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Re: [kictanet] Bringing Sanity Back to our Roads
by Matunda Nyanchama 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

Without effective deterrence, driver education is meaningless! Greed (including meaningless greed!) prevails. We need a carrot and stick approach! In Europe & North America they tie one's driving record to insurance premiums; traffic violations (based on severity) add up to demerit points; the more one has the higher the insurance premiums - the stick! A good driving records helps save on premiums - the carrot! Here is what I wrote back in the 1990s (Road Accidents in Kenya - Some Thoughts); things seem to have worsened since then, despite the flip in improvement under Michuki. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matunda Nyanchama, PhD, CISSP; mnyanchama(a)aganoconsulting.com Agano Consulting Inc.; www.aganoconsulting.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Be prepared to face ICT Security failures & know how to respond when they happen! Call: +1-888-587-1150 or info(a)aganoconsulting.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk I have a workstation…" - Anonymous ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This e-mail, including attachments, may be privileged and may contain confidential or proprietary information intended only for the addressee(s). Any other distribution, copying, use, or disclosure is unauthorized and strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail and permanently delete the message, including any attachments, without making a copy. Thank you.

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

07 Feb '11

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

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

07 Feb '11

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

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

04 Feb '11

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

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

04 Feb '11

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

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Safer Internet Day 2011
by Barrack Otieno 04 Feb '11

04 Feb '11

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

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

03 Feb '11

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

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

03 Feb '11

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

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

03 Feb '11

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

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Food for Thought
by Edwin Onchari 03 Feb '11

03 Feb '11

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

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

03 Feb '11

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

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Tenders for ICT Board assignments
by Paul Kukubo ICT Board 02 Feb '11

02 Feb '11

Listers Please be aware that the Kenya ICT Board issued expressions if interest as published in yesterday's daily newspapers 1. Expressions of interest for the development of a Kenya ICT incubator. This is a project under the BPO/ITES development program to provide a seed-bed of Kenyan IT firms. 2. Expressions of interest, issued by the Ministry of Information for the Kenya ICT Board. We shall be looking for reputable firms to express interest in providing international country positioning of Kenya Outsourcing. Details on Kenya ICT Board website www.ict.go.ke and click on the link for tenders. Regards Paul Kukubo CEO Kenya ICT Board Sent from my iPad

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Fw: UNCTAD Call for Contributions - Information Economy Report 2011
by Leonard Aloo 02 Feb '11

02 Feb '11

Of interest? Apologies for cross listing. Leonard Obura Aloo ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: ICT4D <ICT4D(a)unctad.org> Sent: Wed, February 2, 2011 7:08:31 PM Subject: UNCTAD Call for Contributions - Information Economy Report 2011 Information Economy Report 2011 - ICTs and Private Sector Development To be launched in late 2011 UNCTAD Call for Contributions The Information Economy Report 2011 will focus on the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in private sector development. A distinction will be made between efforts aimed at addressing internal constraints of enterprise growth and efforts at improving the broader conditions and systems in which private enterprises operate. Possible benefits from more effective use of ICTs may include reduced business costs, reduced risk, higher productivity, better access to markets and increased competition. In this context, UNCTAD is launching an open call for contributions. UNCTAD is interested in receiving studies/articles related to how governments and other stakeholders are applying ICT applications to support the creation or growth of enterprises in developing countries. Evidence of success or failure cases is also welcome. Deadline: 18 March 2011 Contributions should be sent to: ict4d(a)unctad.org

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Re: [kictanet] [Skunkworks] What would it take to create an internet blackoutin kenya?
by James Muendo 02 Feb '11

02 Feb '11

I found this interesting: 3 Projects to Create a Government-less Internet<http://www.readwriteweb.com/cloud/2011/01/3-projects-to-create-a-government…> http://rww.to/gEY5cs On 2 February 2011 17:35, [Brainiac] <arebacollins(a)gmail.com> wrote: > @steven you forget redundancy on KPLC. but then again, easy to run an > inside job there... right? > > On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 5:32 PM, ndungu stephen <ndungustephen(a)gmail.com>wrote: > >> In Kenya; cutting out main internet is simple... >> >> Simply send a few guys in the Ukambani wide lands; with a panga... >> >> And they cut the fiber [?]<whack!> >> >> >> >> === >> Yes I know we have the issue of satellites etc,, but i have noticed that >> many companies abandoned the more expensive satellites for the cheaper (more >> vulnerable) fiber. >> >> Then after that the fiber, the Gova then shuts down power... And guys >> with satellite continue using UPS. >> >> When UPS runs outs, we will be left with guys with Solar --- and thats >> like less than 0.5%. >> >> So if we dont want to be shut down (internet wise),, lets invest on >> building by building Solar energy,, and add a little satellite connection! >> >> >> w/regards >> Stephen N. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Skunkworks mailing list >> Skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke >> http://orion.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >> > > > > -- > *“The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of > great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of > corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of > protecting corporate power against democracy”* > > ~ Alex Carey ~ > > Tel No: 0x2af23696 > > > _______________________________________________ > Skunkworks mailing list > Skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke > http://orion.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke > -- James M. Muendo P.O Box 28016 - 00200, Nairobi. Mobile: +254725567508 skype:tim.rick | Twitter: Mmuendo | gtalk: timrick<http://muendoshead.blogspot.com/>

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Re: [kictanet] [Skunkworks] What would it take to create an internet blackoutin kenya?
by James Muendo 02 Feb '11

02 Feb '11

I found this interesting: 3 Projects to Create a Government-less Internet<http://www.readwriteweb.com/cloud/2011/01/3-projects-to-create-a-government…> http://rww.to/gEY5cs On 2 February 2011 17:35, [Brainiac] <arebacollins(a)gmail.com> wrote: > @steven you forget redundancy on KPLC. but then again, easy to run an > inside job there... right? > > On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 5:32 PM, ndungu stephen <ndungustephen(a)gmail.com>wrote: > >> In Kenya; cutting out main internet is simple... >> >> Simply send a few guys in the Ukambani wide lands; with a panga... >> >> And they cut the fiber [?]<whack!> >> >> >> >> === >> Yes I know we have the issue of satellites etc,, but i have noticed that >> many companies abandoned the more expensive satellites for the cheaper (more >> vulnerable) fiber. >> >> Then after that the fiber, the Gova then shuts down power... And guys >> with satellite continue using UPS. >> >> When UPS runs outs, we will be left with guys with Solar --- and thats >> like less than 0.5%. >> >> So if we dont want to be shut down (internet wise),, lets invest on >> building by building Solar energy,, and add a little satellite connection! >> >> >> w/regards >> Stephen N. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Skunkworks mailing list >> Skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke >> http://orion.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >> > > > > -- > *“The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of > great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of > corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of > protecting corporate power against democracy”* > > ~ Alex Carey ~ > > Tel No: 0x2af23696 > > > _______________________________________________ > Skunkworks mailing list > Skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke > http://orion.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke > -- James M. Muendo P.O Box 28016 - 00200, Nairobi. Mobile: +254725567508 skype:tim.rick | Twitter: Mmuendo | gtalk: timrick<http://muendoshead.blogspot.com/>

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KICTANet discussions: Independent Communications Commission of Kenya and Media council Draft bills 2010
by Alice Munyua 02 Feb '11

02 Feb '11

Dear all, Very best wishes for 2011. Following an invitation by P.S Dr. Ndemo for stakeholder input/comments and discussions on the two proposed draft bills, I am pleased to announce that the Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet), University of Nairobi (UoN), and the International Development and Research Center (IDRC) will launch discussions starting Monday January 24th, 2011. "Media Council Bill 2010" discussions/input will begin on Monday 24 for 10 days ending February 4th. Thereafter discussions/input on the "Independent Communications Commission of Kenya draft bill" from February 14th to 25th. As with previous policy related discussions the processes will be facilitated. Grace Githaiga will facilitate discussions on the Media council bill, Dr. Catherine Adeya on the Independent Communications Commission of Kenya, Kerubo Kemunto will assist with moderation and reporting and Washington Odhiambo continues to manage technical aspects of the list/s. Each draft bill discussion will take ten days on the KICTANet mailing list and blog. All comments,suggestions, edits and opinions relevant to the draft bills will be collated and will form part of the first draft report that will be validated at a face to face workshop in March 2011 (dates to be announced later). The final report/s will be submitted to the Ministry of Information and Communication as well as the Parliamentary Select committee on Energy Information and Communication. We look forward to very vibrant discussions. Attached the two draft bills. Can also be accessed on the ministry website: http://www.information.go.ke/ very best Alice --

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Google takes Ladies Mapping Party to Nairobi
by Albert Mucunguzi 02 Feb '11

02 Feb '11

Dear All, I thought some of you might be interested in this information. http://www.pctechmagazine.com/news/324-google-takes-ladies-mapping-party-co… _____________________________ Albert Mucunguzi Team Leader PC Tech Magazine Mobile: +256 712 619812 / 782 619812 Website: www.pctechmagazine.com E-Mail: i(a)albertmucunguzi.com Twitter: @albertmuc Facebook: www.facebook.com/almuc Personal Web: www.albertmucunguzi.com Blog: www.pctechmagazine.com/blogs/almuc

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Re: [kictanet] Media council Draft bill 2010 (Day Seven--Complaints and Dispute Resolution)
by toby＠law-democracy.org 02 Feb '11

02 Feb '11

Hi all, My comments on this round: 1) I agree the chair should not be required to be a lawyer but I think it is clear that the Council will appoint the chair and that is OK with me. 2) I think it is OK not to specify how they will publish the the decision. Surely it is understood that this will at least be on their website. The main point is that they make it public so that those with an interest can follow-up. This is not something that will usually be of very wide public interest. Related to this, publication in the Official Gazette is to ensure formal legal publication of the decision. It seems OK to me. 3) I am also OK with the decisions of the Complaints Commission having legal force. For me, what is important here is the sanctions (see s. 30), which may only be an apology and/or reprimand. I don't like the idea of an apology, which I find offensive to the (absolute) freedom to hold opinions. So I would replace this with a requirement to carry a statement by the Commission (ie to the effect that a decision has gone against you and for what reasons). 4) I have another serious problem with the complaints process, however. Pursuant to s. 27, anyone who is 'aggrieved' may complain about any publication or conduct of a journalist. The Commission will then reject or uphold such complaint. But the Bill nowhere indicates the standards against which such a complaint should be judged. This effectively leaves it up to the unfettered discretion of the members of the Commission to decide and leaves journalists and the media open to being held in breach of a standard that was never communicated to them, which is clearly inappropriate. Instead, complaints should be judged against an established a code of conduct to be adopted by the Council, after consultation with interested stakeholders. It could, theoretically, be the Code in the second schedule, except that this is not appropriate for this purpose (eg it is not appropriate for anyone to complain that a journalist has not defended the independence of the media, as required by section 2 of this Code). Also, the Code should not be legislated but should emerge from the consultation. Best wishes, Toby ___________________________________ Toby Mendel Centre for Law and Democracy toby(a)law-democracy.org Tel: +1 902 431-3688 Fax: +1 902 431-3689 www.law-democracy.org

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GOK Making progress
by robert yawe 02 Feb '11

02 Feb '11

Hi, Today I met a government official who gave me his card, you wonder what is so major about that, well the phone number was ISDN, well PS Ndemo it is clear that there is light at the end of the tunnel as relates to the government having a single contact number. This is at the office of the Prime Minister which is a clear indication that there was more done to the building than just interior refurbishments. Regards PS. But they need to be educated about DID? Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696

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Re: [kictanet] Media council Draft bill 2010 (Day Six--Funds and Assets of the Council )
by toby＠law-democracy.org 01 Feb '11

01 Feb '11

Hi all, I agree that these provisions are problematical. There seems to me to be no reason why a press council should not receive foreign support. This should not alleviate the need for local support for its basic operations (eg complaints) but it also has a wide promotional role and enabling it to access foreign (ie donor) funds will potentially allow it to be a far more significant player in this role. Toby ___________________________________ Toby Mendel Centre for Law and Democracy toby(a)law-democracy.org Tel: +1 902 431-3688 Fax: +1 902 431-3689 www.law-democracy.org

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Fwd: Senior Advisor (ICT for Development) Vacancy: Panos London
by Alice Munyua 01 Feb '11

01 Feb '11

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Senior Advisor (ICT for Development) Vacancy: Panos London Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2011 11:19:25 +0000 From: Richard Heeks <richard.heeks(a)manchester.ac.uk> To: Richard Heeks <richard.heeks(a)manchester.ac.uk> Panos - based in London - are advertising for a senior advisor covering ICTs for development. Details below and at: http://www.panos.org.uk/?lid=33763 Senior Advisor (ICTs) London-based Salary: Up to £43,000 Closing date: Monday 14th February 2011, Noon Panos London is one of the world’s leading ‘communication for development’ organisations. We work to stimulate informed and inclusive debate around key development issues in order to foster sustainable development, and we do this through our expertise in Voice, Dialogue, Media and ICT communication projects around the world. We are seeking an experienced, creative and dynamic Senior Advisor to develop Panos London’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) programme and projects to ensure our work has increasing scope, scale and impact. The main purpose of this exciting post is to develop Panos London’s knowledge, practice and expertise in the field of ICTs and you will be expected to develop a pipeline of projects that effectively support Panos London’s new Strategy to 2015. The successful candidate will possess: * Proven expertise as a leader in the use of ICTs for development, including issues of access to knowledge, internet access and mobile phones. * Excellent understanding of ICT research methodologies as well as demonstrated knowledge of specialist monitoring and evaluation methodologies. * In depth experience in policy, research and programme management in ICTs and a wide-ranging network of contacts in the field. * Experience of working internationally in co-operation with local and global partners. * Experience of strategic programme development. * In-depth experience of designing and carrying out monitoring and evaluation activities on ICT projects. Flexible / Part-time working may be considered. How to apply: A full job description and application form attached, please support with a tailored covering letter. For further information contact: helen.crawford(a)panos.org.uk. Application deadline: Monday 14th February 2011, Noon

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Prime Time data; is safaricom ready?
by robert yawe 01 Feb '11

01 Feb '11

As the price war on voice escalates and the margins drop exponentially as the mobile providers move to take positions in the data realm, are Safaricom and the other mobile providers ready for prime time data services? Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696

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ICANN report on DNS in Egypt
by Alice Munyua 01 Feb '11

01 Feb '11

Hi GG and all Events in Egypt must have slowed down the discussions on our media council bill and I apologize for diverting you again. It is worrying that a government can shut down the internet. There are permissible limitations/restrictions on expression and communication contained in International laws, however these are for narrow circumstances defined in, for example the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, where National security and pubic order is included, but it should not be used as an excuse. Governments should ensure that the limitations of restrictions are provided for by clear and precise laws that demonstrate necessity to meet the specific purpose. Anyway, Google has since introduced a speak to tweet service for people in Egypt and see below a report by ICANN on DNS: http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/31/twitter-by-phone-egypt/ http://blog.icann.org/2011/01/status-report-on-the-dns-in-egypt/Status Report on the DNS in Egypt Along with the entire global Internet community, ICANN is watching the events unfolding in Egypt with great concern for the safety of the people of Egypt and for their ability to use the Internet. On January 27, most Internet connectivity to Egypt was shut down, apparently on the instruction of the national government. This has led to the inaccessibility of the main domain name system (DNS) server of the Egyptian ccTLD (.eg). Egypt's top-level domain .eg is operated by the Egyptian Universities Network (EUN) (http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/eg.html) The Arabic script top-level domain .masr (???, http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/xn--wgbh1c.html) is operated by the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Egypt (NTRA) (http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/xn--wgbh1c.html) The primary servers they operate have been inaccessible to those outside of Egypt since January 27. Secondary DNS servers for .eg, located in Austria and the United States, have continued to function with data provided before the shutdown. The .??? DNS servers are exclusively in Egypt and there do not appear to be any secondary DNS servers outside the country. This means that service to sites served by this top-level domain are unreachable by the rest of the world. Secondary servers copy their data from the primary server at regular intervals. Data in the secondary DNS servers, serving anyone in the world wishing to receive .eg DNS services, have an expiration date. Secondary servers require regular updating from the primary server at specified intervals -- called "time to live" (TTL) -- and that time is set to expire in 140 days. Normally when primary servers fail -- for example, following the earthquake in Haiti -- the operator wants secondary servers to continue operating with the last zone file they had provided. This allows users around the world to connect to functioning servers in their zone. ICANN's Manager for Regional Relations for the Middle East has been communicating with both TLD operators, EUN and NTRA. The operators of .eg have communicated with ICANN and through ICANN are communicating with the secondary operators outside the country. They have requested that the secondary operators continue using the existing zone files past their time to live timeframes, if necessary. This experience offers a number of lessons, among them that a policy to encourage the establishment of secondary servers to promote continuity of service as well as DNS stability could be useful and in the global public interest. ICANN will ask the ccNSO to consider proposing a policy to address this type of situation. ICANN helps to ensure a secure and stable global Internet through its coordination of the domain name system, and is the global policy development body for the DNS and related matters. More than 100 ccTLD operators are voluntary members of the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO), a formal ICANN policy and coordination body.

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Necessity Creates Innovation... Speak to Tweet!
by [Brainiac] 31 Jan '11

31 Jan '11

Google to the Aid of Egypt during their 1 million man march.... http://twitter.com/#!/speak2tweet -- *“The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy”* ~ Alex Carey ~ Tel No: 0x2af23696

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Fwd: CSTD WG IGF Improvements - Internet Technical and Academic Community Representatives' Contribution
by waudo siganga 31 Jan '11

31 Jan '11

Dear Colleagues, For information of those following the IGF, attached is a submission made by the 5 "Internet technical and academic" representatives on the CSTD Chair's Working Group on Improvements to the IGF.

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