tough and urgent action necessary to end the spread of disinformation on its platform, UK MPs have said. A Commons committee has concluded that the firm's founder Mark Zuckerberg failed to show "leadership or personal responsibility" over fake news. Facebook welcomed the digital select committee's report and said it would be open to "meaningful regulation". The Parliamentary report called for: - a compulsory code of ethics for tech companies, overseen by an independent regulator - the regulator to be given powers to launch legal action if companies breach the code - the government to reform current electoral laws and rules on overseas involvement in UK elections social media companies to be forced to take down known sources of harmful content, including proven sources of disinformation - tech companies operating in the UK to be taxed to help fund the work for the Information Commissioner's Office and any new regulator set up to oversee them. Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47255380

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Books and Computers for Milimani School- CSR Opportunity
by kanini mutemi 17 Feb '19

17 Feb '19

Hello Listers, I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Milimani School (a private school in Chogoria, Meru South, Tharaka Nithi County) is looking to stock their library and computer lab so the pupils can access information easily. If any of us listers is interested in supporting the school, kindly email me and I would be happy to get you in touch with the school. Asante! -- *Mercy Mutemi, Advocate*.

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[seeking institutional partner] A new Paradigm-shifting Social Media App with *High Content Integrity* for Africa and beyond.
by Patrick A. M. Maina 17 Feb '19

17 Feb '19

Greetings Listers, I have a technical concept that could solve the online fake news & content integrity riddles at scale - via a completely new way of thinking about social media platforms and their business models. I'd like to partner with a credible private-sector institution to refine and bring this concept to life (through PoC / MVP / MMP to full launch and beyond). Decision makers from interested institutions can reach out to me in confidence via the following email [pmaina2000_at_yahoo_do_t co_m]. This call will remain open until a deal is signed. I will reply to all inquiries that I receive, but will not provide any pre-NDA disclosures. Examples of an ideal partner: 1. A large media house that is looking to get into the digital ads platform space as a platform owner; or 2. A large / well resourced internet-space player with aligned values (pls see below); or 3. A reputable private university; or 4. A large advertising agency; or 5. An institutional investor (e.g. reputable NGO / Impact Fund / Socially Conscious VC). Why it's worth it: 1. Any innovation that significantly reduces or nullifies the impact of fake news and disinformation in the digital realm will help promote peaceful democracy and save lives by preventing socially engineered conflict; 2. Internet and media freedoms will be enhanced (governments will have fewer, if any, legitimate reasons to shut down the internet); 3. Unlike existing solutions, we'll be building with content integrity in mind - from the ground up. 4. Stronger value proposition to advertisers, businesses and society with stronger societal values alignment 5. Milestone linked seed-funding structure. Initial commitment levels directly and incrementally linked to deliverables. 6. Potential for very high (financial and social impact) ROI. Key hypothesis being that there is a high and growing demand globally for a socially responsible alternative to status quo. The partner must: 1. Have a reasonably sophisticated risk appetite (aware that the bet might not pay off, but can afford to run a potentially high-payoff experiment to find out); 2.Be able and willing to self-fund the entire seed round up to MMP launch (~$250,000 USD total). Demonstrate ability to easily raise / provide follow-on funds for rapid continent-wide scaling (>$2M USD) if/when necessary; 3. Have an official business presence in East Africa - preferably in Kenya (or be willing to set up a physical office in Kenya); 4. Be willing to sign a fair and balanced NDA, accept closed-source implementation approach and fund IP protection where strategically relevant and necessary; 5. Be capable of funding the project as an equity investment (no debt or convertibles); and does not have material conflict(s) of interest. 6. Able to fund rapid continent-wide scaling at agreed milestones; 7. Will allow monetization features for commercial self-sustainability. 8. Be willing to consent to a deal that accords me full creative, technical, executive and strategic freedom (+ authority) on the project as CEO; 9. Moves fast, has simple approach, minimal or nil hoops and commits to targets / schedules. 10. Ready to commit long-term (>10 years) if project is viable, hopefully until IPO (i.e. not a venture flipper); 11. Commit to building Africa and Kenya by incorporating the startup's HQ base in Kenya (under Kenyan legal/dispute resolution system). 12. Be willing to accept a conscious capitalism model for the startup. (Conscious Capitalism) | | | | | | | | | | | Conscious Capitalism Conscious Capitalism is a philosophy with a central premise that businesses should serve all major stakeholders,... | | | Looking forward to your inquiries. Thank you! Best Regards, Patrick A. M. Maina.[Cross-domain Innovator / Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations]

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