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Re: [kictanet] SYMPOSUIM FOR THIS WEEKEND."MUST HAVE ATTEND"
by Jose' 26 Mar '07

26 Mar '07

I understand.Thank you.Tho you may order a recorded tape you get to hear what the speakers said.Its not all lost.I am sorry. Best Regards, Jose' Njuki-Imwe Ngunjiri || +254 722 336754 || ----- Original Message ---- From: Judy Okite <judyokite(a)gmail.com> To: ngunjirijnr(a)yahoo.com Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2007 9:55:44 AM Subject: Re: [kictanet] SYMPOSUIM FOR THIS WEEKEND."MUST HAVE ATTEND" Sorry Jose', On behalf of the Chix....please give ample notice in the future. Kind Regards, On 3/23/07, Fatma Bashir <fbashir(a)cyberschooltech.com> wrote: hi Jose' I'll have to post my regrets and for my team as well, we are off to the field today for the whole weekend...perhaps the next time around...but good luck. Fatma ----- Original Message ----- From: Jose' To: fbashir(a)cyberschooltech.com Cc: CATHY ATIENO ; Goria Lilian ; FRANCIS MWANGI Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 10:42 AM Subject: [kictanet] SYMPOSUIM FOR THIS WEEKEND."MUST HAVE ATTEND" Dear Colleague, Financing is one of the setbacks that the youth face to start up there small businesses enterprises. It with this concern that,Kimathi Information centre in collaboration with the Ministry of youth,Ministry of Information and technology,IMAC/KAYE,KWFT,business consultants,Investors,UN Habitat,GEEP,CFSK and Faulu Kenya have organized a Symposium that shall bring together up to 250 youth delegates be able to address the need of financing and how the delegates are going to get hold of the resources/finances to see the SME businesses get a kick start. I also attach the program for your perusal.Come see also the youth show case and what they sell in the exhibition tables. "THIS IS A MUST HAVE ATTEND SYMPOSIUM" DATE:24th March 2007 TIME:0900hrs to 1400hrs VENUE:KENYA ASSEMBLIES OF GOD MULTI PURPOSE HALL-BAHATI ENTRANCE FEE:50ksh(FIFTY SHILLINGS ONLY) Including all taxes Best Regards, Jose' Njuki-Imwe Ngunjiri || +254 722 336754 || Never miss an email again! Yahoo! Toolbar alerts you the instant new Mail arrives. Check it out. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/fbashir%40cyberschooltech.com -------------------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. -------------------------------------------------- "easy access to the world" _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/judyokite%40gmail.com -- Judy Ann Okite, +254-721237507,+254-734252336 P.O. BOX 2228 00100, NAIROBI,KENYA. "Even if you are on the right track, you'll still get run over if you just sit there." _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ngunjirijnr%40yahoo.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ It's here! Your new message! Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/

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tips
by Rebecca Wanjiku 26 Mar '07

26 Mar '07

just in case this business hots up in kenya, here are the tips.... How To Get Started As A Domainer28 Tips, Techniques and Resourcesdigg_url = 'http://digg.com/offbeat_news/How_To_Get_Started_As_A_Domainer '; How to Get Started as a Domainer: 28 Tips, Techniques and Resources10 Comments » How does a salary of $10,000 per day sound to you? Webmaster and marketing extraordinaire Marcus Frind reportedly pulls in $10,000 per day in Google AdSense from his dating website PlentyofFish.com. But that’s chump change compared to the $100,000 per day that domainer Yun Ye was pulling in before he sold his domain portfolio for about $164M in 2004 and subsequently disappeared under the radar. When it comes to making a buck on the internet it seems that everyone has a solution, although few of them seem to work. But if you’re looking to capitalize on one of the most powerful cash earning enterprises on the internet that is actually making plenty of people money, you should check out domaining. Although you may not be quite as successful as these two entrepreneurs, it’s never too late to start in the domaining industry. A domainer is someone who earns a profit buying and selling domain names. The philosophy is similar to the stock market: buy low and sell high. Here are 28 tips, tools, techniques and financing options to get you started on your way to successful domaining. Domain Buying StrategiesDomaining is a lot like stock investing, the very best in the field have moved beyond basic strategies and have developed their own specific formulas for success. But just as with stocks, to obtain the skills necessary to reach that advanced stage, beginners must first understand the fundamentals of strategic domain buying. In this section we introduce you to five traditional domain buying strategies, and explain a bit about each. Trademark Typo Domains. One of the original domainer buying strategies was to hunt for any trademarked names that hadn’t yet been purchased, and failing that, to purchase typos of those domains. These trademark typo domains often yielded a lot of type-in traffic, and because e-commerce law hadn’t yet developed to its current state, companies would often buy out these domainers at very inflated prices. But if you’re thinking about getting into trademark typo domaining, the ship has sailed. Current trademark law treats domainers that are seeing lots of traffic from a typo domain, and don’t otherwise have a legitimate business use for owning the name, as illegal trademark diluters. As such, trademark typo domainers typically have to turn over the domain to the trademark holder with little or no compensation. Simply stated, avoid the trademark typo strategy altogether. Keyword Typo Domains. While the trademark typo domain loophole has closed, a very legitimate and ethical domaining technique is pursuing keyword typo domains. Keyword typo domains (e.g., Mortgeges.com) can bring in a good deal of type-in traffic and are often significantly undervalued. While normally these aren’t the type of domains that someone would want to build a high-value company around (though typo domain Voyuer.com went for $112,000 in 2005), smaller individual webmasters are always in the market for targeted type-in traffic, so these sites are often in high demand among small-time domain purchasers.Automated Volume Buying. The next strategy, automated volume buying, is simply that; using an application to automatically search for available domains that meet your pre-set criteria, and purchasing the domains that result from the search. Automated volume buying requires, first and foremost, an excellent application to accept your search criteria and conduct the searches. While there are a number of domain research tools available for purchase, many top domainers use a customized version. No matter which volume buying tool you’re using, however, they all work in roughly the same way by allowing you to search WHOIS servers and filter results by keywords, Overture price ranges, search engine results, etc. So, for example, you could filter your potential domains by those that have a minimum of 1000 keyword searches per month and which yielded more than a top bid of $1.00 on Overture. While it is certainly true that now that more people are using automated volume buying tools the easiest bargains are usually taken, domainers can still find a good haul of cheap .com’s as long as they stay ahead of the curve by getting creative with their filter criteria.Trendwatching. If you’re looking for a domaining strategy that is longer-term but that can be highly lucrative, you might consider trendwatching. Trendwatching is simply the practice of anticipating popular domains before they become popular. The keys to successful trendwatching are good sources and creativity. One of the biggest mistakes novice domainers make, is attempting to trendwatch a very diverse group of industries, rather than focusing on a few and becoming an expert in those areas. The best way to start trendwatching is to pick two or three niches that you feel comfortable with and which are reasonably lucrative, then add eight to ten blogs within that niche to your RSS feed. Bloglines, Newsgator, and Google Reader are all free web-based feed readers, just in case you are unfamiliar with RSS. If you’re in a competitive niche, time is of the essence, so regularly check your feed for information on rising stars, new technologies, burgeoning trends or hot products, and once you hear of the trend, pounce on it immediately by buying up some relevant domains. In addition to RSS feeds, Google Trends can also help keep you on top of developing trends by showing relative query volume for one to five keywords or phrases. One thing to keep in mind when trendwatching, is that not every predicted trend will pan out, so anticipate plenty of total losses for every big hit. As a consequence, it is important to keep your domain holdings diversified, so that you aren’t too heavily invested in a single trend, and thus you can afford to wait out the staggering returns when one of your trend predictions proves true.Brute Force. Automated Domain Research Tools (DRT’s) allow you to sift through millions of available domains to find the few thousand that you might be interested in buying. But getting from those thousand to identifying the few specific domains you want to purchase can often be accomplished only through brute force. By “brute force” we refer to the most common domaining technique, which involves the use of a compilation of different manual research tools to identify the most lucrative domains. Each tool listed in this category simply helps to facilitate the process of manually going through and examining each potential domain on an individual basis (thus the “brute force” moniker). While it is impractical to cover every sort of tool that would fall into the “brute force” category, we have compiled a few of the most common tools to get you started. AjaxWhois is a convenient web2.0 domain search engine that executes multiple Top-Level Domain (TLD) queries on a root domain name. This can be a time-saver if you already have a specific root domain name in mind to purchase. dnScoop provides a variety of information about a domain, including whois, traffic, domain history and popularity, appraisal, pagerank check, inbound links and more. DigitalPoint is a set of webmaster tools geared more for websites and SEO’s, but which also provides some helpful tools such as a keyword recommendation tool which can help you come up with new domain ideas and word combinations. DomainState tools is a suite of browser-based domaining tools and links to trademark databases. Domain Tools has a suite of useful tools for domainers, including domain history, reverse IP (to see what other websites are hosted on an IP), DNS tools (whois, traceroute, etc.), domain monitor, and more. PagerankPredict is a very simple tool that gives you a predicted Google pagerank for a domain. This tool is handy if you plan to build out a domain with content. It is also free, but the site limits you to 5 queries per hour. SearchStatus is a robust SEO, SEM and domaining tool that works as a plugin for the Firefox browser. It will enable you to quickly get an overview of a potential purchase as well as a look and what backlinks are powering your competitors’ sites.The Marchex Model. Back in early 2005, Marchex Inc. paid a whopping $164 million for 100,000 high-quality hand selected domains, planning in the short term to leverage the domains’ type-in traffic for revenue, and in the long-term to selectively sell their appreciating portfolio. Individual domainers can follow a similar strategy, by targeting domains in the $1,000 to $5,000 range that are of higher quality and thus have a higher long-term upside potential. By targeting a dozen or so sites in this higher price range, Marchex Model domainers can eliminate most casual domainer competition and though they face higher risks, there is the possibility of much higher returns. It should go without saying, that having access to cheap capital is a must, as well as having a good understanding of domain appraisals. Unlike brick and mortar real estate, the domain name resale market is still not fully competitive, meaning that domains are often wildly under-priced, but can also be wildly overpriced. As a result, simply following market valuation for a domain without having a firm grip on your own appraisal metrics, is a certain way to fail when Marchex domaining.Financing Your DomainingNo matter what buying strategy you decide to follow, the first step to getting into domaining is acquiring enough capital to play in the market. Put simply, the more capital you have, the easier it is to build your domaining portfolio. So in this section we cover some simple strategies for coming up with the right types of capital you need to get your domaining off the ground. Spend only cheap capital. What’s the point of making a profit domaining only to pay it right back out again with high credit card interest rates? It is difficult to consistently make a return of more than 20-50% on your domain flipping, but you will need that return just to break even if you are funding your operations on credit card debt. So to minimize the risk of paying out all or most of your gains in credit card fees, make sure that early on you are only purchasing domains with only the money you have, and not what your credit limit says you are worth. If you do buy domains on credit, make sure that you are paying off the cards before they start accumulating interest and fees; otherwise you’ll start to see your domaining profits shrink as your break even point becomes that 20-50% interest rate. Partnership. Nobody likes to share their profits. But teaming up with a few partners who bring capital to the partnership will allow you to diversify your holdings and overall lower your risks and increase your net earnings. Just remember, however, that if the partnership dissolves, you may be forced to pony up cash to buy out your partners, or sell domains for less than you were hoping for. So if you and your partners have different ideas about how to profit from domaining, it may be a good idea to instead opt for a joint venture in which everyone’s obligations are spelled out ahead of time. Credit card balance transfer arbitrage. If you’ve opened up your mail lately, you’ve probably noticed that 0% APR credit card offers have now replaced AOL Free Trial CDs as the most abundant piece of mail in the world. Well, some card issuers have taken the free credit offer one step further by offering you something called a transfer check, which is simply a 3-18 month interest free loan. They make the offer to entice you to use their credit card, but if want to live dangerously, this can also be an easy way to come up with some quick cash. This advanced financing method, known as balance transfer arbitrage, will allow you to use that “free” money before the offer period expires, then pay it back. This is a very risky technique, however, because if you run into emergencies or other financial problems and cannot pay back the free loan before the regular high interest kicks in, then you are sunk. But in a situation where you come across the once in a lifetime deal, engaging in ‘balance transfer arbitrage’ may be worth the risk. Bootstrap and reinvest. Bootstrapping isn’t so much a single fundraising technique, as it is a ‘do it yourself’ mindset of leveraging what you earn back into growing your business. Entrepreneurs engaged in bootstrapping take very little of the company profits out of their business early on, and instead use those funds in lieu of a formal bank loan or venture capital. If you are anxious to quickly expand your domaining portfolio and can afford to live without the immediate profits, consider leaving all or most of your profits in the business to leverage new purchases. Bootstrapping is the poor entrepreneur’s way to compete against larger competitors, because by reinvesting their gross profits back into the business, bootstrappers gain a return which is functionally equivalent to compound interest. Important PracticesNow that you have decided on a strategy for identifying domains to purchase as well as secured the financing to make those purchases, it is time to turn to the actual practice of holding and maintaining your domains. In this section we cover some basic ground rules and insider tips to keep in mind as you purchase and manage your domains. Organize and auto-renew. If you’re holding domains for longer than a year, it’s a very good idea to have them all set to auto-renew. Make sure all of your contact info is correct and updated, and if necessary, change registrars. Whatever source of funds (credit card, PayPal) you use to pay for auto-renew should always have enough in extra funds so that in case you miss the notices, you’re still able to avoid auto-cancellations, which usually cost more to get back than a new registration. Don’t fall in love with a domain name. Plain and simple, your goal in domaining is to make a consistent profit. One of the biggest mistakes new domainers make is holding on to a domain just because they like the name, or personally feel its worth more than the market will bear. If a domain doesn’t sell and you can’t monetize it to at least cover its costs, the domain is just dead weight. A name may sound unique or potentially popular, but you have to face the possibility that it may not have a market value beyond what you paid for it. Ridiculous domain names (the very sort new domainers tend to get attached to) can be lucrative, but the buzz may not last long enough for you to hold out for more money after a decent bid comes in. So when you are dealing with a gimmicky domain name and you get your chance to make a quick profit, take it. Name that domain. Whether creating new domains or acquiring existing ones, the current trend (which doesn’t show signs of changing) is to stay away from those domains that have digits and/or hyphens, as both naming schematics devalue a domain. The only exceptions are specific 3- and 4-digit domain names, most of which are all taken. Taste this. After you register a domain, many registrars offer a few day grace period during which you can rethink your purchase and still get a full refund. Domain tasting, is the ethically questionable, but legal, act of utilizing this loophole by parking a domain, testing the amount of type-in traffic, then cancelling it before the grace period expires. Most registrars are starting to recognize these loopholes and are quickly cracking down on this unscrupulous practice, but with those registrars that haven’t yet barred the practice, this can be a very good way of minimizing the risk of a purchase. Create traffic. If you own domains that aren’t receiving a lot of type-in traffic, you may want to try to increase their value by getting them indexed into the search engines so that the eventual purchaser will find it easier to get the site to rank for relavent search engine results. The easiest way to do that is to place a link with relavent anchor text to the domain on one of your own related websites. In addition to getting the domain indexed, this is also a way to advertise the domain to interested buyers. Linking to your domain is generally allowable by most parking sites, but you may want to check with yours just to make sure. Forums. Everyone loves to use forums to exchange information and to connect with people who have similar interests, and as a result many new domainers buy up “forum” domains. But if you’ll notice, very few people are getting rich managing forums, and even fewer are making money holding on to forum domains. Popular forums can generate tons of traffic, but domains with “forum” in the name are worthless without the actual site. Unless you can find a buyer capable of turning it into a site, or can build the site yourself, stay away from “forum” domain names. Be prepared, legally. If you decide to domain full-time, talk to an accountant about at what point in the yearly tax cycle is financially most advantageous for you to form your domaining enterprise into a legal entity. Forming a legal entity can be a headache, but by not doing so, you may be missing out on business deductions you might otherwise be able to take. So, just in case, keep all your relevant receipts, even if you’re just starting out, to prove to the IRS how much you invested.Potentially more important than financial concerns, however, are the legal ones. Deciding to form a limited liability entity (Inc. or LLC) will limit your personal financial risk if legal problems ever arise. Though the legal differences between LLC’s and corporations can be subtle, they are not insignificant, (e.g. differing tax treatment) so you should do your research before forming an entity. Watch for pinchers, swipers, and thieves. Sex.com was stolen from its owner using a fake transfer form, eventually costing the owner millions. Slammers, spammers, swipers, and claim jumpers will try various tricks to get a domain away from you, including fake renewal email messages or snail mail letters (e.g., Domain Registry of America scam letters). If you fall for one of these sneaky transfer forms, you may end up paying extra for a domain or accidentally “permitting” the transfer of your domains to someone else.In addition to having your existing domains hijacked through subversive transfers, there are an increasing number of reports of people having their domain ideas pinched before they can register the domain themselves. It appears that a number of domain research tools are culling the data from users’ searches, and using that data to instantly purchase the searched domains before the searcher himself can do so. So, for example, if you are using a tool to research available domains and come across a real gem, the owner of the tool you are using may swoop in and buy up the domain, thus taking advantage of your ingenuity while depriving you of a great domain. Because of this possibility, it is important that if you come across a previously unregistered gem domain, spend the few bucks right then to buy it up rather than take the chance on losing it by waiting a few minutes. Beyond pinches and swipers, you also need to keep an eye on your registrar. There are a number of reports of domain registrars being intentionally slow or unresponsive in the days leading up to a domain’s expiration so as to ensure that the domain expires and reverts back to the registrar. If you have a dispute, check with WIPO for mediation, but the best policy is just to protect yourself in the first place by having at least a full-month’s buffer when transferring registrars. Techniques for MonetizingFor almost every domainer, the big money is in the actual flip, not the domain maintenance. So just as with real estate, one of the biggest keys to domaining success is to limit your overhead during the holding period when you are waiting for your buyer. In this section, we cover some common and not-so-common techniques for monetizing your domain to cover your overhead expenses. Duke of URL: type-in traffic. Google may control most of the western world’s web traffic, but they don’t yet control everything. In fact, a good keyword based domain can receive loads of type in traffic. With a well converting PPC landing page, this type in traffic can bring in from $100 to $1000 per day for a top-notch domain. Not a bad way to bide your time waiting for that perfect buyer to come along! So, when you’re searching for domains, keep in mind that type-in traffic is entirely defensible, meaning it doesn’t rely on a search engine or any other third party to send traffic your way, and that with enough of it, you can entirely cover your overhead expenses. Optimize your parked domains. Some registrars allow you to add content and advertising directly to your parked domain’s page at no extra cost. If that is the case in your situation, you should definitely take advantage of this opportunity by optimizing your landing page. Try various configurations and combinations of affiliate ads and PPC ads to see what yields the highest return. Often simply changing the color of your landing page is enough to double your click-through rate. So, don’t sell yourself short by using a default ad configuration, or worse, not placing any advertising at all. The (traffic) collector. If you already have your own well-converting highly monetized website within the same niche as your domain, instead of optimizing your landing pages, it may be more profitable for you to simply redirect your parked domains to that website. The key consideration when making this decision is simple, can I make more money by optimizing or redirecting? By electing the more immediately profitable option, you ensure that the maximum amount of your domaining overhead costs are offset, which may ultimately enable you to hold out for the right buyer longer than you might otherwise be willing to. Park and go. While running your own PPC or adsense is the more lucrative solution, some domainers who are short on time or technical expertise choose to simply park domains at a service like Sedo. These sites allow you to optimize your parked page template, and they run PPC (Pay Per Click) ads such as AdSense for you, in exchange for taking a cut of any PPC revenues your domain earns. While this is a fine solution for those that are flipping sites on a very short timeline, for those domainers planning to hold the site for any significant length of time, the technical knowhow required to optimize on your own is very small relative to the earnings you may be giving up by sharing with a site like Sedo. Community spirit. Converting expired domains with traffic into web 2.0 community sites is one of the most popular new trends in domaining. The theory goes, that by starting your own community, regular focused traffic will visit your website in great numbers which you will be able to leverage to offset maintenance costs. Unfortunately, the hype surrounding web 2.0 typically overshadows the reality, which is that most community sites eventually fail, so trying something like this will require a lot of time, effort, money and luck. For those of you working on a tight budget, good ole’ fashioned domain parking may still be the best solution. Creating your own lead generation. Buying up older expired domains with a niche focus can serve as an internal lead generation system. For domains with a narrow focus, redirecting them to specific landing pages on your more general high-converting website can be an excellent way of leveraging your domains into a sort private Adwords / PPC campaign. Adsense Arbitrage. Google AdSense arbitrage is the practice of buying traffic at a relatively cheap price, and leveraging that traffic by having those users click through to ads which are relatively more lucrative than the cost of bringing in the traffic. When considering whether adsense arbitrage is the best monetization solution for your domains, it is first necessary to consider whether it is allowed by your parking host. Even if it is, however, adsense arbitrage is a very risky game which is in almost every instance better left for more experienced domainers and webmasters. Choose volume over quality early on.. It’s the volume domain purchasers who consistently earn the highest profits from domaining. New domainers are often intrigued by the possibility of owning THE keyword in a niche (keyword.com) But more often that not, it is better to diversify your holdings, start small, then later bootstrap your early profits into domains a bit higher up the food chain. Think of it like this: it’s easier to sell 100 domains at $10 profit than one domain at $1000 profit. Tools for the TradeIn the business of domaining, automation and resource tools are your friend. Because the key to regular success is volume, not that one big hit, utilizing quality resources and tools will go a long way to improving your bottom line by marginally increasing the profitability every transaction you make. I’m pickin’ up good registrations. Since you’re dealing in volume, a cheap registrar is important, especially when you’re first starting out. But some deals are too good to be true, and occasionally registrars will go out of business. For good cheap hosting, GoDaddy is a baseline option, but it’s not ideal for many high volume domainers or high quality domains. For your biggest domains, the ones you hope to sell and retire from the proceeds with, you may want to try Moniker. Whatever direction you decide to take, make sure to shop around, and at a minimum check the resource list at the end of this article for a few more of your options. Traffic monitors and predictors. Keeping track of a site’s traffic and popularity are both important metrics in valuating your own domains as well as those of potential acquisitions. The following tools, despite their individual limitations, are designed to provide you with a method of obtaining those stats on your own domains, as well as those of your competitors.Alexa is the benchmark traffic rankings directory. It is widely regarded as inaccurate, however, its relative numbers are still very valuable when studying a domain for purchase. Alexaholic is based on Alexa but allows you to compare the traffic charts of multiple domains. The value of Alexaholic (and Alexa) is that you don’t need the current owner of a domain to have installed a traffic monitoring script (which is usually not possible on a parked domain anyway) to estimate the volume of traffic the site is receiving. Ranking.com provides the popularity of a website and requires script installation on your domain. Ask the Owner. A domain parking service will provide traffic statistics for the site’s owner. So if you’re interested in a domain, simply ask the owner for proof of statistics.Resource SitesIn domaining, as with most industries, a key to success is keeping yourself educated about new developments in the field and constantly learning from the successes and failures of your peers. As a result, we have compiled a list of a few popular sites that offer domaining related news or services: Daily Domainer.DNJournal.Domainer’s Edge. Domain Editorial.Domain Name Forum(a)WebHostingTalk.Domaining Blog. Domain Name Wire.Domain Sponsor. Domains Magazine.Earner’s Forum domaining thread. Monetizing Domains Network. Moniker. Parked. Sedo. TDnam. Sitepoint Marketplace. As the value of domains continue to increase, the industry of domaining becomes continually more sophisticated and competitive. But for the person willing to do the necessary research, planning and investing, domaining can prove a very lucrative profession. In this article we have introduced you to some of the basic strategies, tips, and tools used by domainers. Recognizing, however, that no single article can fully cover even the basics of this complex industry, we recommend that you constantly seek out new and more domain investing information, even as you begin to go out and compile your own domaining portfolio. Best of luck! ____________________________________________________________________________________ No need to miss a message. Get email on-the-go with Yahoo! Mail for Mobile. Get started. http://mobile.yahoo.com/mail

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SYMPOSUIM FOR THIS WEEKEND."MUST HAVE ATTEND"
by Jose' 24 Mar '07

24 Mar '07

Dear Colleague, Financing is one of the setbacks that the youth face to start up there small businesses enterprises. It with this concern that,Kimathi Information centre in collaboration with the Ministry of youth,Ministry of Information and technology,IMAC/KAYE,KWFT,business consultants,Investors,UN Habitat,GEEP,CFSK and Faulu Kenya have organized a Symposium that shall bring together up to 250 youth delegates be able to address the need of financing and how the delegates are going to get hold of the resources/finances to see the SME businesses get a kick start. I also attach the program for your perusal.Come see also the youth show case and what they sell in the exhibition tables. "THIS IS A MUST HAVE ATTEND SYMPOSIUM" DATE:24th March 2007 TIME:0900hrs to 1400hrs VENUE:KENYA ASSEMBLIES OF GOD MULTI PURPOSE HALL-BAHATI ENTRANCE FEE:50ksh(FIFTY SHILLINGS ONLY) Including all taxes Best Regards, Jose' Njuki-Imwe Ngunjiri || +254 722 336754 || ____________________________________________________________________________________ Don't get soaked. Take a quick peek at the forecast with the Yahoo! Search weather shortcut. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/#loc_weather

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Re: [kictanet] Junior Achievement Online
by Jose' 23 Mar '07

23 Mar '07

Thanks Ritah. Best Regards, Jose' Njuki-Imwe Ngunjiri || +254 722 336754 || ----- Original Message ---- From: munyiva ritah <rmunyiva(a)yahoo.com> To: ngunjirijnr(a)yahoo.com Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 3:16:47 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Junior Achievement Online Alex, Guess this guys are thinking, JA alumni have ideas led by Evans Njoro the regional director JA. But again let them seek advice from all corners since publishing goes beyond writing articles, if we have to buy the publication or guys have to advetise then articles must be well done and informative. Then the youth out there need motivation and ideas useful to them so tell them not to turn Slick into a tabloid of just fashion and music...we have so much of these in magazines and newspapers. By the way Jose Ngunjiri, try have KIC featured there, i think you and your patners inspired me. --- Alex Gakuru <alex.gakuru(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > They have formed Billionaire Inc. company that > intends to publish > teen stuff (by teens for teenies)", quoting their > Tedd The CEO :- > > "The magazine `Slick`is a soon to be launched teen > magazine that > will act as a platform for youngsters to stage > creative ideas and > exchange views that will help better their lives in > both present > and future times. > > It will contain articles written by high schoolers > for high schoolers, > articles on inspiring people such as Michael Joseph > Safaricom CEO > thereby motivating the youth to achieve greater > things in life. > > We aim at enlightening young people on available > career opportunities > and bridging the gap between students from schools > across the republic > by holding social functions. > > It is also our goal to facilitate the creation of a > youth hotline that will > help guide and counsel troubled youngsters. > > Through the website youngsters will be able to > access the magazine > contents,get latest news on items in various fields > and get entertained > through listening to some local music online. > > The board consists of 8 members; 2 fomerly of > Alliance Girls High > School,1 fomerly of Makini High School, 5 fomerly of > Starehe Boys > Centre. All of whom have attained a minimum grade of > A minus > and above. > > That is basically all about the magazine in brief. > The remaining details > will be in the Business Plan which is in the > process of being concluded. > > Teddius Onyango, > CEO - Billionaire Inc., > Ben Waweru - Marketing > Ken Kago - HR > Alfred Cheserem - Productions > Kevin Kundu - Finace > > 'Slick' Editorial Board > Grace Nyau > Nur Fatma Rasool - Chief Editor > Tedd Onyango > Maureen Magoma > Ben Waweru > > > Alex Gakuru <alex.gakuru(a)yahoo.com> wrote: Dear > Kictanet Members, > > I have been approached by school leavers who were > former members of Junior Achievement Kenya to assist > them get online and don't these young adults have > quite powerful visions. > > Specifically, they need our support in website > development, .ke domain registration, and hosting > services. > > Because I just could not allow myself to be the way > of their dreams, if volunteered website development, > thus they are still short of domain registration and > hosting. > > If you would like to sponsor any of these remaining > components, kindly announce your pledge online. > > Sincerely, > > > Alex Gakuru > > > > > > --------------------------------- > Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate > in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink > Q&A._______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke > http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > Please unsubscribe or change your options at > http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/alex.gakuru%40yahoo.com > > > --------------------------------- > TV dinner still cooling? > Check out "Tonight's Picks" on Yahoo! TV.> _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke > http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/rmunyiva%40yahoo.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ It's here! Your new message! Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/ _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ngunjirijnr%40yahoo.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ Finding fabulous fares is fun. Let Yahoo! FareChase search your favorite travel sites to find flight and hotel bargains. http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097

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Junior Achievement Online
by Alex Gakuru 23 Mar '07

23 Mar '07

Dear Kictanet Members, I have been approached by school leavers who were former members of Junior Achievement Kenya to assist them get online and don't these young adults have quite powerful visions. Specifically, they need our support in website development, .ke domain registration, and hosting services. Because I just could not allow myself to be the way of their dreams, if volunteered website development, thus they are still short of domain registration and hosting. If you would like to sponsor any of these remaining components, kindly announce your pledge online. Sincerely, Alex Gakuru --------------------------------- Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q&A.

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Corporate Email Security Training
by Dorcas Muthoni 23 Mar '07

23 Mar '07

Dear Colleague, It is another month in which OPENWORLD is all set to serve your business communication and professional development needs. Email is very core to modern business communication today. At the same time, if you don't have confidence in your corporate email security, then you can't have confidence in your corporate communications. You just cannot afford to let your email communications be compromised by anything. OPENWORLD will be conducting a training on Corporate Email Security as advertised on yesterday's (21/03/07) Daily Nation. Course details are as follows: *Dates: April 4th - 5th 2007* *Venue: The International Finance Corporation, SME Solution Center, AfricaRe Centre, 1st Floor.* *Lead Facilitator: Nigel Kukard; CEO, Linux Based Systems Design (South Africa).* *The Theme of the training will be "Designing, Implementing and Managing Comprehensive Email Systems".* Nigel our lead facilitator has extensive knowledge and experience in the design and development of email security solutions and he sure has a lot in store for his audience! He will do a profound exploration on issues like Email High Availability, AntiPhising, Virus Protection, Spam Filtering,email encryption and much more. The Training fee is Kshs. 35,000 + VAT. Discounts Apply. Don't miss out on this great opportunity to learn how to achieve effective business email solutions. Please confirm attendance by Friday 30th March 2007 for planning purposes. Further details are attached. Best Regards, Agnes Kyengo -- Training @ OPENWORLD LTD P.O Box 10918 00100 GPO NAIROBI Tel: 020 6750212/3751712 Fax: 020 3751712 Cell: 0722494105, 0733494015 Email: training(a)openworld.co.ke<http://mail.openworld.co.ke/src/compose.php?send_to=training%40openworld.co…> URL: www.openworld.co.ke/training.html

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ammended programme
by Rebecca Wanjiku 21 Mar '07

21 Mar '07

KICTANet monthly forum- Jacaranda thursday march 22nd 3pm to 5pm 3.00 pm Introduction - Becky 3.15pm rural-urban digital divide, consumer perspectives- Alex Gakuru 3.35 pm Access and connectivity- current status - Sammy Buruchara (TESPOK) 3.50 pm Kimathi Information Centre- linking the youth- Jose Ngunjiri 4.15 pm challenges of intergrating ICT to rural schools- Fatma Bashir 4.30 pm questions for all the speakers 5.00 pm tea and snacks guests leave at their pleasure Please confirm attendance by replying directly to me, ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss an email again! Yahoo! Toolbar alerts you the instant new Mail arrives. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/

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meeting on Thursday march 22
by Rebecca Wanjiku 21 Mar '07

21 Mar '07

hi, i hope you are planning to attend Kictanet monthly forum on thursday at 3pm at the jacaranda (JCC) Alex Gakuru, and a representative from Tespok will be discussing rural-urban connectivity, the challenges and successes, the media will be there and we should all be there just in case more interviews are needed from a cross-section of Kictanet representatives, it will be a chance to meet these journalists and you can have a chance to give your opinion on other issues, hope to meet you at the JCC. regards becky ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for earth-friendly autos? Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center. http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/

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Re: [kictanet] reminder-monthly forum tommorrow at 3pm
by Jose' 21 Mar '07

21 Mar '07

Hi, i confirm attendance and inform you that I shall be comminmg with Carthy Agallo my Co-director. Best Regards, Jose' Njuki-Imwe Ngunjiri || +254 722 336754 || ----- Original Message ---- From: Rebecca Wanjiku <rebeccawanjiku(a)yahoo.com> To: ngunjirijnr(a)yahoo.com Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 7:36:28 AM Subject: [kictanet] reminder-monthly forum tommorrow at 3pm just to remind you to be there on time, at 3pm tommorrow at the Jacaranda this month's theme is bridging the rural-urban digital divide, you dont want to miss presesntations by Alex Gakuru, who will set the pace, give consumer perspectives, what has been done and what can be done to bridge the rural-urban digital divide. Jose Ngunjiri who will will tell us of challenges and successes working with the youth at the Kimathi Information centre in Nairobi's Eastlands,- by the way, Kimathi Information centre has won accolades from PS Ndemo and WB country director Bruce Fatma Bashir from cyber school technologies will make a presentation about their efforts to connect rural schools that have no power hope to meet you there, for logistics purposes, please confirm. can write back to me, not to the whole list, if you hit the reply button, it goes to the list, regards becky KICTANet We won't tell. Get more on shows you hate to love (and love to hate): Yahoo! TV's Guilty Pleasures list._______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ngunjirijnr%40yahoo.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ Need Mail bonding? Go to the Yahoo! Mail Q&A for great tips from Yahoo! Answers users. http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396546091

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Re: [kictanet] programme
by Jose' 21 Mar '07

21 Mar '07

Hey Becky, I confirm attendance on behalf of Kimathi Information Centre.Allow me to come with my co-director Carthy Atieno Agallo to assist me with the Q & A session. Best Regards, Jose' Njuki-Imwe Ngunjiri || +254 722 336754 || ----- Original Message ---- From: Rebecca Wanjiku <rebeccawanjiku(a)yahoo.com> To: ngunjirijnr(a)yahoo.com Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 8:08:03 AM Subject: [kictanet] programme KICTANet monthly forum- Jacaranda thursday march 22nd 3pm to 5pm 3.00 pm Introduction - Becky 3.15pm rural-urban digital divide, consumer perspectives- Alex Gakuru 3.35 pm Kimathi Information Centre- linking the youth- Jose Ngunjiri 3.55 pm connecting rural schools- Fatma Bashir 4.15 pm questions for all the speakers 4.55 pm tea and snacks guests leave at their pleasure Please confirm attendance by replying directly to me, Bored stiff? Loosen up... Download and play hundreds of games for free on Yahoo! Games._______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ngunjirijnr%40yahoo.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ TV dinner still cooling? Check out "Tonight's Picks" on Yahoo! TV. http://tv.yahoo.com/

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Re: [kictanet] [Fwd: [DigAfrica] Kenya sets world first with money transfers by mobile]
by Kagwe James 21 Mar '07

21 Mar '07

Telkom, KPLC, Nairobi Water company etc should be thinking of how they can partner with Safaricom and modify the M-pesa initiative to enable us pay utility bills through our mobile phones. Just a thought................. -----Original Message----- From: kictanet-bounces+jkagwe=aforbes.co.ke(a)kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+jkagwe=aforbes.co.ke@kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of alice Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 6:12 PM To: Kagwe James Subject: [kictanet] [Fwd: [DigAfrica] Kenya sets world first with money transfers by mobile] We are the world's first. Kudos to Safaricom -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [DigAfrica] Kenya sets world first with money transfers by mobile Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:28:50 -0000 From: Chifu <chifu2222(a)gmail.com> Reply-To: DigAfrica(a)yahoogroups.com To: DigAfrica(a)yahoogroups.com Kenya sets world first with money transfers by mobile Xan Rice in Nairobi Tuesday March 20, 2007 The Guardian The ping of a text message has never sounded so sweet. In what is being touted as a world first, Kenya's biggest mobile operator is allowing subscribers to send cash to other phone users by SMS. Known as M-Pesa, or mobile money, the service is expected to revolutionise banking in a country where more than 80% of people are excluded from the formal financial sector. Apart from transferring cash - a service much in demand among urban Kenyans supporting relatives in rural areas - customers of the Safaricom network will be able to keep up to 50,000 shillings (£370) in a "virtual account" on their handsets. Developed by Vodafone, which holds a 35% share in Safaricom, M-Pesa was formally launched in Kenya two weeks ago. More than 10,000 people have signed up for the service, with around 8m shillings transferred so far, mostly in tiny denominations. Safaricom's executives are confident that growth will be strong in Kenya, and later across Africa. "We are effectively giving people ATM cards without them ever having to open a real bank account," said Michael Joseph, chief executive of Safaricom, who called the money transfer concept the "next big thing" in mobile telephony. M-Pesa's is simple. There is no need for a new handset or SIM card. To send money you hand over the cash to a registered agent - typically a retailer - who credits your virtual account. You then send between 100 shillings (74p) and 35,000 shillings (£259) via text message to the desired recipient - even someone on a different mobile network - who cashes it at an agent by entering a secret code and showing ID. A commission of up to 170 shillings (£1.25) is paid by the recipient but it compares favourably with fees levied by the major banks, whose services are too expensive for most of the population. Mobile phone growth in Kenya, as in most of Africa, has been remarkable, even among the rural poor. In June 1999 Kenya had 15,000 mobile subscribers. Today it has nearly 8 million out of a population of 35 million, and the two operators' networks are as extensive as the access to banks is limited. Safaricom says it is not so much competing with financial services companies as filling a void. In time, M-Pesa will allow people to borrow and repay money, and make purchases. Companies will be able to pay salaries directly into workers' phones - something that has already attracted the interest of larger employers, such as the tea companies, whose workers often have to be paid in cash as they do not have bank accounts. There are concerns about security, but Safaricom insists that even if someone's phone is stolen the PIN system prevents unauthorised withdrawals. Mr Joseph said the only danger is sending cash to the wrong mobile number and the recipient redeeming it straight away. The project is being watched closely by mobile operators around the world as a way of targeting the multibillion pound international cash transfer industry long dominated by companies such as Western Union and Moneygram. Remittances sent from nearly 200 million migrant workers to developing countries totalled £102bn last year, according to the World Bank. The GSM Association, which represents more than 700 mobile operators worldwide, believes this could quadruple by 2012 if transfers by SMS become the norm. Vodafone has entered a partnership with Citigroup that would soon allow Kenyans in the UK to send money home via text message. The charge for sending £50 is expected to be about £3, less than a third of what some traditional services charge. Cheques and texts 19% Adult Kenyans with bank accounts 54% Adult Kenyans with a mobile phone or access to one 58% Most popular way to transfer money in Kenya: send it with a family member or friend (Source: FSD Kenya) 22p Cost of sending £260 via text message in Kenya £1.25 Cost for recipient to cash it in (Source: Safaricom) £102bn Money sent home to developing countries by migrant workers in 2006 (Source: World Bank) 3 billion People in world with mobile phones http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2038302,00.html <http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2038302,00.html> __._,_.___ Messages in this topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/message/5765;_ylc=X3oDMTM0ODAxbzZtB…> (1) Reply (via web post) <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJwNXVjbGZsBF9TAzk3M…> | Start a new topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJlajBldWdrBF9TAzk3M…> Messages <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJlNG85MmZuBF9TA…> | Links <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/links;_ylc=X3oDMTJmNzJnMDFzBF9TAzk3…> | Polls <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/polls;_ylc=X3oDMTJmNXR2a3I5BF9TAzk3…> | Calendar <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/calendar;_ylc=X3oDMTJkdmkzc3U2BF9TA…> Dig Africa site welcomes you to join us at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/Digafrica on IT in Africa Aids-Africa is a forum for communication and information on AIDS related issues in Africa and all are welcome to join us at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/aids-africa Join us on hiv/aids forum on Kenya at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/kenya-aids Join us at a Kenyan networking forum and NGOS at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/kenyainternational Yahoo! 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[Fwd: Re: [Fwd: Re: [Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] Fibre optic delays cost 5000jobs a month]]]
by alice 21 Mar '07

21 Mar '07

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [Fwd: Re: [kictanet] [Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] Fibre optic delays cost 5000jobs a month]] Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 23:30:59 +0300 From: Gerhard MAY <gerhard.may(a)gmail.com> To: alice <alice(a)apc.org> References: <46001ACD.6070907(a)apc.org> I read the article and my opinion is that the crucial point is missed totally. Kenya requires a fibre optic connection to reduce cost of doing business in Kenya and ensuring that Kenyan companies can compete successfully with their competitors abroad. This is very important for all existing companies in kenya and will let them grow. This BPO is from my point of view a absolute niche and too narrow minded. What impact will call centres lets say with even 10.000 agents make on the GDP? This are peanuts. MY logical chain is: fibre optic cable reduces cost of telecoms; fibre optic cable improves quality of service eg speed, reliability etc kenyan companies are producing at lower cost, respond faster etc (additonal companies consider kenya as attractive) this will push employment and grow GDP Lets create an enabling environment for the economy by providing good quality telcoms at reasoanble cost. gm On 3/20/07, *alice* <alice(a)apc.org <mailto:alice@apc.org>> wrote: Hi Gerhard Would you like to be part of this community?????or are you completely out of sorts with the ICT sector? -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [kictanet] [Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] Fibre optic delays cost 5000jobs a month] Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 20:01:47 +0300 From: Kai U. Wulff < kai.wulff(a)kdn.co.ke <mailto:kai.wulff@kdn.co.ke>> Reply-To: Kenya ICT Action Network - KICTANet <kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke <mailto:kictanet@kictanet.or.ke>> To: alice(a)apc.org <mailto:alice@apc.org> Hello, As much as I agree that we need at least 2 cables, please see the following cost calculation: Assume a 1 Mbps duplex Sat capacity costs USD 6 000 per month (it is actually lower). Compression for good quality ranges from 8 Kbps to 16 Kbps, so let's take an average of 12.8Kbps So on one Mbps you can have a minimum of 80 calls or 4800 call minutes per hour. On a 20 hour operation this leads to 96 000 call minutes per day a and in a 30 day month to 2 880 000 call minutes per month. You communication cost per call minute = 0.14 KSH !! If you say your call centre is only loaded by 50% = a quarter of a KSH per call minute. What is the cost of electricity, labor, rent ... in perspective? I still believe we can build competitive call centers even on SAT basis! Rgds Kai -----Original Message----- From: kictanet-bounces+kai.wulff= kdn.co.ke(a)kictanet.or.ke <mailto:kdn.co.ke@kictanet.or.ke> [mailto:kictanet-bounces+kai.wulff=kdn.co.ke@kictanet.or.ke <mailto:kictanet-bounces+kai.wulff=kdn.co.ke@kictanet.or.ke>] On Behalf Of alice Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 18:06 To: kai.wulff(a)kdn.co.ke <mailto:kai.wulff@kdn.co.ke> Subject: [kictanet] [Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] Fibre optic delays cost 5000jobs a month] Fibre optic delays cost 5000 jobs a month By Steve Mbogo, Business Daily, March 20, 2007 Every month that passes without Kenya having a fibre optic cable link to the rest of the world, the country loses an opportunity to create 5,000 jobs. The figure, based on data collected by Business Daily interviews with individuals involved in making Kenya a hub for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). BPO involves hiring of vendors to handle business processes like customer care, accounting, and content provision. In Kenya, call centres and publishing content provision are the main focuses, but other examples of BPO include human resources, accounting and payroll outsourcing. Dave Stewart, general manager of KenCall, Kenya's largest call-centre, said while foreign investors are looking at Kenya as a good destination for BPO, the lack of a fibre link is stifling some. "This (fibre link) is a must if there is to be a serious investment in this area," said Stewart. Currently established businesses, like KenCall, have no choice but to use the expensive bandwidth through the satellite network. Mr Stewart, whose call centre employs 300 people, spends $30,000 to $70,000 (Sh2.1m to Sh4.9m) for the bandwidth. BPO players estimated the advent of the fibre-optic cable could reduce bandwidth costs by 60 per cent. But cautioned that a single cable might not make a difference as it will run like a monopoly. Outsourcing operations have thrived in developing countries like India which have sufficient, and cheap enough bandwidth as well as educated human resources and sound legal and financial infrastructure. Educated work force Industry players feel Kenya is well positioned to become a preferred BPO hub, despite not measuring up on bandwidth. "Kenya's competitiveness in terms of human resources is very high," said Mr Stewart. "Kenya, like India, has a very highly educated work force. The accents here are very popular with the Americans and the Europeans," he added. And unlike in the West where most see call centre careers as a stepping stone to other opportunities, in Kenya being employed in a call centre is regarded as a career. "This is a potential for growth." Mr Wallace Gichoho the chief executive of Call Centre Africa Ltd and chairman of Kenya ICT Service Exporters (KISE) said the type of employees that Call Centres look for are those that may not make the universities cut off point but had fared well in the key subject that would enable a company develop skill in them. This forms a majority of the potential working force and has proved more stable than graduate employees. Mugure Kabugua's BPO company, Preciss offers a service called PrecissPatrol that prowls the Internet on behalf of clients, and the company is planning a call centre. She said the business environment for BPO is improving thanks to the Government encouraging more investment. She says the local industry is getting attention from international BPO concerns. Estimates on how many jobs could be created vary. While Ms Kabugua suggested "hundreds of thousands," Waudo Siganga, the chairman of the Computer Society of Kenya said a well-functioning BPO industry can create an estimated 60,000 jobs every year, supported by more than 400 companies licensed to offer information communication technology training. Meanwhile, Dr Wahome Gakuru, a coordinator for Government's Vision 2030 development plan, said BPO could created "millions of jobs," for young professionals. Whichever number is correct, the sector is getting attention from the places of power. _______________________________________________ Fibre-for-africa mailing list Fibre-for-africa(a)lists.apc.org <mailto:Fibre-for-africa@lists.apc.org> http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fibre-for-africa _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke <mailto:kictanet@kictanet.or.ke> http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/kai.wulff%40kdn.co.ke ************************************************************** Scanned by eScan Anti-Virus and Content Security Software. Visit http://www.mwti.net for more info on eScan and MailScan. ************************************************************** ************************************************************** Scanned by eScan Anti-Virus and Content Security Software. Visit http://www.mwti.net for more info on eScan and MailScan. ************************************************************** _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke <mailto:kictanet@kictanet.or.ke> http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/alice%40apc.org

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programme
by Rebecca Wanjiku 21 Mar '07

21 Mar '07

KICTANet monthly forum- Jacaranda thursday march 22nd 3pm to 5pm 3.00 pm Introduction - Becky 3.15pm rural-urban digital divide, consumer perspectives- Alex Gakuru 3.35 pm Kimathi Information Centre- linking the youth- Jose Ngunjiri 3.55 pm connecting rural schools- Fatma Bashir 4.15 pm questions for all the speakers 4.55 pm tea and snacks guests leave at their pleasure Please confirm attendance by replying directly to me, ____________________________________________________________________________________ Don't get soaked. Take a quick peek at the forecast with the Yahoo! Search weather shortcut. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/#loc_weather

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reminder-monthly forum tommorrow at 3pm
by Rebecca Wanjiku 21 Mar '07

21 Mar '07

just to remind you to be there on time, at 3pm tommorrow at the Jacaranda this month's theme is bridging the rural-urban digital divide, you dont want to miss presesntations by Alex Gakuru, who will set the pace, give consumer perspectives, what has been done and what can be done to bridge the rural-urban digital divide. Jose Ngunjiri who will will tell us of challenges and successes working with the youth at the Kimathi Information centre in Nairobi's Eastlands,- by the way, Kimathi Information centre has won accolades from PS Ndemo and WB country director Bruce Fatma Bashir from cyber school technologies will make a presentation about their efforts to connect rural schools that have no power hope to meet you there, for logistics purposes, please confirm. can write back to me, not to the whole list, if you hit the reply button, it goes to the list, regards becky KICTANet ____________________________________________________________________________________ Need Mail bonding? Go to the Yahoo! Mail Q&A for great tips from Yahoo! Answers users. http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396546091

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[Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] Fibre optic delays cost 5000 jobs a month]
by alice 21 Mar '07

21 Mar '07

Fibre optic delays cost 5000 jobs a month By Steve Mbogo, Business Daily, March 20, 2007 Every month that passes without Kenya having a fibre optic cable link to the rest of the world, the country loses an opportunity to create 5,000 jobs. The figure, based on data collected by Business Daily interviews with individuals involved in making Kenya a hub for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). BPO involves hiring of vendors to handle business processes like customer care, accounting, and content provision. In Kenya, call centres and publishing content provision are the main focuses, but other examples of BPO include human resources, accounting and payroll outsourcing. Dave Stewart, general manager of KenCall, Kenyas largest call-centre, said while foreign investors are looking at Kenya as a good destination for BPO, the lack of a fibre link is stifling some. This (fibre link) is a must if there is to be a serious investment in this area, said Stewart. Currently established businesses, like KenCall, have no choice but to use the expensive bandwidth through the satellite network. Mr Stewart, whose call centre employs 300 people, spends $30,000 to $70,000 (Sh2.1m to Sh4.9m) for the bandwidth. BPO players estimated the advent of the fibre-optic cable could reduce bandwidth costs by 60 per cent. But cautioned that a single cable might not make a difference as it will run like a monopoly. Outsourcing operations have thrived in developing countries like India which have sufficient, and cheap enough bandwidth as well as educated human resources and sound legal and financial infrastructure. Educated work force Industry players feel Kenya is well positioned to become a preferred BPO hub, despite not measuring up on bandwidth. Kenyas competitiveness in terms of human resources is very high, said Mr Stewart. Kenya, like India, has a very highly educated work force. The accents here are very popular with the Americans and the Europeans, he added. And unlike in the West where most see call centre careers as a stepping stone to other opportunities, in Kenya being employed in a call centre is regarded as a career. This is a potential for growth. Mr Wallace Gichoho the chief executive of Call Centre Africa Ltd and chairman of Kenya ICT Service Exporters (KISE) said the type of employees that Call Centres look for are those that may not make the universities cut off point but had fared well in the key subject that would enable a company develop skill in them. This forms a majority of the potential working force and has proved more stable than graduate employees. Mugure Kabuguas BPO company, Preciss offers a service called PrecissPatrol that prowls the Internet on behalf of clients, and the company is planning a call centre. She said the business environment for BPO is improving thanks to the Government encouraging more investment. She says the local industry is getting attention from international BPO concerns. Estimates on how many jobs could be created vary. While Ms Kabugua suggested hundreds of thousands, Waudo Siganga, the chairman of the Computer Society of Kenya said a well-functioning BPO industry can create an estimated 60,000 jobs every year, supported by more than 400 companies licensed to offer information communication technology training. Meanwhile, Dr Wahome Gakuru, a coordinator for Governments Vision 2030 development plan, said BPO could created millions of jobs, for young professionals. Whichever number is correct, the sector is getting attention from the places of power. _______________________________________________ Fibre-for-africa mailing list Fibre-for-africa(a)lists.apc.org http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fibre-for-africa

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[Fwd: [DigAfrica] Kenya cancels SNO offer to Indian firm]
by alice 20 Mar '07

20 Mar '07

They demanded one "too many" privileges Kenya cancels SNO offer to Indian firm By A STAFF WRITER Investigations by The East-African have revealed that Kenya cancelled negotiations with Reliance Communications of India the company that had been negotiating with the government for a licence to operate both fixed-line and mobile services because the Indians demanded "too many" privileges. Just a day before the deadline within which the Indian company was asked to formally submit its application, the president of the company, Punit Garg, wrote to the government making demands that were way outside the condition of the tender. According to informed sources, the privileges Reliance wanted were in three sets namely duties, relaxation of rules for listing of its local subsidiaries on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, and a commitment to share infrastructure from existing mobile companies. With respect to duties, the Indian company wanted the following. First, zero import duties on import of telecommunications infrastructure and equipment; zero import duties on new and used handsets and zero value-added tax. The privileges requested with respect to listing requirements were not only excessive but were of the type that the government could only give at the risk of bending the rules governing capital markets. First, the Indian company wanted the government to give it a commitment that it would allow any local subsidiaries it formed to go to the market to raise money on the Nairobi Stock Exchange regardless of whether or not the company met the requirements for listing. The Indian investor suggested that the local subsidiary it intended to create be listed on the basis of compliance of the parent company in India. Secondly, it wanted the government to permit the listing of at least 10 per cent of the equity of the SNO on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. Thirdly, it asked that the government allow dual listing of the company that it intended to establish in Kenya. On the sharing of infrastructure, the Indian investors wanted assurances on the sharing of towers, co- location of equipment for interconnection and long distance networks. The company argued that duplication of infrastructure in telecommunications networks was costly. The Indian investor further argued that only a harmonised system can ensure ready availability at regulated cost-based tariffs. Reliance also said that it was not willing to put in an application without these assurances and privileges. It is understood that on receiving the demands, a meeting of the board of the Communications Commission of Kenya was hurriedly convened at which the regulator formally announced the cancellation of negotiations with the Indians and the decision to tender afresh. The government will now be hoping that Vtel of Dubai, who had offered to pay a whopping $169 million for the licence, will still want to come and invest in Kenya. Kenya's telecommunications industry is changing rapidly. The two mobile players Safaricom and Celtel continue to maintain a stranglehold in a market that more or less operates like a duopoly. Currently, it is estimated that Safaricom has around 75 per cent of the market and Celtel 25 per cent. Both companies have recently been licensed to operate international gateways. Kenya tried unsuccessfully to auction an SNO licence in 2003. In May last year, the CCK put out an international tender for the licence. The successful bidder, Vtel Ltd, was consequently invited to take up the offer but failed to do so following disagreements with its local partners. In accordance with the tender regulations, the offer was subsequently withdrawn and extended to Reliance Communications, the second highest bidders. Upon receipt of the invitation by CCK, Reliance Communication confirmed that they would take up the offer and requested more time to enable them to comply with the various formalities. The CCK board agreed to the request by the Indian investors and granted an extension of the application deadline to March 15 this year. By the expiry of the set deadline of 4.00 pm on Friday last week, the Indian investors had not made a formal application for the licence. http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/News19030715.htm <http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/News19030715.htm> __._,_.___ Messages in this topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/message/5760;_ylc=X3oDMTM0NmQ2MHN0B…> (1) Reply (via web post) <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJwcWdqYzU3BF9TAzk3M…> | Start a new topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJlZ3R2azduBF9TAzk3M…> Messages <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJldnVua3Q5BF9TA…> | Links <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/links;_ylc=X3oDMTJmb2s0cXYwBF9TAzk3…> | Polls <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/polls;_ylc=X3oDMTJmaTVyMmlqBF9TAzk3…> | Calendar <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/calendar;_ylc=X3oDMTJkYTVzcjRuBF9TA…> Dig Africa site welcomes you to join us at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/Digafrica on IT in Africa Aids-Africa is a forum for communication and information on AIDS related issues in Africa and all are welcome to join us at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/aids-africa Join us on hiv/aids forum on Kenya at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/kenya-aids Join us at a Kenyan networking forum and NGOS at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/kenyainternational Yahoo! 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[Fwd: [DigAfrica] Kenya sets world first with money transfers by mobile]
by alice 20 Mar '07

20 Mar '07

We are the world's first. Kudos to Safaricom -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [DigAfrica] Kenya sets world first with money transfers by mobile Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:28:50 -0000 From: Chifu <chifu2222(a)gmail.com> Reply-To: DigAfrica(a)yahoogroups.com To: DigAfrica(a)yahoogroups.com Kenya sets world first with money transfers by mobile Xan Rice in Nairobi Tuesday March 20, 2007 The Guardian The ping of a text message has never sounded so sweet. In what is being touted as a world first, Kenya's biggest mobile operator is allowing subscribers to send cash to other phone users by SMS. Known as M-Pesa, or mobile money, the service is expected to revolutionise banking in a country where more than 80% of people are excluded from the formal financial sector. Apart from transferring cash - a service much in demand among urban Kenyans supporting relatives in rural areas - customers of the Safaricom network will be able to keep up to 50,000 shillings (£370) in a "virtual account" on their handsets. Developed by Vodafone, which holds a 35% share in Safaricom, M-Pesa was formally launched in Kenya two weeks ago. More than 10,000 people have signed up for the service, with around 8m shillings transferred so far, mostly in tiny denominations. Safaricom's executives are confident that growth will be strong in Kenya, and later across Africa. "We are effectively giving people ATM cards without them ever having to open a real bank account," said Michael Joseph, chief executive of Safaricom, who called the money transfer concept the "next big thing" in mobile telephony. M-Pesa's is simple. There is no need for a new handset or SIM card. To send money you hand over the cash to a registered agent - typically a retailer - who credits your virtual account. You then send between 100 shillings (74p) and 35,000 shillings (£259) via text message to the desired recipient - even someone on a different mobile network - who cashes it at an agent by entering a secret code and showing ID. A commission of up to 170 shillings (£1.25) is paid by the recipient but it compares favourably with fees levied by the major banks, whose services are too expensive for most of the population. Mobile phone growth in Kenya, as in most of Africa, has been remarkable, even among the rural poor. In June 1999 Kenya had 15,000 mobile subscribers. Today it has nearly 8 million out of a population of 35 million, and the two operators' networks are as extensive as the access to banks is limited. Safaricom says it is not so much competing with financial services companies as filling a void. In time, M-Pesa will allow people to borrow and repay money, and make purchases. Companies will be able to pay salaries directly into workers' phones - something that has already attracted the interest of larger employers, such as the tea companies, whose workers often have to be paid in cash as they do not have bank accounts. There are concerns about security, but Safaricom insists that even if someone's phone is stolen the PIN system prevents unauthorised withdrawals. Mr Joseph said the only danger is sending cash to the wrong mobile number and the recipient redeeming it straight away. The project is being watched closely by mobile operators around the world as a way of targeting the multibillion pound international cash transfer industry long dominated by companies such as Western Union and Moneygram. Remittances sent from nearly 200 million migrant workers to developing countries totalled £102bn last year, according to the World Bank. The GSM Association, which represents more than 700 mobile operators worldwide, believes this could quadruple by 2012 if transfers by SMS become the norm. Vodafone has entered a partnership with Citigroup that would soon allow Kenyans in the UK to send money home via text message. The charge for sending £50 is expected to be about £3, less than a third of what some traditional services charge. Cheques and texts 19% Adult Kenyans with bank accounts 54% Adult Kenyans with a mobile phone or access to one 58% Most popular way to transfer money in Kenya: send it with a family member or friend (Source: FSD Kenya) 22p Cost of sending £260 via text message in Kenya £1.25 Cost for recipient to cash it in (Source: Safaricom) £102bn Money sent home to developing countries by migrant workers in 2006 (Source: World Bank) 3 billion People in world with mobile phones http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2038302,00.html <http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2038302,00.html> __._,_.___ Messages in this topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/message/5765;_ylc=X3oDMTM0ODAxbzZtB…> (1) Reply (via web post) <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJwNXVjbGZsBF9TAzk3M…> | Start a new topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJlajBldWdrBF9TAzk3M…> Messages <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJlNG85MmZuBF9TA…> | Links <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/links;_ylc=X3oDMTJmNzJnMDFzBF9TAzk3…> | Polls <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/polls;_ylc=X3oDMTJmNXR2a3I5BF9TAzk3…> | Calendar <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/calendar;_ylc=X3oDMTJkdmkzc3U2BF9TA…> Dig Africa site welcomes you to join us at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/Digafrica on IT in Africa Aids-Africa is a forum for communication and information on AIDS related issues in Africa and all are welcome to join us at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/aids-africa Join us on hiv/aids forum on Kenya at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/kenya-aids Join us at a Kenyan networking forum and NGOS at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/kenyainternational Yahoo! 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[Fwd: [APC Forum] EPFL Executive Master in e-Governance (e-Gov) - Call for applications & scholarsh]
by alice 20 Mar '07

20 Mar '07

*EPFL Executive Master in e-Governance (e-Gov)- Call for applications & scholarships opportunities* *Executive Master in e-Governance* *Registration for the 2007-2008 Edition is open: Deadline for registration is April 30th, 2007 * Join the Executive Master in e-Governance and you will learn how to make use of ICTs for effective action and to steer your business, your organization or your agency. Join a group of highly motivated executives to clear your mind for decision-making in a globalized and fast-changing networked world. With our Executive Master in e-Governance, you will go through a challenging learning journey in which you can sharpen your leadership competences. The program is international and conducted in collaboration with highly renowned partners worldwide, with residential classroom modules in Switzerland, Europe, North America and Asia. Partial scholarships and stipends for qualified applicants who demonstrate need for financial assistance and important academic and professional achievements will be considered. EPFL will also support qualified applicants in looking for full-scholarships from public and private institutions. Please visit our website for more information on how to apply and about funding opportunities. http://egov.epfl.ch/ or contact us at egov(a)epfl.ch <mailto:egov@epfl.ch> EPFL is one of the approved institutions under Regular Program of the *Joint Japan/ World Bank Scholarship Program* <http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/WBI/EXTWBISFP/0,,menuPK:551559%7Ep…> (JJ/WBGSP). If you qualify to this program and wish to apply to e-Gov, you are strongly encouraged to apply immediately to e-Gov as a Confirmation of Acceptance from an approved institution and an approved program is a pre-requisite for the scholarship application. *_Deadline for the application to the JJ/WBGSP is March 31st of every year for commencement of study in fall of the same year._* For the 2006-2007 Edition, EPFL has administered seven full and partial scholarships that had been kindly made available by the *Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation* <http://www.deza.ch/>. Gianluca Misuraca e-Gov Managing Director ======================================= APC Forum is a meeting place for the APC community - people and institutions who are or have been involved in collaboration with APC, and share the APC vision - a world in which all people have easy, equal and affordable access to the creative potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve their lives and create more democratic and egalitarian societies. _______________________________________________ apc.forum mailing list apc.forum(a)lists.apc.org http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/apc.forum

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Welcome Goooogle!
by Alex Gakuru 20 Mar '07

20 Mar '07

I just pick this from Kenyalinux mailing list and considering recent posts, I reckon it's relevant! http://skunkworks- ke.blogspot. com/2007/ 03/google- in-kenya. html Don't you just love Google? Alex --------------------------------- Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q&A.

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Re: [kictanet] [Fwd: [DigAfrica] Kenya cancels SNO offer to Indian firm]
by Edith Adera 20 Mar '07

20 Mar '07

Well articulated Muriuki! We need "out of the box" debates on alternative licensing regimes, what has worked, what has not (under varying circumstances). I believe we can draw on some of these experiences from the region. regards At / À 11:30 AM 3/20/2007, Muriuki Mureithi wrote / a écrit: >Thanks Alice >The government and indeed the country can easily be arm twisted because the >focus is on the short term money considerations paid by the applicant but >the loser is the country in terms of the long term build out of the >network, quality and lower prices through competition > >After the current licensing failed in 1) 8 regional telecommunications 2) 2 >trunking radio 3) SNO on two occasions 4) third cellular --- do we need to >use the regime again? > >If we do the same thing the same way we get the same results. Our attempts >apart from Kencell licence proves beyond doubt the need of a paradigm shift > >I am just wondering loudly how much it costs to go through such a licence >process and how such a colossal loss is accounted for > >Finally, I expect that any new applicant will demand even more 'privileges' >because the market is well taken up by competition. The incumbents had >privileges of the huge market and three years of guaranteed market. TKL >itself had a privileged captive market for 118 years. > >Cheers >Muriuki Mureithi > >--------------------------------------- >Summit Strategies Ltd - >ICT Consultancy & Research in Eastern & Central African markets >Contacts : Tel +254 (20) 3875824 , Cell + 254 (722) 520090, >email: mureithi(a)summitstrategies.co.ke > alternate email : muriuki.mureithi(a)gmail.com > > > >-----Original Message----- >From: kictanet-bounces+mureithi=summitstrategies.co.ke(a)kictanet.or.ke >[mailto:kictanet-bounces+mureithi=summitstrategies.co.ke@kictanet.or.ke] On >Behalf Of alice >Sent: 20 March 2007 08:45 >To: mureithi(a)summitstrategies.co.ke >Subject: [kictanet] [Fwd: [DigAfrica] Kenya cancels SNO offer to Indian >firm] > >They demanded one "too many" privileges > >Kenya cancels SNO offer to Indian firm >By A STAFF WRITER > >Investigations by The East-African have revealed that Kenya cancelled >negotiations with Reliance Communications of India - the company that >had been negotiating with the government for a licence to operate >both fixed-line and mobile services - because the Indians >demanded "too many" privileges. > >Just a day before the deadline within which the Indian company was >asked to formally submit its application, the president of the >company, Punit Garg, wrote to the government making demands that were >way outside the condition of the tender. According to informed >sources, the privileges Reliance wanted were in three sets - namely >duties, relaxation of rules for listing of its local subsidiaries on >the Nairobi Stock Exchange, and a commitment to share infrastructure >from existing mobile companies. > >With respect to duties, the Indian company wanted the following. >First, zero import duties on import of telecommunications >infrastructure and equipment; zero import duties on new and used >handsets and zero value-added tax. > >The privileges requested with respect to listing requirements were >not only excessive but were of the type that the government could >only give at the risk of bending the rules governing capital markets. > >First, the Indian company wanted the government to give it a >commitment that it would allow any local subsidiaries it formed to go >to the market to raise money on the Nairobi Stock Exchange regardless >of whether or not the company met the requirements for listing. > >The Indian investor suggested that the local subsidiary it intended >to create be listed on the basis of compliance of the parent company >in India. > >Secondly, it wanted the government to permit the listing of at least >10 per cent of the equity of the SNO on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. > >Thirdly, it asked that the government allow dual listing of the >company that it intended to establish in Kenya. > >On the sharing of infrastructure, the Indian investors wanted >assurances on the sharing of towers, co- location of equipment for >interconnection and long distance networks. > >The company argued that duplication of infrastructure in >telecommunications networks was costly. The Indian investor further >argued that only a harmonised system can ensure ready availability at >regulated cost-based tariffs. > >Reliance also said that it was not willing to put in an application >without these assurances and privileges. > >It is understood that on receiving the demands, a meeting of the >board of the Communications Commission of Kenya was hurriedly >convened at which the regulator formally announced the cancellation >of negotiations with the Indians and the decision to tender afresh. > >The government will now be hoping that Vtel of Dubai, who had offered >to pay a whopping $169 million for the licence, will still want to >come and invest in Kenya. > >Kenya's telecommunications industry is changing rapidly. The two >mobile players - Safaricom and Celtel - continue to maintain a >stranglehold in a market that more or less operates like a duopoly. > >Currently, it is estimated that Safaricom has around 75 per cent of >the market and Celtel 25 per cent. > >Both companies have recently been licensed to operate international >gateways. > >Kenya tried unsuccessfully to auction an SNO licence in 2003. In May >last year, the CCK put out an international tender for the licence. > >The successful bidder, Vtel Ltd, was consequently invited to take up >the offer but failed to do so following disagreements with its local >partners. > >In accordance with the tender regulations, the offer was subsequently >withdrawn and extended to Reliance Communications, the second highest >bidders. Upon receipt of the invitation by CCK, Reliance >Communication confirmed that they would take up the offer and >requested more time to enable them to comply with the various >formalities. > >The CCK board agreed to the request by the Indian investors and >granted an extension of the application deadline to March 15 this >year. > >By the expiry of the set deadline of 4.00 pm on Friday last week, the >Indian investors had not made a formal application for the licence. > >http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/News19030715.htm ><http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/News19030715.htm> > >__._,_.___ >Messages in this topic ><http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/message/5760;_ylc=X3oDMTM0NmQ2MHN0B >F9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI5MDI0NDQEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MTE2MjkxBG1zZ0lkAzU3NjAEc >2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDdnRwYwRzdGltZQMxMTc0MzMyMDE3BHRwY0lkAzU3NjA-> >(1) Reply (via web post) ><http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJwcWdqYzU3BF9TAzk3M >zU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI5MDI0NDQEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MTE2MjkxBG1zZ0lkAzU3NjAEc2VjA2Z0c >gRzbGsDcnBseQRzdGltZQMxMTc0MzMyMDE3?act=reply&messageNum=5760> >| Start a new topic ><http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJlZ3R2azduBF9TAzk3M >zU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI5MDI0NDQEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MTE2MjkxBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA250cGMEc >3RpbWUDMTE3NDMzMjAxNw--> > >Messages ><http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJldnVua3Q5BF9TA >zk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI5MDI0NDQEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MTE2MjkxBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA21zZ >3MEc3RpbWUDMTE3NDMzMjAxNw--> >| Links ><http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/links;_ylc=X3oDMTJmb2s0cXYwBF9TAzk3 >MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI5MDI0NDQEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MTE2MjkxBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA2xpbmtz >BHN0aW1lAzExNzQzMzIwMTc-> >| Polls ><http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/polls;_ylc=X3oDMTJmaTVyMmlqBF9TAzk3 >MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI5MDI0NDQEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MTE2MjkxBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3BvbGxz >BHN0aW1lAzExNzQzMzIwMTc-> >| Calendar ><http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/calendar;_ylc=X3oDMTJkYTVzcjRuBF9TA >zk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI5MDI0NDQEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MTE2MjkxBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA2Nhb >ARzdGltZQMxMTc0MzMyMDE3> > >Dig Africa site welcomes you to join us at >http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/Digafrica on IT in Africa > >Aids-Africa is a forum for communication and information on AIDS related >issues in Africa and all are welcome to join us at >http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/aids-africa > >Join us on hiv/aids forum on Kenya at >http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/kenya-aids > >Join us at a Kenyan networking forum and NGOS at >http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/kenyainternational >Yahoo! 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joining the mail list
by Fatma Bashir 20 Mar '07

20 Mar '07

please include me in the mail list Fatma A Bashir Chief Marketing Officer Cyber School Technology Solutions Ltd. P.O. Box 14636-00100 Nairobi, Kenya. T: 4452870/1 ; 0726/0734 880864 F: 4452873 M: 0722 5070 50 www.cyberschooltech.com ---------------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. --------------------------------------------- "easy access to the world"

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Re: [kictanet] RELIANCE & ICT Board
by Florence Etta 19 Mar '07

19 Mar '07

Hi all, Seems to me, like Eric says, that KICTANet should waste no time to call a series of emergency meetings or convenings to take proactive action on the ICT Board; delibrate and elaborate on who ought to be represented on that board before the decision is taken and it will be too late to influence it. Or is the board already constituted? If so what part did KICTANet play in this? Or what does it envisage for its ( the ICT Board) future actions and directions? Secondly, it is time to call a cross sectoral meeting to discuss the serious consequences of the absence of an SNO and devise a practical way forward which should then be forwarded to the appropriate government or other responsible for their attenion e.g. CCK, Infocom Ministry. The problem affects all of us and we all should show good will by being involved in a constructive way. Cheers, FE Florence Etta P.O. Box 14285,00800 Westlands-Nairobi, Kenya Tel: Mobile + 254-733-621851 Terrestrial: + 254-20-7121506 Fax: + 254-20-7125732 Alternative Email:florence.etta@gmail.com ----- Original Message ---- From: Eric Osiakwan <eric(a)afrispa.org> To: feanywhere(a)yahoo.co.uk Sent: Monday, 19 March, 2007 12:45:24 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] RELIANCE MISSES OUT ON SNO LICENCE IN KENYA Muriuki, Issues well raised and am sure the government would like to listen. I would suggest that a KICTANET meeting at which the larger framework of vertical as opposed to horizontal layering or unified licensing as opposed to Open Access of the communication system is discussed in detailed with the pros and cons. This meeting should end with some majority consensus and should have all the stakeholders so that as sector we are clear at least on the framework of our engagement going forward. I would also submit that a seperate meeting at which the local ownership of foreign stake and the mechanism for SME uptake as well as growth path is clearly outlined so that whiles you need some big fishes now you can also create your own big fishes in the future and more so as the sector progress with time. Eric here On 19 Mar 2007, at 11:58, Muriuki Mureithi wrote: It is time we reviewed the bidding system this country has adopted to remove conflict of policy interest and move this country forward. We must address ourselves to the purpose of the licence - is it to make money for the government to fill treasury gaps or to expand the telecommunications infrastructure. By demanding to have the cake and eat it, we are nowhere 5 years after starting the process of SNO and Third Cellular Operator. It is a lesson well documented in countries that Kenya copied ref Senegal and Malawi among others. At the heart of the conflict is a government stating that ICT is the driver of growth yet put barriers which cripple the operators even before they start. The requirements of local partnership while sweet for political reasons is difficult to realise because the international partners have inadequate time to assess the right partner and hence the problems for SNO and third cellular We need immediate action - first, scrap the requirement of 30% local owner by the time of application of licence but require that within 3 years the winner has brought on board local shareholders through the stock exchange and raise ownership to at least 49% by year 5 of operation . This has worked well for Tz - Second, the licence is not a cash cow - we need infrastructure badly now therefore that licence money should be invested to enable the new entrant to compete with the incumbents and roll out rapidly . Licence should not cost more that USD1. What the entrants should compete with is the cash they will invest in Kenya and the timeline. -finally, CCK should address the anomaly of conflicting policies it issues. In 2004, CCK issued a policy which translates to adoption of horizontal licensing regime to move away from vertical licensing regime. The SNO licence is in direct contradiction of the 2004 policy. Was the policy rescinded? The danger of the unified licence is that it denies Kenyan ICT entrepreneurs a natural growth path and condemns Kenya to permanently have few mega operators and many small operators without a path to migrate from small to big. Should the envisaged fast growing economy to vision 2030 be hinged on few mega operators whose power can sometimes rival the regulator? We need a paradigm shift towards horizontal licensing Cheers Muriuki Mureithi --------------------------------------- Summit Strategies Ltd - ICT Consultancy & Research in Eastern & Central African markets Contacts : Tel +254 (20) 3875824 , Cell + 254 (722) 520090, email: mureithi(a)summitstrategies.co.ke alternate email : muriuki.mureithi(a)gmail.com -----Original Message----- From: kictanet-bounces+mureithi=summitstrategies.co.ke(a)kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+mureithi=summitstrategies.co.ke@kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of alice Sent: 19 March 2007 09:01 To: mureithi(a)summitstrategies.co.ke Subject: [kictanet] RELIANCE MISSES OUT ON SNO LICENCE IN KENYA From BALANCING ACT: RELIANCE MISSES OUT ON SNO LICENCE IN KENYA The Communications Commission of Kenya has cancelled a tender for the second national operator (SNO) licence that it had awarded Reliance Communications, after the consortium failed to pay for the fees. This is the second cancellation, after CCK annulled the licence it had given a consortium led by Dubai-based Vtel Holdings in January, for failing to pay the US$169 million (Sh12 billion) licence fee it had bid. Reliance, which was the second highest bidder at US$111 million (Sh7.8 billion), was allowed to apply for the licence, but on condition that it pay Sh12 billion to match Vtel's bid. Reliance confirmed that it would take up the offer and requested for more time to prepare for the licence. CCK said last week Reliance had a deadline of March 15. "By the expiry of the said deadline at 4.00 p.m. yesterday (Thursday) Reliance Communications had not made a formal application for the licence as required," CCK said. The Commission's director-general John Waweru said they had resolved to immediately restart the tendering process for the licence. (SOURCE: The Nation) _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mureithi%40summitstrategies.c o.ke -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.11/721 - Release Date: 13/03/2007 16:51 _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eric%40afrispa.org Eric M.K Osiakwan Executive Secretary AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org) Tel: + 233.21.258800 ext 2031 Fax: + 233.21.258811 Cell: + 233.244.386792 Handle: eosiakwan Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/ Slang: "Tomorrow Now" _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/feanywhere%40yahoo.co.uk ___________________________________________________________ To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo! Security Centre. http://uk.security.yahoo.com

2 1

Google Summer of Code - OpenMRS
by alice 19 Mar '07

19 Mar '07

Excellent opportunity. Please disseminate widely! -----Original Message----- From: Steve Song [mailto:ssong@idrc.ca] Sent: Sunday, March 18, 2007 7:33 PM To: aubc planning Subject: [aubc-planning-cl] Google Summer of Code - OpenMRS Hi all, Apologies for cross-posting. Please pass share this with anyone you think might have an interest. Particularly if you are at an African university, I would be grateful if you could you ensure that this notice is circulated among your colleagues in the computer science and engineering depts. Deadline is short I am afraid, March 24th. Cheers... Steve -------------------------------- Computer science students, need a summer job? Have you ever imagined that writing code could save lives? Why not apply to OpenMRS for the Google Summer of Code 2007? * Help develop free, open source software * Gain experience by working alongside experienced open source developers * Earn a summer-long stipend so that you can focus on your work * Make a difference in the world by helping in the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria... This summer, students around the world have the opportunity to participate in an exciting collaboration between OpenMRS (http://openmrs.org) and Google, Inc. to further develop an open-source medical record system that improves the care of patients with HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria. The Google Summer of Code 2007 program provides promising student software developers an opportunity to help these vulnerable populations by spending their summer vacation writing new code that will be used in countries throughout the developing world. During this twelve week program, successful applicants will work directly with assigned mentors to complete their choice of a variety of focused development tasks laid out by the OpenMRS collaborative. Interested? Visit http://soc2007.openmrs.org or http://code.google.com/soc for more information. Applications are now being accepted, the deadline for all submissions is March 24th, 2007. --------------------------------------------

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RELIANCE MISSES OUT ON SNO LICENCE IN KENYA
by alice 19 Mar '07

19 Mar '07

From BALANCING ACT: RELIANCE MISSES OUT ON SNO LICENCE IN KENYA The Communications Commission of Kenya has cancelled a tender for the second national operator (SNO) licence that it had awarded Reliance Communications, after the consortium failed to pay for the fees. This is the second cancellation, after CCK annulled the licence it had given a consortium led by Dubai-based Vtel Holdings in January, for failing to pay the US$169 million (Sh12 billion) licence fee it had bid. Reliance, which was the second highest bidder at US$111 million (Sh7.8 billion), was allowed to apply for the licence, but on condition that it pay Sh12 billion to match Vtel's bid. Reliance confirmed that it would take up the offer and requested for more time to prepare for the licence. CCK said last week Reliance had a deadline of March 15. "By the expiry of the said deadline at 4.00 p.m. yesterday (Thursday) Reliance Communications had not made a formal application for the licence as required," CCK said. The Commission's director-general John Waweru said they had resolved to immediately restart the tendering process for the licence. (SOURCE: The Nation)

6 6

Kibaki sets up ICT advisory body
by alice 19 Mar '07

19 Mar '07

thats encouraging massage from the president of Kenya ----- Original Message ---- From: Chifu <chifu2222@gmail. com> To: DigAfrica(a)yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2007 2:43:10 AM Subject: [DigAfrica] Kibaki sets up ICT advisory body Kibaki sets up ICT advisory body By John Oyuke A new parastatal has been set up to spearhead development of information and communications technology (ICT) in the country. The Kenya Information and Communications Technology Board will advise the government on all relevant matters on development, co-ordination and promotion of ICT industries in the country. President Mwai Kibaki authorized setting up of the new Corporation through an order in a Kenya Gazette supplement dated March 2 this year. Kenya Information Communications and Technology Board Order details how the board of the corporation would be instituted and functions. The corporation will be expected to promote — both locally and internationally — opportunities for investment in ICT and also appoint agents within and outside the country to carry out defined functions. It will also facilitate and manage ICT products and services, and industrial incubation and technology parks. The development comes at a time when the government is promoting large-scale communications infrastructure capable of delivering efficient and affordable services as a critical prerequisite for economic growth. It is also seen as part of a broader strategy that seeks to make the country the regional ICT hub by 2010 and create employment. Speaking during the opening of an Information Communication Technology (ICT) strategy conference in Nairobi last year, President Kibaki noted that development of any country is dependent on accessibility to knowledge, information and communications. He said the Government would set aside funds in the next Financial Year to re-skill and re-orient Kenyans towards the demands of ICT. Information and Communication Permanent Secretary, Mr Bitange Ndemo, said local ICT standards must be in line with global expectations to enable the country compete in the $300 billion (Sh2 trillion) outsourcing market. http://www.eastanda rd.net/hm_ news/news. php?articleid= 1143966148 <http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143966148>

2 1

KENYA TAKES PUBLIC JOB APPLICATIONS ONLINE
by alice 19 Mar '07

19 Mar '07

>From BALANCING ACT: KENYA TAKES PUBLIC JOB APPLICATIONS ONLINE People can now apply for Public Service Commission jobs online. The commission launched automated recruitment to improve service delivery. The Head of Public Service, Francis Muthaura, said the move is part of the ongoing reforms in the Public Service. The commission chairman, Titus Gateere, said apart from accessing vacancies and applying for them, the public could also obtain information regarding the status of their applications. The project, which was developed by experts from different ministries, is expected to save over Sh300 million that would have been spent on outsourcing, Applications should be made through www.publicservice.go.ke and applicants can find out about the status of their applications after one week via sms, by sending the words: "PSCK ON" to 5556 on both mobile phone service providers. For now the commission will operate the online and manual systems since access to online facilities are still limited. The recruitment will take 70 working days instead of the earlier 160 days. (SOURCE: The East African Standard) *

1 0

domain name news
by Rebecca Wanjiku 19 Mar '07

19 Mar '07

The Real Problem with dot-XXX by Michael Roberts ... So what we have, stripped down to essentials, is a moral contest. On the one side are the free expression advocates, such as Milton, who see the greater good in the avoidance of any form of censorship, accompanied by a laissez faire economic conviction that markets will solve most any problem in sight. On the other side are those who wonder how ICANN could have gotten itself entangled in a tawdry business that not infrequently preys on innocent youngsters and enjoys a lot of profit at the same time. How could any amount of rational sounding registry approval process be used as insulation from the downright evil acts which seek cover under the First Amendment? http://www.circleid.com/posts/real_problem_with_dot_xxx/ ********************** DOMAIN NAMES ********************** Cybersquatting remains on the rise with further risk to trademarks from new registration practices (news release) The number of cybersquatting disputes filed with WIPO in 2006 increased by 25% as compared to 2005. In a related development, the evolution of the domain name registration system is causing growing concern for trademark owners, in particular some of the effects of the use of computer software to automatically register expired domain names and their 'parking' on pay-per-click portal sites, the option to register names free-of-charge for a five-day 'tasting' period, the proliferation of new registrars, and the establishment of new gTLDs. The combined result of these developments is to create greater opportunities for the mass, often anonymous, registration of domain names without specific consideration of third-party intellectual property rights. http://www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/en/2007/wipo_pr_2007_479.html http://www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/en/2007/wipo_pr_2007_479a.pdf Cybersquatting complaints rise 25 percent, U.N. says (AP) WIPO saw cybersquatting complaints increase 25 percent in 2006. WIPO received 1,823 complaints in 2006 alleging abusive registrations of trademarks as Internet domain names. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/03/13/1173722427174.html http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/16888915.htm http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/03/13/1173722464147.html Domain name chaos needs measured response Imagine a Wild West town where the street signs can be hired by the year. For that year, the hirer gets to say where they point but if they don't renew quickly enough, someone else can nip in and swing them around. Follow the sign to the town library, and you'll end up at the liquor shop the shopkeeper has more money than the librarian, and has a gang of kids wandering around nabbing old signs and putting up new confusing ones as quickly as they can. It would be frustrating chaos, and you'd soon be looking for a saner place to live. Yet that's not so far from the way internet domain names are currently managed, with predictable results documented by WIPO. http://opinion.zdnet.co.uk/leader/0,1000002208,39286281,00.htm Cybersquatting cases rose 25% in 2006 WIPO has reported that cybersquatting incidents have increased 25 percent to 1,823 complaints in 2006. http://technology.inquirer.net/infotech/infotech/view_article.php?article_i… 'Cybersquat' threat to trademarks Trademark owners face a disturbing new "cybersquatting" threat from internet developments that enable automatic registering of website addresses, WIPO warned on Monday. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/62a5d2ae-d109-11db-836a-000b5df10621.html Do Speculative Domains Threaten the Internet? (Reuters) The Internet's key site identity system is in mounting danger from new techniques that could cause havoc by turning it into a free-for-all market, the World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO warned on Monday. http://networks.silicon.com/webwatch/0,39024667,39166311,00.htm http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/3991579a28.html http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=137&objectid=10428563 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,1000000097,39286280,00.htm Domain name system in danger from speculators, cybersquatters, says U.N. agency (Reuters) The Internet's key site identity system is in mounting danger from new techniques that could cause havoc by turning it into a free-for-all market, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) warned yesterday. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonom… McAfee Reveals List of Riskiest Country Web Sites for Malicious Downloads, Browser Exploits and Unwanted E-Mail (news release) McAfee, Inc. announced the results of their SiteAdvisor research report that creates a global road map of the riskiest, and the safest, places to surf and search on the World Wide Web. McAfee analysed and ranked 265 TLDs based on McAfee's Web safety tests for spyware, spam, exploits and scams. The report, "Mapping the Mal Web," revealed surprisingly large differences in safety from one domain to another. This global portrait estimates that each month, Internet users make more than 550 million clicks to risky Web sites and that even relatively safe domains like .de or .uk account for millions of risky clicks. The safest 10 TLDs are .gov, .fi, .ie, .no, .is, .se, .au, .co, .sg and .si. http://www.siteadvisor.com/studies/map_malweb_mar2007.html Study shows .info domain is a Net ghetto The .info domain is the online equivalent of an unsafe neighbourhood, according to a new SiteAdvisor report from McAfee. McAfee said there was a 73.2 per cent chance of receiving spam after registering an email address at a random .info domain. This domain was also the most unsafe top-level domain with 7.5 per cent of sites labelled 'risky'. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/security/news/107158/study-shows-info-domain-is-a-ne… McAfee names most risky domains Ireland has the second least risky country domain name (.ie), according to a new report by McAfee. The report found that internet users make more than 550 million clicks to risky websites a month. http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single7940 http://businessworld.ie/livenews.htm?a=1664497 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0313/breaking74.htm Vikings Best, Polynesians Worst In Domain Safety SiteAdvisor has completed an extensive scan of 265 TLDs on the Internet, ranking sites by the percentage of malicious code found in visiting the site. The survey found that 4.1 percent of all Web sites pose some sort of risk to a visitor, whether it's viruses, adware, spyware, phishing or some other form of malware. http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3665441 http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/03/12/web-domain-risk-tech-security-c… East European domain names pose most risks to users (Computeract!ve) People who surf on sites with Romanian and Russian domain names are more likely to fall victim to scammers than those who access websites from Japan and Australia, a report has found. http://www.computeractive.co.uk/computeractive/news/2185379/russian-romania… http://www.whatpc.co.uk/computeractive/news/2185379/russian-romanian-domain… Internet Map: Here There Be Malware Where are the Web's most dangerous neighborhoods? Security firm McAfee analyzed and ranked 265 top-level domains to find out. It released its findings Monday. The most risky country domain names belong to Romania and Russia, with China rapidly ascending. Least risky are Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Ireland. http://www.technewsworld.com/story/56252.html Dot-gov safest domain around, says McAfee The safest websites on the internet end in dot-gov, according to McAfee. McAfee found no risky websites within the domain for US government agencies, it said in a report. In contrast, one in 10 sites that end in dot-tk, the domain for the tiny island of Tokelau, either spread malicious software or warrant a warning because of pop-ups or other nuisances, McAfee said. http://software.silicon.com/malware/0,3800003100,39166312,00.htm http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6166564.html McAfee publishes statistics on dodgy domains McAfee have released research to provide consumers with a global road map, which uncovers the riskiest and the safest places to surf and search on the Internet. http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/6995/8019/mcaffee-publishes-do… http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&article… Profitable mistakes - typosquatting We all make mistakes when typing website addresses but a new breed of online fraudsters known as "cybersquatters" are generating huge profits from illegal businesses set up to exploit our errors. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/corporate/article1515229… Coming to terms with the language of cybersquatting The Financial Times provides a handy guide defining cybersquatting, typosquatting, domainer, dropcatcher, domain tasting and domain parking. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e2356676-d17f-11db-b921-000b5df10621.html Microsoft hits 'cybersquatters' Microsoft is pursuing five alleged UK-based cybersquatters in its battle against firms and individuals who have registered variations or misspellings of its key brands, such as Xbox. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6449363.stm Microsoft files lawsuits against cybersquatters Microsoft has filed two new lawsuits against companies it accuses of registering domain names similar to certain Microsoft trademarks. It has also settled three similar suits with other companies, it said Wednesday. http://infoworld.com/article/07/03/14/HNmssuescybersquatters_1.html Microsoft to sue 'cybersquatters' over related web domain names Microsoft Corp. said it plans to file a new round of lawsuits in the U.S. and Britain this week against people it says are profiting from registering Internet domain names that contain the company's trademarked terms. http://www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=133607&type=Daily http://www.ft.com/cms/s/fbddb398-d19e-11db-b921-000b5df10621.html http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21385687%5e15306%5e%5enbv%5… http://news.com.com/2110-7355_3-6167004.html http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198000845 Microsoft pursues UK "cybersquatters" (Reuters) Microsoft Corp. took its fight against so-called "cybersquatters" overseas, seeking a payment of damages from five U.K. companies for registering Web site domain names that infringe on its trademarks and brand, Microsoft said on Tuesday. http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&story… Google finds itself stymied by cybersquatters Google, which should be one of the most internet savvy companies in the world, has recently been struggling with a rash of cybersquatting. The internet search company is facing several obstacles as it tries to secure rights to domain names for its Gmail internet e-mail service around the world. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/c1934d34-d17f-11db-b921-000b5df10621.html ICANN RegisterFly update: March 13, 2007 This shows the number of domains transferred away from RegisterFly.com for the dates of March 9, 10, 11, 2007, these being 1,114, 707 and 345 respectively. http://blog.icann.org/?p=47 RegisterFly update: March 12, 2007 After discussions today with RegisterFly it seems clear that RegisterFly now has no technical impedements to do whats necessary to service its eNom customers, including obtain auth-codes. http://blog.icann.org/?p=46 Two RegisterFly Sites Online as Ousted CEO Returns ICANN is continuing to press RegisterFly to repair its management systems so domain owners can manage their names, but is now dealing directly with company founder Kevin Medina, who has been awarded control of RegisterFly by a New Jersey court. ICANN met Saturday with Medina to demand immediate action on RegisterFly's failure to provide adequate WHOIS information and make critical transfer codes (known as auth-info codes) available to customers. http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2007/03/12/two_registerfly_sites_online_a… International Domain Names May Be Introduced By 2008 ICANN is running tests to see if spelling Internet domains with non-English characters like Chinese or Arabic will affect the Net's efficiency. http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7006729310 Recent Submissions by Proposed ICM Registry in Support of Sponsorship Criteria Adopted by the Board http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-13mar07.htm ICANN: Anycast And Communication Foiled February's Root Server Attack ICANN's evaluation analyzes what happened during the attack on the root servers, which ones were hit the hardest, and what kept them running. http://informationweek.com/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198000575 GoDaddy Makes Reporting Invalid Whois Easy Want to report an invalid whois record? Just click the link. http://domainnamewire.com/2007/03/13/godaddy-makes-reporting-invalid-whois-… Whirlpool gives IP address management a spin While Whirlpool focuses on the business of making kitchen and laundry appliances, lead network engineer Gregory Fisbeck keeps his eye on thousands of IP addresses. With some 80,000 employees and 200 locations worldwide, Whirlpool network staff has always had its hands full managing multiple DNS zones and thousands of IP addresses. But last year's acquisition of Maytag increased Whirlpool's eight or nine DNS zones under management to some 16, shining a spotlight on a much-needed operational upgrade, Fisbeck says. http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;1806000247;fp;2;fpid;2 http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1806000247;fp;4;fpid;78268965 U.K. Secondary Domain Name Market Sees a Growth of More than 150% in 2006 - Growth in .co.uk domain value exceeds that of .com (news release) Annual statistics for 2006 compiled by domain marketplace Sedo and DNJournal reveal a surge of 153% in the value of all published .CO.UK domain sales worldwide, in comparison to a growth of 79% in 2005. Already one of the worlds most expensive online addresses with an average sales value of £2,062.15. The increasing scarcity of quality .CO.UK domains, and the continued recovery in the UK online industry, have steadily driven prices higher in the past years http://www.sedo.co.uk/presse/presse_130307.php4?tracked=&partnerid=&languag… Hundreds of Thousands of .mobi Domains Registered Over 400,000 .mobi domains have been registered since the domain for mobile devices was launched last October, according to dotMobithe organization charged with managing .mobi, which includes the allocating of top level names. http://www.psionplace.com/articles/2007/3/2007-3-9-Hundreds-of-Thousands.ht… Topix.com Sells for $1M An article in the Wall Street Journal confirmed that the domain name Topix.com was purchased for $1M in January. The new owner is Topix.net, which receives 10M visitors per month. The company understood the user confusion of not owning the .com version of the domain and negotiated the purchase. http://domainnamewire.com/2007/03/13/topixcom-sells-for-1m/ Domain Sales Explode as Buyers Brush Off Signs of a Slowing Economy What a roller coaster ride the past couple of weeks have been. Last week we witnessed one of the slowest domain sales weeks we've seen in some time. Yesterday former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said we may see an economic recession by the end of the year and today (Feb. 27) the stock market plunged a breathtaking 416 points in the biggest drop since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. So, does that mean the domain market's steady ascent is about to end? From the numbers out this week, we can only say "Forget about it!" http://dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2007/domainsales03-06-07.htm Net copes with key character test Tests are carried out to see how the net's addressing system copes with international character sets such as Chinese and Arabic. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6441093.stm ____________________________________________________________________________________ No need to miss a message. Get email on-the-go with Yahoo! Mail for Mobile. Get started. http://mobile.yahoo.com/mail

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general internet news -
by Rebecca Wanjiku 19 Mar '07

19 Mar '07

just in case of interest.... Becky *************** RESEARCH PAPERS *************** American Latinos Online Latinos comprise 14% of the U.S. adult population and about half of this growing group (56%) goes online. By comparison, 71% of non-Hispanic whites and 60% of non-Hispanic blacks use the internet. http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/204/report_display.asp Ethical Implications of Emerging Technologies: A Survey by Mary Rundle and Chris Conley (UNESCO) This story tells of a bright future in which emerging technologies are applied to the benefit of all humanity. History suggests, however, that technology can also be used to limit rather than to promote human rights and dignity. Thus, it is important to consider how these technologies may promote or thwart the realization of infoethics goals. Conclusion: The most important part of coming to terms with this “far more connected, global computing and information-sharing” paradigm that the Information Society is entering is that (1) everyone must understand it, and that (2) each piece ultimately shares responsibility (a) for the success of the system as a whole, and (b) for the fact that a person’s actions have ramifying and amplifying effects on people far away that he might not even see. It is a challenge to educate all people to be able to live in a world like that. There are huge benefits and shared risk. To a greater extent than before because of technology, organizational heads do not represent the best knowledge to address problems. There is a systematic bias to ask only the heads to be in the room for decision-making. However, children aged 0-20 are much more aware of cultural and technological issues than older people are. They are more knowledgeable about evolving cultures than older people who assume the children will resemble them. (They will not.) Therefore it is important to incorporate children in decision-making processes more. If society cannot let them vote, it should at least listen to what they are saying and honestly try to understand the people who are adjusting to new technologies at a rapid pace. Places where de novo adoption is occurring are the places to learn. Those people are appropriating new technologies without prior constraints – and they may show the rest of the Information Society what is possible or what is useful. The $100 Laptop is a nice example: It will teach about cultural adaptation to technology. The Information Society must recognize that the scale of things is larger and the reach of things is longer systematically. People need to learn to focus not just on local phenomenon but on global phenomenon. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001499/149992E.pdf *********** CENSORSHIP *********** Iranian blogger freed and reporting once again When a bruised Kianoosh Sanjari climbed from the police van last October, he immediately recognised the familiar drab buildings of Evin prison section 240, run by the plainclothes branch of the Revolutionary Guards. His crime? Reporting for his weblog on the violent arrest of a religious group by security forces. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2359096.ece Chinese surfers overturn book ban Censors in China have bowed to pressure from the country's online community to allow eight books on the banned list to remain in shops. http://www.itnews.com.au/newsstory.aspx?CIaNID=47945 ************************************************ CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION ************************************************ us: States scrutinize minors' security on MySpace Connecticut could become the first state to require social networking sites and chatrooms to verify a user's age. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0313/p03s03-stct.html us: Keeping children safe online It hardly restricts our freedom to filter pornography out of the web in schools and libraries: The merits of filtering out internet pornography in schools and libraries is an issue which will not die. In the United States, the Children's Internet Protection Act passed in 2000 by Congress has been the subject of several legal challenges. The objection to keeping porn from children revolves around two issues: the accuracy of the filtering mechanism and free speech rights. http://mercatornet.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=500 au: Coonan's PC porn filter six months late Australians are not likely to get government-provided free online content filters for their PCs until June this year at the earliest, some six months after initially stipulated. http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Coonan_s_PC_porn_filter_six… Mobile dangers for kids The dangers and opportunities of the internet will soon spread to mobile phones, industry experts predict, raising serious questions about how parents can control what their children see and who they contact. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/03/14/1173722475474.html nz: InternetNZ supports NetSafe with strategic partnership agreement (news release) InternetNZ (The Internet Society of New Zealand) has formed a strategic partnership with NetSafe (The Internet Safety Group), expanding further its historical support for the organisation. http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/netsafepartnership Internet groups form alliance InternetNZ has formed a strategic partnership with internet safety group NetSafe. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/1028534 *************************************** CYBERCRIME, CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY *************************************** us: FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center Releases 2006 Statistics (news release) The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) today released its annual Internet Fraud Crime Report. From January 1 through December 31, 2006, the center received 207,492 complaint submissions. These filings were composed of fraudulent and non-fraudulent complaints primarily related to the Internet and included many different fraud types to include auction fraud, non-delivery, and credit/debit card fraud, as well as non-fraudulent complaints, such as computer intrusions, spam/unsolicited email, and child pornography. http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel07/ic3report031607.htm Internet Crime: The Latest Numbers - FBI report When it comes to crime, the Internet is like a Swiss Army knife—a multi-purpose tool that’s easy to use and highly versatile. That’s made crystal clear by the 2006 annual report just issued by our Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), which shows how criminals used the ‘Net to launch nine different varieties of fraud alone. http://www.fbi.gov/page2/march07/ic3031607.htm Viacom v Google: The $1bn battle for content The article notes that YouTube will cite the Citing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act claiming “‘safe harbour’ under rules that protect web hosts from having to monitor the activities of their users - as long as they ‘expeditiously disable access to material’ when informed that it breaches copyright.” YouTube claims it takes down content when asked by copyright owners. But with bloggers and websites increasingly reproducing entire articles to “provoke debate and sell advertising on their sites” this is becoming a huge issue, but a costly one for any content creator to go after legally. To deal with this, the World Association of Newspapers “is working to create an international protocol to regulate online use of newspaper content.” The article notes that “there is an urgent need for clear case law to set guidelines - and Viacom's case may provide this.” The case, assuming it goes to court, will have far reaching implications, some of which the article discusses. http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article2368890.ece They're interfering with TV: please adjust your mindset Think of it as mud-wrestling, but at a higher level. Viacom is suing Google for a billion dollars because YouTube (which Google purchased a while back for $1.6bn) continues to host clips of Viacom's video properties. The documents launching the suit express moral outrage wrapped in three coats of prime legal verbiage. The gist, however, is clear: nasty bully Google is getting rich on the back of poor little artists and the companies that support them. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2036423,00.html Make Way for Copyright Chaos by Lawrence Lessig Last week, Viacom asked a federal court to order the video-sharing service YouTube to pay it more than $1 billion in damages for some 150,000 videos that Viacom claims it owns and YouTube users have shared. “YouTube,” the complaint alleges, “has harnessed technology to willfully infringe copyrights on a huge scale,” threatening not just Viacom, but “the economic underpinnings of one of the most important sectors of the United States economy.” http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/opinion/18lessig.html http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&article… Big media strike back at Google In a landmark battle between old and new media, Viacom is suing over copyright breaches at YouTube. Dominic Rushe reports from New York http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/… http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21404564-643,00.html Awaiting a Compromise on YouTube (sub req'd) The problem for both Google and Viacom is that copyright law is filled with compromises and ambiguity. http://select.nytimes.com/2007/03/17/business/17nocera.html Privacy bodies back Google step Privacy bodies welcome Google's decision to anonymise personal data it receives from web searches. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6453137.stm au: eBay thief stole $42,000 A man stole $42,000 after hacking into eBay and Commonwealth Bank accounts last year, with eBay now set to trial individual security keys to protect members. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/03/18/1174152882305.html us: The Ol' Bait and Click The eBay vendor had a glowing record -- more than 900 successful sales, with only a single complaint amid a long series of positive testimonials from customers. So when a Georgia bidder won the seller's auction for an Olympus digital camera in January, there seemed little reason to worry about dispatching almost $700 into cyberspace. But the camera never arrived. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/15/AR200703150… uk: Advertising guru tells of hurt caused by blogs Sir Martin Sorrell was made to sound like a "ruthless criminal" with "mafia connections" in internet postings by a disgruntled former colleague and his associate, the High Court heard yesterday. In evidence, the advertising tycoon described his "terrible upset" at the "vengeful and vindictive" blog attacks which were part of an "orchestrated" campaign against him. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article2362762.ece uk: Tycoon tells of ‘war’ on the internet Sir Martin Sorrell told a judge yesterday that a fiery Italian colleague had portrayed him on a weblog as a ruthless Mafia don. The global advertising tycoon described the anonymous blog, allegedly posted by Marco Benatti after he had been sacked by Sir Martin, as a vindictive character assassination. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1522417.ece Webmaster Claims Spider Entered Contract In Suit The Web and artificial intelligence have brought about some surreal, science fiction like questions. The most recent mind-bending concept is whether or not robots can enter into contracts – that is, is a Web crawler implicitly entering a contract posted on a website announcing copyright conditions? http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/03/16/webmaster-claims-spider-entere… German Gmail blocker wouldn't sell up for millions The German businessman behind trade mark cases that could wreck Google's email branding across Europe would refuse millions of dollars for the G-Mail trade mark he owns, according to his lawyer. The man has already turned down a Google offer of $250,000. http://out-law.com/page-7882 uk: Cricket simulation beats Newsnight painting as copyright dodge, says expert A cricketing website has found what it hopes is an inventive way to bypass copyright laws to show users action from the Cricket World Cup. http://out-law.com/page-7883 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/16/cricket_simulation_copyright_dodge/ us: Two plead guilty in Internet gambling case (Reuters) A Miami executive and his wife pleaded guilty to participating in a $3.3 billion (1.7 billion pound) illegal Internet sports gambling operation in New York on Friday, the Queens District Attorney's office said. http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKN1623695620070317 ************************** GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY ************************** UNESCO states position on ethical issues in the information society UNESCO has published a brochure entitled "Ethical Implications of Emerging Technologies" dealing with the consequences of the use of RFID chips, biometric identification systems, and location-based services (LBSs). Written by lawyers from the US, the brochure was published as part of the "NGO Geneva Net Dialogue" in which non-governmental organizations stated their case after the UN World Summit on Information Freedom and the Internet Governance Forum. The results of the dialogue are to be included in the WSIS Action Line C10 ''Ethical dimensions of the Information Society." http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/86719 th: Thailand's Internet governance is a mess The state of Internet governance today in Thailand is in confusion. Online stakeholders, in government, private and civil society do not know what they are doing. Worse, they do not understand what is really going on in the cyber world. They all pursue their own agendas, thinking positively that they are indeed contributing to Internet openness and freedom of expression. http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/03/16/opinion/opinion_30029416.php eu: Mobile TV warned to standardise A European Commission (EC) official has issued a stern warning to those involved in mobile TV to agree on adopting a single technology standard. EC telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding said that if the industry did not agree on one, she would do it for them. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6459161.stm us: Net Neutrality Debate Remains Contentious The haggling over whether Internet service providers should be able to charge more money for some traffic, or whether the law should mandate equal access, is increasingly contentious. Here's a guide to the players. http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198001557 us: Politicians press for antispyware law yet again Members of the U.S. House of Representatives vowed Thursday not to let a bill aimed at curbing spyware die for a third time. Leaders of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee focused on consumer protection issues said they were mystified that earlier versions of the so-called Spy Act overwhelmingly passed the House in 2004 and in 2005 but were ignored by the Senate. Politicians from both parties said they hoped the third time would be the charm. http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6167595.html http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6167595.html au: Labor hopes to close child porn loophole Labor will move to close a legal loophole which means there is no specific offence of sending child pornography through the mail. ... He (Senator Ludwig said federal Labor's proposed laws would: ... create a consistent maximum penalties of 10 years' imprisonment and fines of $275,000 or both for transmission of child pornography and abuse materials by any means; increase penalties from $11,000 to $275,000 for internet service providers that fail to promptly notify authorities when they become aware child pornography and abuse materials can be accessed from their service. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/03/19/1174152895465.html http://nyngan.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?story_id=567038 us: Police want to upgrade the law This year, the GBI is asking the Legislature to update the 1999 act to include technology few imagined would be used to entice children electronically. If Senate Bill 98 passes, predators would be subject to prosecution not only for using computers but also for using cellphones, video games, removable memory devices and other electronic equipment to lure children. http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/legis07/stories/2007/03/16/0317metle… us: Rep. Frank may seek to restore online gambling (Reuters) Rep. Barney Frank plans to give details in the coming weeks on possible legislation to repeal a ban imposed last year on online gambling. Frank, chairman of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, said Thursday that he is in no hurry and plans to consult with others on the matter. http://news.zdnet.com/2110-9588_22-6167864.html EU consumer chief eschews another bite at Apple (Reuters) The European Union's consumer chief soft-pedalled her views on Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday, backing off the line that its iTunes online music store must become more compatible with other formats. http://www.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUSL139204020070313 ***** SPAM ***** If we can't sort out spam, what hope do we have for tackling global warming? Dave Rand doesn't have the air of an optimist defeated by reality, though one would have thought that someone who set up a company in 1994 with the expectation of purging the internet completely of spam within five or so years might look less happy with how things have turned out. http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,2033511,00.html ***************************** INTERNET & NEW TECHNOLOGY USE ***************************** Flat prospects: Digital media and globalisation shake up an old industry Reports of the death of paper, rampant in the 1990s, were evidently greatly exaggerated. The paperless office never materialised; nor, yet, have e-books. People still print letters and flip through pages of magazines. They also eat cereal and drink milk from cartons, and wipe their bottoms with loo roll. Computers have, oddly, failed to do away with such habits. Even so, the vast pulp-and-paper multinationals have been hard hit by the electronic age, especially in America. Demand for many types of paper there is declining, though mill closures and shrinking capacity buoy prices. Newsprint has been worst hit (see chart), as circulation and classified advertising at newspapers fall and the Wall Street Journal and other papers grow skinnier. North America's two biggest newsprint-makers, Abitibi of Canada and Bowater of South Carolina, are merging. http://economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8856093 Is this the age of the online avatar? As Internet communities grow, virtual alter-egos are becoming mainstream. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0316/p11s01-stct.html Magazine publishers see future, but no profit, in shift to Internet At conference in Hannover, industry executives from 25 countries tell of small returns for money spent on digital assets. http://iht.com/articles/2007/03/18/yourmoney/mags.php us: Social Networking Goes Niche MySpace and Friendster’s runaway popularity and exposure have helped spawn an array of targeted networking sites. Advertisers are noticing http://businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2007/tc20070314_884996.htm New Technology, Old Habits Despite world-class IT networks, Japanese and Korean workers are still chained to their desks http://businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/mar2007/gb20070315_019175.htm Crotch watch A study of how people read the internet has concluded that men “fixate on any visible genital areas in photos”. The study, by Jakob Nielsen, an expert in website usability, used an eye-tracker to measure attention. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1527803.ece Porn Industry is Booming Globally Every 39 minutes a new pornographic video is being produced in the United States. Every second, 28,258 Internet users view pornography worldwide and 372 Internet users are typing search keywords looking for adult-oriented material. http://redorbit.com/news/technology/872894/porn_industry_is_booming_globall… Italy bans mobile phones in classrooms (Reuters) Italy has banned schoolchildren from using mobile phones in class in an attempt to stop ringtones disrupting lessons and prevent pupils messing about with video cameras. The rules force schools to discipline children who persist in using their phones, with punishments ranging from the confiscation of phones to excluding pupils from final exams. http://news.com.com/2110-1039_3-6168179.html http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&article… *************** DIGITAL DIVIDE *************** America's Digital Divide Narrows One way or another, many Latinos and other minorities are getting online—but they're missing the full range of interactive Web features according to Latinos Online, a report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project (see below). http://businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2007/tc20070315_573361.htm Digital divide grows for older Britons as others connect to new media Mobile phones, the internet and digital televisions are increasingly transforming the lives of many British people - but also leaving millions of others stranded on the other side of the digital divide, a report from the Office for National Statistics said. http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2035468,00.html ********************************* COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS ********************************* ‘Microsoft sucks’, says top blogger Robert Scoble, formerly Microsoft’s tame blogger has bitten the software company that made his name when it employed him as a “technology evangelist”. Scoble writes the Scobleizer web log, one of the most-read sources of technology commentary on the internet. ... At a “global summit” of its most-valued software developers, Microsoft repeatedly declared that it would “win” in search and other parts of its Windows Live internet strategy. “The words are empty,” Scoble responded. “Microsoft’s internet execution sucks (on the whole). Its search sucks. Its advertising sucks. If that’s ‘in it to win’, then I don’t get it.” He continued: “Microsoft isn’t going away. Don’t get me wrong. They have record profits, record sales, all that. But on the internet? Come on." http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/… Cool kids invade domain once held strictly by geeks Technology aficionados may know Cebit as the fair where Heinz Nixdorf introduced his legendary 820 universal computer in 1965 or where Nokia demonstrated its first GSM phone in 1987. Those impressed by size might note that it is the world's biggest technology trade fair, expected this year to draw 430,000 visitors and 6,200 exhibitors from 70 countries. For many others, however, Cebit has all the appeal of an oversized office supply store. http://iht.com/articles/2007/03/14/technology/btmedia.php uk: Church court bans phone masts on spires as work of the Devil Churches and cathedrals throughout England could lose thousands of pounds in revenue after a church court ruled against a mobile phone mast because it would “facilitate access to pornography”. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article1527809.ece Google expansion leads to impatience Wall Street seems to be losing patience with how long Google 2.0 is taking to build – and how expensive the project is turning out to be. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/72b7dede-d579-11db-a5c6-000b5df10621.html Cisco Ups Ante in War with Microsoft In an escalating arms race for control over the unified communications market, Cisco's acquisition of WebEx is its largest yet http://businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2007/tc20070316_657554.htm Google grapples with increasingly political Web With the Internet poised to be the "epicenter" of the 2008 elections, Google is contemplating how best to keep candidate information readily accessible without allowing the Web to transform into a giant tabloid. http://www.zdnetindia.com/news/communication/stories/173192.html Google Phone in the works Google Inc. is developing its own mobile phone, according to industry insiders and analysts, while a Google official in Spain last week acknowledged the company is "investigating" such a project. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/1028544 http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN1823690420070319 ******************* TELECOMMUNICATIONS ******************* Report highlights NZ's broadband woes A report by the Ministry of Economic Development is critical of the state of telecommunications in New Zealand, in particular the prices paid by private consumers and buinesses, and the lack of high-end broadband services. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411419/1027447 nz: Call for faster action on fast net New Zealand needs to move faster to improve broadband services, Communications Minister David Cunliffe said yesterday after releasing a report that again highlights the country's poor international ranking. The Ministry of Economic Development report comparing New Zealand's telecommunications performance http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10429476 nz: Broadband waiting list shortens Telecom says the number of people waiting to be connected to its broadband network because all the ports in their local exchange or roadside cabinet are full has fallen in recent months, with 711 customers now in the queue. http://stuff.co.nz/3998024a28.html ***** VoIP ***** Vodafone takes hybrid approach to mobile VOIP Vodafone is demonstrating a service that allows mobile phone customers to call users of Internet phone services. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/17/AR200703170… Integration is key to effective VoIP We seem to be well along the way to converging our voice and data networks, utilising voice over IP (VoIP). As we bring everything together and allow a single group of techies to look after the voice and data, surely we will achieve efficiency and effectiveness gains? http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2007/03/15/222430/integration-is-key… ********************************** ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN ********************************** au: 17,000 child porn pics found on laptop Over 17,000 pornographic images of young children and 160 movie files have been found by police on a computer belonging to a 62-year-old man in Darwin. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/03/16/1173722718017.html au: Police charge man with child porn offences after raid A man from Armidale in northern New South Wales has been charged with multiple child pornography offences. http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200703/s1874490.htm http://au.news.yahoo.com/070317/21/12sbn.html http://au.news.yahoo.com/070317/21/12s8u.html ____________________________________________________________________________________ Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find your fit. http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097

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Re: [kictanet] [Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] Kenya's fibre optic cable project queried]
by bitange＠jambo.co.ke 18 Mar '07

18 Mar '07

Dear Wakabi, Thank you for raising the question on whether the Ministry ignored best practices in procurement. The answer is No. There are three approved methods of procurement, that is, open tender, selective tender and single sourcing. Open tender you have got to adverise and any interested party can bid to supply service. It is a lengthy procedure (takes a minimum 45 days). It is the most competitive of all. Logically it applies to goods that can be obtained from many sources. Selective tendering however, is mostly applied to a sitiation where the popolation of the suppliers is limited as in Marine works. There are two companies, that is, Tyco and Alcatel that have the necesary experience to do such jobs. There are three other companies, that is, NEC, Fujistu and Global Marine/Huaweii that are usually subcontracted by the larger two. They have limited experience compared to the big two. Therefore it would have been absolutely non sense and wasteful to advertise for the the works in the local papers. Single sourcing is used where there is only one supplier of service/good or where there is an emergence. The committee which is tasked with the Teams project comprising the Investment Secretary, Director, Directorate of Procurement, MD Telkom, Solocitor General, and CCK Director General agreed to fast track the project by seeking authority from Treasury to procure Detailed Feasibility Study (DFS), Detailed Technical Study (DTS), and The Mirine Survey (MS)using the later methods and subjected Financial Arrager (FA) tender to an open tender. If you look at the overall project, the four services DFS, DTS, MS and FA are crucial to determining the time the project takes. Three of these projects DFS, DTS, and FA are complete and once the MS is complete, it would enable us to procure the supply contract with sufficient knowledge. Secoindly, whoever is awarded the contract, will actually immediately procure the material since all the information is available. The argument that the MS is given along with the Suply contract does not hold water since there are many cable networks that have used the model. EASSY for example will not know the material requirement until the MS is complete. In technical terms they are several months behind Teams. You must understand that there are several interested parties, some who want to make quick bucks. Ask yourself: what is it they are seeing that our people can't see? Consider Germany cable operators bagging in more that 6 billion euros in the last world cup in one month. My friend we need a serious talk. Seriously, if I had my way, I would give the entire works as a tunkey project. By now we could be at least three months to getting connected. Regards Bitange Ndemo. ---------------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. --------------------------------------------- "easy access to the world"

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Fwd: [ke-internetusers] Viacom v YouTube/Google
by Alex Gakuru 17 Mar '07

17 Mar '07

Looking over yonder ... /Alex Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2007 08:14:51 +0300 To: ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net Subject: [ke-internetusers] Viacom v YouTube/Google [actual txt of Viacom complaint: <http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/Viacom031207.pdf >http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/Viacom031207.pdf ] [benton] VIACOM IN $1 BILLION COPYRIGHT SUIT VERSUS GOOGLE, YOUTUBE [SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Kenneth Li and Michele Gershberg] Viacom sued Google and its Internet video-sharing site YouTube for more than $1 billion on Tuesday in the biggest challenge yet to the Web search leader's strategy to dominate the online video market. The lawsuit accuses Google and its popular online video unit of "massive intentional copyright infringement" for allowing users to upload popular shows, threatening ambitions to make YouTube a major entertainment and advertising outlet. The legal challenge from Viacom, home to the MTV and Comedy Central channels, also suggested a wider battle between traditional and Internet media companies that now compete for audiences and advertising dollars. http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSWEN535120070313 * Public Knowledge statement: "Without commenting on the specific allegations involved, we note that simply because material is "unauthorized" does not make its use illegal. There are limitations to copyright law, known as fair use, that do not require the copyright owner's permission before use of a work. Many of the users of YouTube who have posted short clips of main-stream media's works have done so using their fair use rights, for reasons of criticism, comment, education, and news reporting. We are confident YouTube and Google will continue to take appropriate actions in accordance with the safe-harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). By a previous request of Viacom, YouTube has already removed some 100,000 clips." http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/101398694/860 * Old Viacom doesn't get it, new CBS does http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/101424170/861 * Viacom Sues YouTube Over Copyright http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/13/AR200703130… * Viacom sues Google's YouTube in $1B copyright suit http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20070314/viacom14.art.htm * Viacom files $1-billion suit over YouTube http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fi-viacom14mar14,1,363811… * Viacom Sues Google Over Video Clips on Its Sharing Web Site http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/technology/14viacom.html * Viacom vs. Google: Test of key online law http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/16899987.htm * Viacom v. Google Could Shape Digital Future http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117379140954435400.html?mod=todays_us_marke… YOUTUBE'S FATE RESTS ON DECADE-OLD COPYRIGHT LAW [SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Declan McCullagh] Whether YouTube suffers the same fate as Napster may depend on the wording of a nearly antique law written long before video-sharing Web sites were envisioned. The law is, of course, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, which made its appearance in the U.S. Congress in July 1997. Central to the question of Google's legal liability is the phrasing of a densely worded portion -- Section 512 -- of the DMCA. Section 512's so-called safe harbor generally lets hosting companies off the hook for legal liability, as long as they don't turn a blind eye to copyright infringement and if they remove infringing material when notified. YouTube does the second part through a formal posted policy, and it prohibits uploads of unauthorized videos more than 10 minutes in length. But what about the safe harbor's first requirement of not ignoring massive infringement? Viacom's complaint says, "YouTube has failed to employ reasonable measures that could substantially reduce, or eliminate, the massive amount of copyright infringement on the YouTube site from which YouTube directly profits." (For its part, Google says it's confident that YouTube has respected the legal rights of copyright holders and predicts that the courts will agree.) http://news.com.com/YouTubes+fate+rests+on+decade-old+copyright+law/2100-10… * Google confident digital liability law protects it http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN1316411620070314 _______________________________________________ ke-internetusers mailing list ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers --------------------------------- It's here! Your new message! Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar. _______________________________________________ ke-internetusers mailing list ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers

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[Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] Reliance Telecom set to roll into Kenya]
by alice 15 Mar '07

15 Mar '07

Reliance Telecom set to roll into Kenya Reliance Telecom, the Indian telecoms giant which is the process of building a fibre optic cable between India, through the Middle East to the eastern coast of Africa, is part of a group which Kenyan authorities have allowed to take up the SNO slot. A report in Kenyas Business Day newspaper says Reliance, Triton Group (of Kenya) and Swedish communications firm Swedtel, will this week pay the local communications authority for the licence which Kuwaiti firm Vtel Communications initially won. Reliance hopes to connect Mombasa, Kenya, to the network it is erecting in the Gulf region in the second half of this year. The cable would then proceed to link to Mozambique, Tanzania, Madagascar, Mauritius and South Africa, before end of 2009. Reliances entry into Kenya makes their vision easier to achieve, but may require the architects of EASSy and The East African Marine Systems (Teams) to return to the drawing board. Or does it? According to the Business Day report, EASSy promoters are in talks with TATA (a competitor to Reliance in their home market) to help put together a team that will give Reliance a run for its money. And where does all this leave the NEPAD eAfrica Commission and the aspiration for Open Access? Wakabi == Reliance to pay Sh12bn for telecom license Written by Kui Kinyanjui Indias Reliance Telecoms and its Kenyan partner are expected to pay nearly Sh12 billion for the second national telephone licence by the end of this week. Triton Group, the Kenyan member of the consortium poised to take up the SNO licence said the group had accepted the Communications Commission of Kenyas (CCK) offer to take up the licence that was initially awarded to a consortium led by Vtel Communications of Kuwait. Indias Reliance Telecoms and its Kenyan partner are expected to pay nearly Sh12 billion for the second national telephone licence by the end of this week. Triton Group, the Kenyan member of the consortium poised to take up the SNO licence said the group had accepted the Communications Commission of Kenyas (CCK) offer to take up the licence that was initially awarded to a consortium led by Vtel Communications of Kuwait. Yagnesh Devani, the executive chairman of Triton Group, told the Business Daily that the company will pay for the licence on Friday. Everything is on course and we have already taken up the offer. Paying up for this bill will firmly place on course the process of setting up a competitor to Telkom Kenya, nearly years since the process started. The cash kitty will also significantly boost efforts by the Treasury to raise money it had budgeted for and ultimately reduce government borrowing from domestic money markets. This could add further reduce interest rates and strengthen the shilling as banks and insurance companies which mostly lend to the government find themselves flush with money they cannot invest profitably. Triton and its partner Reliance were offered the opportunity to become Kenyas SNO two months ago, after the first placed consortium Vtel failed to meet regulatory standards and lost its bid. The last few weeks have seen the regulatory body, CCK, vacillate on exactly when the offer would be formally taken up by Reliance and its partners. As late as yesterday, the regulator would not commit to when the formal announcement of Reliances paying up for the licence would be made. Delay in making the announcement has raised industry-wide fears that the battle for the SNO licence would go the way of the third mobile provider which has been in suspension for the last four years. The Reliance consortium had to raise an additional Sh4.1 billion ($58 million) for the license above their initial bid of Sh7.8 billion ($111 million), to match Vtels bid offer of Sh11.8 billion ($169 million). It is expected that Reliance will put in an initial investment of around Sh10.5 billion ($150 million) for the licence, leaving its partner Triton to foot the rest of the bill. According to regulation, the consortium will be expected to pay CCK a substantial amount of the licence fee on Friday to act as a bond for the licence. The Reliance Consortium is led by one of Indias largest private telecom service providers, Reliance Telecoms, and Kenyas Triton Group. Swedish communications firm Swedtel is the technical partner. The entry of the SNO is expected to significantly add pricing pressure in the telecommunication market with the possibility of lowering charges and cutting communications costs across the economy. A national operator has a combined licence, meaning it can handle both mobile and fixed lines services as well as operate an Internet backbone. Under the terms of its licence, an SNO must roll out networks across the country to help shore up the number of people with access to a phone line, or tele-density. United Nations research shows that a one per cent increase in tele-density can lead to a corresponding increase in a countrys GDP of 0.3 per cent. Reliances immediate competitor will be Telkom Kenya, which has long disappointed Kenyan companies and added huge costs to their operations. Telkom recently rolled out its wireless platform hoping to take advantage of new revenue streams as consumer interest in land-lines wane. The national operator also has plans to privatize this April, which alongside an upcoming IPO for Safaricom will boost the companys investment and infrastructure plans ahead of Reliances entry. The entry of another internet backbone provider is further expected to lower internet connectivity charges. Internet prices have been on the decline since the government began liberalising the information and communications technology sector three years ago. Kenyans are expected to benefit from improved access to the internet, increased bandwidth, and quicker and efficient services. Reliance is investing a further $1.2 billion on an undersea cable system linking India to Kenya, a move which should expand its already sizable global network and provide the company with ready-made infrastructure that will give it an edge against competitors Telkom, Safaricom and Celtel in coming months. Africa is a budding battlefield for Indian telecommunications companies. Reliances competitor Tata is reportedly in talks with the Eassy fibre optic cable consortium in a bid to beat Reliances . Fridays formal announcement of Reliances acceptance will see Kenya narrowly escaping the African SNO syndrome, which is characterized by licensing processes stalling mid-way and politics. Senegal is the continents most famous case, with its SNO still not operational six years after the government announced its intentions to license a second operator. Politicking around the process has seen the countrys national operator left with monopolistic control over 80 per cent of the market. Malawis SNO process has taken almost a year to realize as the countrys regulatory body continually shies away from committing to a bid on technical footing. _______________________________________________ Fibre-for-africa mailing list Fibre-for-africa(a)lists.apc.org http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fibre-for-africa

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[Fwd: C4IDEA.com - BusinessXchange Forum - Wednesday 28th March 2007]
by alice 14 Mar '07

14 Mar '07

c4IDEA.com invites you to the March 2007 BusinessXchange Forum on Wednesday 28th March 2007 at the Nairobi Serena Hotel from 4:30pm to 6:30pm. This month's presentation will focus on innovative tools that are important for individuals, and Companies, to be able to make an impression with Presentations. Our speaker this month is Mr. Terry Wan, the Sales Director of VOSA International, a Singapore based firm that specializes in the VOSA iBoard, the most Versatile, Operational, Stylish and Advanced Interactive Digital Board in the Market today. VOSA International has the latest Interactive Digital Board in the Market, suitable for Boardrooms, Conference rooms and Classrooms, and Call Centres that allows users to make there presentations come alive, and incorporates tools that no other interactive board can provide e.g. remote networking with the presentation from users PC's over the Internet and much, much more! Title: Enhancing Presentations using Innovation Speaker: Mr. Terry Wan, Sales Director, Vosa International Limited. Date: Wednesday 28^th March 2007 Venue: Serena Hotel, Nairobi Cost: KShs. 1,200.00. corporateXchange members FREE c4IDEA.com is a resource network that helps individuals and organizations exchange innovative and proactive ideas to develop world-class Kenyan leaders in different professions and disciplines. Please email or contact us to make a reservation for this special businessXchange forum. Please send this email to your friends and associates who would be interested in knowing more about using Innovative Technology in making Presentations. This is a perfect opportunity to see a truly innovative product and cutting edge Technology. Njoki Mumira Program Manager c4IDEA.com ----------------------------------------------- c4IDEA.com - Idea Factory Ltd The Office Park, Riverside Drive. PO Box 12, Sarit Centre 00606, Nairobi, Kenya. Tel: 254-020-4449277. Tel: 254-020-4447655. Fax: 254-020-4449210.

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Satellite technology to monitor elections
by Alex Gakuru 14 Mar '07

14 Mar '07

Mamma Mia! This means no ferrying of voters in trucks( at night?). Transporters job losses... ;-) I learnt from the ARSK that there are always over 500 satellites hovering in orbits above the earth all the time. Satellites have "night vision" capabilities. Interesting reads on commercial spy satellites 1. "Orbit of change for satellite firms" (2006) < http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_437344… > "...companies are building and preparing to launch new satellites capable of snapping Earth-based objects 1 to 2 feet across in size." 2. "Spy Satellite Image Business Booms", (2000) < http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/business/commercial_remote_sense_00… > /Alex ----------------------------------------------- Story by NATION Correspondent Publication Date: 3/14/2007 Cartographers have developed a modern satellite system to monitor elections. As a result, the Electoral Commission of Kenya will this year assess the progress of the polls by tapping data and images from the American and Russian satellites in space and offer solutions to any hitches. The technology, the first of its kind in Africa, will enable the commission to intervene in areas where problems might occur without necessarily travelling there. Using the Global Positioning System (GPS), digital cartography and remote sensing, experts can provide solutions with mathematical precision in cases where ballot papers are delayed due to natural events such as floods. The technology has been developed by the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development, an international research organisation based in Nairobi The centre provides surveying, mapping and remote sensing services. Speaking during the launch of Global Navigational Satellite System, a permanent reference station yesterday, Lands minister Kivutha Kibwana said systematic recording of information could promote effective decision making. Effective and efficient decision making and the planning and development of our resources requires fundamental map information collected and maintained in a systematic approach, Prof Kibwana said. The minister said the station would provide skills in satellite data processing and dissemination. Survey boundaries Prof Kibwana said Kenya tested the modern technology recently to survey boundaries of the newly created districts. The technology can also help solve conflicts between countries over territorial boundaries. As we move closer to regional integration and adopt regional approach to peace and security, environmental management, trade and industry, our mapping coordinates must be harmonised to avoid conflicts, said Prof Kibwana. The regional centre was established in 1975 under the auspices of the United Nations Commission for Africa, which later became the Organisation of African Unity, todays African Union. --------------------------------- Looking for earth-friendly autos? Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center.

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Test 1 @ 20070309-1854
by Odhiambo WASHINGTON 14 Mar '07

14 Mar '07

This is a test. Please ignore. cheers - wash +----------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ Odhiambo Washington . WANANCHI ONLINE LTD (Nairobi, KE) | wash () WANANCHI ! com . 1ere Etage, Loita Hse, Loita St., | GSM: (+254) 722 743 223 . # 10286, 00100 NAIROBI | GSM: (+254) 733 744 121 . (+254) 020 313 985 - 9 | +---------------------------------+------------------------------------------+ "Oh My God! They killed init! You Bastards!" --from a /. post

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Global Online Course in ICT Journalism (April 20 to July 20 2007)
by Eric Osiakwan 13 Mar '07

13 Mar '07

After successfully pioneering an online course in ICT Journalism in 2006, The International Institute for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Journalism Penplusbytes is pleased to announce a three month (April 20th to July 20th 2007) online training opportunity for journalists in the area of ICT Journalism. Participants will be exposed to the wider context of ICTs assisted journalism including its history, how these technologies are impacting on the world of journalism, how ICT can be used in producing stories and how to manage change process in using innovative ICT tools. INTRODUCTION Course Description and Goals: This course teaches the theory and concept of ICTs journalism; the impact of ICTs on Journalism and how to increase excellence in journalism using ICTs as a tool. At the end of the course, the participants will learn four main set of skills: You will learn and understand broad spectrum of ICTs tools available for journalism You will learn how to research and publish content online You will learn that despite that the proliferation of technology for journalism the fundamental principles of journalism still apply. You will learn how to use a selection of ICT tools for journalism Prerequisites: This course does not have any special prerequisites though participants will need to have basic computer skills such sending and receiving mails, managing files and browsing the Internet. The course assumes participants are practicing journalists who have mastered journalism skills. Class Meeting: Participants are expected to meet online via group discussion weekly, it is expected that a participants must devote at least five hours per week online. Course Content -Introduction to ICT Journalism concept, theory and definition -ICT tools for Journalism web 2.0/3.0, wikis, blogs, podcasting, online collaborative tools, newsroom content management system and publishing platforms -The role of information and knowledge management in the newsroom -Specialization in ICT Journalism -Online Research -Business Models of Online Journalism -Future of ICT Journalism Materials Participants will be provided with regular resources during the duration of the course, these resources will available mostly online or via CD ROM. Grading: Participants are expected to undertake weekly assignment, participate in online discussion, make use of ICT tools and produce a final project work to be published on penplusbytes website. Certificates All participants who fully successfully complete the course and would be awarded a certificate. Application To apply, simply download and fill the application form (click on this link) Email completed form and statement to: info(a)penplusbytes.net Closing date for receipt of application and statement is 20th March 2007. Notification of acceptance: 2nd April 2007 LINKS Class bookmarks Class Blog Class Wiki Alumni list and 1st Online Course online Space 2nd Course Class online Space Ends Engaging, informative, and high-quality online training course created and offered by Penplusbytes. Eric M.K Osiakwan Executive Secretary AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org) Tel: + 233.21.258800 ext 2031 Fax: + 233.21.258811 Cell: + 233.244.386792 Handle: eosiakwan Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/ Slang: "Tomorrow Now"

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- Call - International Essay Contest for Young People 2007
by Brian Longwe 13 Mar '07

13 Mar '07

FYI Begin forwarded message: > > [forwarded message, on behalf of Raquel Aguirre] > > > > > > International Essay Contest for Young People 2007 > > > > Theme: > > "The role of media and information and communication technologies > in building a peaceful world"-- TV, radio, Internet and other forms > of media have great influence in shaping our lives and society. > What should be the role of the media and communication technologies > in the future. How would you make use of these various tools of > communication to help create a better world. > > > More info: > > http://www.goipeace.or.jp/english/activities/programs/0702_00.htm > > ---------- Brian Longwe +254(0) 20 445 2327 - t Chief Executive Officer +254(0) 722 518744 - m InHand Limited +254(0) 733 518744 - m M3, Westlands Court, +254(0) 20 374 7881 - f Westlands Close, Westlands Rd. www.inhand.co.ke P.O. Box 30054-00100 SIP: 30753274(a)sip.epygi.com Nairobi, Kenya

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Knowldege Management Training, 11-13 April 2007
by Harry Hare 12 Mar '07

12 Mar '07

Dear Colleagues, The value of Knowledge Management, relates directly to the effectiveness with which the managed knowledge enables the members of an organization to deal with today's situations and effectively envision and create their future. Without on-demand access to managed knowledge, every situation is addressed based on what the individual or group brings to the situation with them. With on-demand access to managed knowledge, every situation is addressed with the sum total of everything anyone in the organization has ever learned about a situation of a similar nature. Most organizations are built on structures that encourage self-reliance and islands of activities and thus knowledge. Interdependence between organizations that have complementary knowledge is completely cut out and lost in this structure. This, therefore, creates gaps in the available knowledge that need to be addressed and the situation corrected. To complicate this situation further, there is very little awareness of the power and usefulness of Knowledge Management as a tool to improve organizational efficiency and to facilitate better and more informed decision-making in the region. Common problems and challenges remain and continue recurring despite a wealth of knowledge albeit unmanaged and, therefore, un-usable or under-utilised. It is from this background that African eDevelopment Resource Center is hosting a three-day (11-13 April 2007) capacity building workshop on Knowledge Management in Nairobi, to bring information managers to speed with this very powerful process. The workshop will provide participants with both a theoretical and practical understanding of the key concepts of Information and Knowledge Management, and provide them with the skills to apply and facilitate effective Knowledge Management processes. Some of the areas that will be covered in the workshop include: * Introduction to Knowledge Management * Information and the Knowledge Economy * Knowledge Management as a Process * Knowledge Management Frameworks and Standards * Developing a Knowledge Management Strategy * Knowledge Management Strategies and Leadership * Knowledge Management Systems and Content Development The workshop will be conducted in both plenary and group session with participants taking hands-on activities. The Faculty for the workshop will be lead by Prof. Louis Fourie, who is the Chairman of Information Systems, Department of Information Systems, University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Prof Fourie has been in this field for the last ten years and has conducted more than a dozen such courses in the continent. The registration fee for the workshop is US$ 550 which will cover all the documentation, administration and meals during the workshop. To participate in this workshop, please fill out the attached registration form and return it to the email or fax indicated. Due to the nature of the course we have a limited number of spaces available and will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Should you need further information or want to participate, pls drop an email to me. Thanking you for your continuous support. Kindest Regards Harry Hare Executive Director African eDevelopment Resource Centre (AeRC) KE +254 20 4453445 CELL + 254 725 650044 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.8/717 - Release Date: 3/10/2007 2:25 PM

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[Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] Kenya's fibre optic cable project queried]
by alice 12 Mar '07

12 Mar '07

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Fibre-for-africa] Kenya's fibre optic cable project queried Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:32:18 +0300 From: Wairagala Wakabi <wakabi(a)cipesa.org> Reply-To: APC - Private list for use by EASSY Workshop Participants <fibre-for-africa(a)lists.apc.org> To: APC - Private list for use by EASSY Workshop Participants <fibre-for-africa(a)lists.apc.org> References: <mailman.0.1172828896.9025.fibre-for-africa(a)lists.apc.org> <45EBFF90.7090301(a)cipesa.org> <45EC0CF1.1050706(a)cipesa.org> So Kenya is pushing full throttle with its vision of building a cable to link the country to international fibre. The East African Marine System (TEAMS), promoted by government and expected to draw private financing as well, has been touted as the country’s answer to EASSy’s delays in getting off the ground – and in satisfying Kenya’s misgivings about the EASSy protocol, the role NEPAD has been playing in the initiative and – some say – South Africa’s attempt to dominate the show. But in the rush to get TEAMS off the ground, did the country ignore best practice in procurement? That is the question an article in today’s The EastAfrican newspaper asks. That is the question the country’s Attorney General’s Chambers has been asking. Their queries refer to the manner in which Tyco International Ltd. Was handed the $2.7 m deal to do prelim work on the deal “without competitive bidding”. One could join the AG’s office in asking questions: Will TEAMS go ahead with this plan anyway, now that some of the entities being expected to fund the construction of TEAMS have moved a step further with EASSy. Here we are referring to the likes of Telekom Kenya. And if EASSy goes ahead, then Flag Telcom/ Reliance Telecom actualise their advanced plan to build their cable (of which Kenya Data Network is a keenly involved party, just as it is in EASSy) how viable will these cables be? For more on cables planned on East coast of Africa, please see www.fibreforafrica.net . Wakabi -- Fresh snarl-ups in Kenya-Fujaira fibre optic cable project STAFF WRITER, The EastaAfrican, March 12, 2007 Controversy is simmering between the Office of the Attorney General and the Ministry of Information and Communications over the procurement for a multimillion-dollar plan by Kenya to build a fibre-optic cable link from Mombasa to Fujaira in the United Arab Emirates. Known as The East African Marine System (TEAMS), the project is expected to be launched in parallel with the $200 million East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) — a fibre-optic cable link along the eastern seaboard of Africa, from South Africa to Sudan via a number of landing points including Mombasa. The EastAfrican has learnt that the Office of the Attorney General has raised queries over the manner in which Tyco International Ltd — a transnational that operates in 100 countries — was in January this year awarded a $2.7 million contract by the Information Ministry to conduct a marine survey without competitive bidding. The ministry had in January sought and was granted an exemption from the Directorate of Public Procurement to procure the contract for a marine survey through single-sourcing. However, the Office of the Attorney General has — in a letter signed by Solicitor-General Wanjuki Muchemi — argued that the application to the directorate was not done according to procedure and demanded minutes of the ministry’s technical evaluation committee that decided that the project be single-sourced. Apparently, the ministry had sought the exemption on the grounds of the onset of the monsoon season in the Indian Ocean and the consequent need to fast-track the project. It is understood that, during an earlier meeting in Dubai between Kenya government officials and the Dubai-based Etisalat Ltd — the main private sector sponsors of the project — the point was made to the officials that the marine survey contract and the cable construction contract could not be awarded to separate companies. The government had been warned that it was rare for a cable contractor to accept a marine survey conducted by another firm. Experts had also told the government officials that marine surveys are usually deemed to be part and parcel of construction works and that awarding the survey component separately would amount to giving the construction contract to the same firm. The Office of the Attorney General wants to know why the issues raised by experts had been ignored. TEAMS is one of the largest projects being undertaken by the government this year. The government decided to launch the project when it realised that the EASSy project was facing too many delays. The government is set to invite bids any time from now for a financial arranger who will design a plan to raise money for the project, tentatively expected to be completed by early next year. The contract will be awarded competitively by April this year. The government — through Telkom Kenya — is working with Dubai-based Etilasat to build the cable. The private sector will be invited to either buy shares in the project or will be brought in on the basis of proved capacity to raise funds through models worked out by the financial arranger. The information and communications technology sector in Kenya has for years been held back by reliance on expensive satellite connectivity to the international network. Interest in construction of fibre-optic cable links to the Kenya Coast has risen dramatically and Kenya appears set to acquire cheaper international connectivity in less than two years. First is the planned $200 million EASSy, which is beginning to pick up momentum after a prolonged three-year gestation period. Currently, the proposal is for an open-access operation modelled to allow new entrants to use the infrastructure without paying high entry charges. This is expected to result in low costs for connectivity and exponential growth in transmission. According to the financing plan, up to 85 per cent ($170 million) of the funding is to come from development finance institutions, including the International Finance Corporation. The EASSy Construction and Maintenance Agreement — an important project implementation landmark — was signed in Nairobi last month by 24 licensee parties of the EASSy consortium from 17 countries. It is the trigger that now makes the project fully funded and committed from an equity point of view. Reliance Group of India has also joined the fray. The giant company has announced plans for a third cable option along the East African coast that will link South Africa and Kenya and also serve Tanzania, Mauritius, Mozambique and Madagascar as well as some landlocked countries. The cable link will be laid down by Flag Telecom, a subsidiary of Reliance. Seith East Africa Ltd of the United States is also understood to have approached the government of Kenya to allow it to build a control centre around the Athi River area to serve a new cable link it is planning to build joining ports on the East African coast to the Arab world. The company is part of the Blackstone Group, one of the largest private equity companies in the world. ============== Wairagala Wakabi Research Associate CIPESA Plot 22 Bukoto Street, Kamwokya P.O Box 26970 Kampala, Uganda Tel. +256 41 531899 Cell: +256 772 406 241 Email: wakabi(a)cipesa.org www.cipesa.org _______________________________________________ Fibre-for-africa mailing list Fibre-for-africa(a)lists.apc.org http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fibre-for-africa

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monthly forum, march 22
by Rebecca Wanjiku 12 Mar '07

12 Mar '07

Kictanet invites you to the monthly forum next thursday March 22nd. the theme will be Access and Connectivity; bridging the rural urban divide, there will be presesntations from Tespok and Alex Gakuru, a consumer representative. the meeting starts at 3pm at the Jacaranda. you are welcome to ask any further questions regarding access and connectivity, the forum is what was previously reffered to as monthly meetings, it was felt that the meeting should be a place where members can discuss issues and present them to policy makers. e.g when presenting to the PS, one can say, these were deliberations and recommendations from the Kictanet monthly forum ........ please plan to attend, regards becky ____________________________________________________________________________________ We won't tell. Get more on shows you hate to love (and love to hate): Yahoo! TV's Guilty Pleasures list. http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/265

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AFRICAN SNOs – LAST YEAR’S MODEL STRUGGLES AT THE START GATE
by alice 12 Mar '07

12 Mar '07

FROM BALANCING ACT: AFRICAN SNOs – LAST YEAR’S MODEL STRUGGLES AT THE START GATE Africa’s Second National Operator licence processes run the danger of becoming the beached whale of regulatory liberalisation. The latter usually runs through the following stages: single monopoly operator, same plus mobile operators, and then reaches for a wider and more complex competitive ecology. The SNO is the cautious regulator’s option for introducing competition. In the early stages of liberalisation it allows the vertically-integrated monopoly of the incumbent to be converted into a duopoly operated by two vertically-integrated companies. So Senegal’s announcement in 2001 that it would introduce an SNO to compete with incumbent Sonatel perhaps fitted the pattern. But here we are six years later and there is still no SNO announcement from the Government and political timetabling (the recent President elections and the latter assembly elections) dictate that there will probably be no announcement until the Autumn. Sonatel has continued to entrench its de-facto monopoly and controls 80-90% of any market worth having. In any other country this degree of monopoly would be the subject of a legal anti-competition challenge. Malawi’s SNO bidding process (started in April 2006) appears to be going into a similar holding pattern. A local report leaking the conclusions of the evaluation process for the SNO bidders seems to show that MACRA will not proceed with appointing an SNO if it follows the evaluation report. There were three bidders: Access Communications, African Communications Ltd; and AirTel Communications. Terracom (the bidding vehicle of former Telecel owner Rwanda Miko Rwayitare) asked for a licence to do data and VoIP services. The three formal applications are all Malawian. However regulator MACRA’s Acting Director-General Mike Kuntiya says that a successful bidder will be known when the Government has made a final decision. Kuntiya maintains that all its evaluation report has done is make recommendations and the final decision must be made by Government. Speed is not a characteristic of the SNO process as it is unlikely that a decision will be made before April, several deadlines having already come and gone. Based on a number of different criteria including ownership and control, the technical and business plans, experience and credibility, the evaluation’s author ranked the three companies as follows: Airtel (86.83 points), Access Communications (73.57), Aircomms (69.5) and Terracom (14.52). The Government’s Information Minister said it was considering the company that scored the highest markets as it only had weaknesses in certain areas and MTL needed competition. The wheels have also come off Kenya’s SNO process when the selected winner Vtel Consortium failed to make the first licence payment. After Vtel failed to make its first payment, Reliance was give a week to raise its similar first payment otherwise the process would be cancelled. No news has emerged since that point. The curse of the SNO Licence procedure? We shall see.

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IT DON’T MEAN A THING IF IT AIN’T GOT THAT FRING – VOIP NIGHTMARE FOR MOBILE OPERATORS
by alice 12 Mar '07

12 Mar '07

TOP STORY FROM BALANCING ACT: IT DON’T MEAN A THING IF IT AIN’T GOT THAT FRING – VOIP NIGHTMARE FOR MOBILE OPERATORS _____________________________________________________________________ An early adopting reader alerted us last week to the existence of Fring. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s free Skype-style client specifically designed for mobile phones. This South African reader had been making use of it to phone friends and business contacts. If the Fring thing catches on – particularly in those African countries with reasonable broadband capacity – then it looks set to put a hole in the revenues of the mobile operators. It does both voice and SMS for the cost of the data use from the mobile provider that is much cheaper than current voice rates. Russell Southwood looks at the coming VoIP challenge for Africa’s new incumbents. Fring (http://www.fring.com] is an Israeli start-up that has developed a software that enables your mobile phone to call your friends at no cost using your UMTS or GPRS or WiFi data connection. The software can also use your Skype account to make calls to your Skype contacts or call landline or other mobile phones using SkypeOut. You can also chat using either MSN Messenger or Google Talk. The software is only available for Nokia phones at present but will doubtless migrate to other handsets before too long. The existence of mobile VoIP clients like Fring pose a significant challenge to mobile operators. It is already possible to use an IP client like Skype to make mobile calls over existing data-enabled networks. Depending on the data capacity enabled, quality will vary from the not very good to the perfectly adequate. African mobile operators are vulnerable on network quality issues in many countries (particularly on international calling) and therefore VoIP-enabled mobile calling will be attractive. As mobile operators now carry most voice traffic and often operate with low levels of competition, it is not unfair to describe them as having all the characteristics of the new incumbents. And faced with the VoIP threat, a number of operators have reverted to the incumbent’s chosen behaviour: try to close down anything new that threatens revenue. MTN has already announced in South Africa that it has banned Skype and that anyone it catches using it will be charged at its voice rates. This position has neither logic nor past experience behind it. European operators like T-Mobile announced publicly that it was banning Skype on its network but in late 2006 it said it was reversing the ban and would reach an agreement with Skype. The latter has already announced deals with Hutchinson in several markets and said it was making available a Pocket PC client that would enable wider user of its services. An example of the Hutchinson deals is 3G mobile operator 3 in the UK. Its pitch gives a clear idea of the shift in thinking required to offer a mobile VoIP service:”Why should you pay per minute, per message, per click, per megabit? In the real world, you buy your PC, pay for broadband and that’s it. Our principle is simple – X-Series customers will only pay a flat access fee on top of their basic subscription and then what’s free to use on the internet should be free to use on mobile broadband (subject to fair usage and international roaming conditions, of course)”. The other challenge will be Wi-Fi-enabled handsets. By October 2006 10% of hot-spot operator The Cloud’s traffic by kbps was coming from voice. It has achieved this by securing alliances with both traditional players and news entrants including: Net2Phone, Vonage and Skype. Its Ultra Wi-Fi offer allows unlimited use in the UK for US$23.36 a month and it has 7,500 hot-spots across Europe. But as it grows it is also doing business with existing mobile operators. In 2006 it signed an agreement to partner with Vodafone’s German operator D2 to provide WLANs. So what will African mobile operators do as they come to terms with a mobile VoIP future? At present, they have yet to commit but most do not yet appear to have come to grips with the implications of this challenge. ____________________________________________________________________

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[Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] Operators ignore NEPAD, sign EASSy construction deal]
by alice 12 Mar '07

12 Mar '07

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Fibre-for-africa] Operators ignore NEPAD, sign EASSy construction deal Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:28:01 +0300 From: Wairagala Wakabi <wakabi(a)cipesa.org> Reply-To: APC - Private list for use by EASSY Workshop Participants <fibre-for-africa(a)lists.apc.org> To: APC - Private list for use by EASSY Workshop Participants <fibre-for-africa(a)lists.apc.org> References: <mailman.0.1172828896.9025.fibre-for-africa(a)lists.apc.org> <45EBFF90.7090301(a)cipesa.org> <45EC0CF1.1050706(a)cipesa.org> Major development on EASSy, listers. The companies that are signatories to the EASSy memorandum of understanding (MOU) have signed a deal with Alcatel-Lucent for construction of the cable. NEPAD has apparently been ignored in the exercise. A release from the group says 22 regional entities and a few international ones are party to the undertaking (just over a week ago they told Fibre-for Africa it was over 29 entities) so it is not clear who is and who is out. Cost of construction was at the weekend pegged at US$240 m by the MoU parties, down from the $300 m NEPAD has been mentioning. This latest development raises questions of whether NEPAD will go ahead with its NBIN, of which EASSy is the principal component, or will engage the MoU signatories with a view to reconciling and placing ‘their’ EASSy under the auspices of the NEPAD eAfrica Commission. And, will the EASSy holding company be headquartered in Rwanda (as a meeting called by NEPAD last June decided) or will it stay in Kenya, where it has been coordinated since inception in 2002? Worth of note is that at the weekend, Mr John Shira who has helped coordinate the project for quite a while, but whose voice had become fainter since NEPAD attempted to take the driver’s seat, was among those speaking on behalf of the MoU parties at the weekend. And then, how will the signing of the cable affect other in-the-pipeline plans to build alternative cables along Africa’s east coast? Telkom Kenya officials were among those who spoke, in a press release Alcatel-Lucent issued: "This project represents a milestone in the development of the African communication infrastructure, where there is a strong need for optical connectivity" Sammy Kirui, Chairman of the EASSy Project Management Committee and Managing Director of Telkom Kenya. "Alcatel-Lucent is recognized as one of the key turnkey suppliers in the submarine cable market and was selected through a competitive tendering process". See: http://www.companynewsgroup.com/communique.asp?co_id=116613 The NEPAD eAfrica Commission is planning a meeting in “April/May” to flesh out the issue of shareholders – yet here they are now already acting as a unit, even engaging contractors… Telkom SA said in a statement that the project would open new opportunities for it in Africa, an indication that the telcos are firmly behind the deal with Alcatel-Lucent. Wakabi ============== Wairagala Wakabi Research Associate CIPESA Plot 22 Bukoto Street, Kamwokya P.O Box 26970 Kampala, Uganda Tel. +256 41 531899 Cell: +256 772 406 241 Email: wakabi(a)cipesa.org www.cipesa.org _______________________________________________ Fibre-for-africa mailing list Fibre-for-africa(a)lists.apc.org http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fibre-for-africa

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domain name & governance news
by Rebecca Wanjiku 12 Mar '07

12 Mar '07

hi, ICANN meeting takes place next week, here are some articles relating to Internet governance that can make good reading, hope you find them relevant,\ it doesn't open directly, can cut and paste... regards becky ***************** GOVERNANCE ***************** African At-Large Community MoU with ICANN Open for Public Comment The African region of At Large has reached a consensus on the contents of a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") between the region and ICANN. http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-07mar07.htm Who is ICANN and Where Does it Fit With Internet Governance? by Kieren McCarthy Youd be surprised how many people are asking that question at the moment, but you wont be surprised to know that the only thing they agree on is that they either dont know, or that they disagree with the people that believe they do. I am not going to attempt to provide my own answer, but I will point to a paper just released by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST). http://www.circleid.com/posts/who_is_icann_internet_governance/ http://blog.icann.org/?p=29 ********************** DOMAIN NAMES ********************** Top-shelf domain names fetched a bundle in '06 The domain name aftermarket - or, if you prefer, speculation/ransom market - eclipsed the $100 million milestone for the first time last year, according to Zetetic, a research company. Here's a look at some of the numbers: A total of $111 million and change was spent on 17,974 names; The average price was $5,582, up 13 percent over the previous year's $4,954; That rate of increase surpassed the previous year's jump of 10 percent; And five names went for more than $1 million, four more than in 2005. http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/12149 ICANN locks down at-risk Registerfly domains ICANN plans to sue scandal-hit domain name registrar Registerfly.com tomorrow (6 March), saying the company is putting its customers' estimated 2 million domain names at risk. http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=80D83445-B5D5-47BC-B74D-D70E… RegisterFly Site Goes Offline The web site for troubled domain registrar RegisterFly went offline early Tuesday and remains unavailable. The downtime follows weeks of problems with the registerfly.com site, with domain name owners saying they have been unable to manage or transfer their domains. Amid growing concern about the status of domains at RegisterFly, ICANN has asked a California court to force RegisterFly to turn over its database of domain data and compel an emergency audit of its books and records. http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2007/03/06/registerfly_site_goes_offline.… But: RegisterFly Site Back Up A quick update - RegisterFlys website is back up and Glenn Stansbury of RegisterFly claims that transactions are being processed. http://blog.icann.org/?p=38 How to Get Help When You Have a Problem with Your Registrar ICANN successfully introduced competition in the registrar marketplace which has resulted in over 860 ICANN accredited registrars now offering a range of registration services. Go to http://www.icann.org/registrars/accredited-list.html for a complete list of ICANN accredited registrars. Registrants have the option of simply purchasing a domain name, or purchasing a domain name that includes a package of services such as web hosting services, domain name proxy services and other related services. With this range of registrar services available to the public, comes a range of customer service offerings. Registrants have found that some registrars offer 24 hour live customer service assistance, while others only offer customer service via e-mail. Accordingly, registrants are encouraged to carefully research a potential registrar before entering into a contract for registration services to determine if the potential registrar meets the needs of the registrant. http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-06mar07.htm RegisterFly Update ICANN provides the following update: PIR notified ICANN that the .ORG registry has restored the domains that were in RGP and placed those domains on Server Deleted Prohibited status; AND On March 5, 2007, RegisterFly provided a copy of domain name registration data in response to ICANN's request pursuant to RAA section 3.4.3. ICANN is analyzing the data for integrity and completeness. ICANN will respond to RegisterFly with questions regarding aspects of the material provided. http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-3-07mar07.htm When Domain Names Bite Back The domain-name registration industry is suffering a bloody blow with the recent calamity at one of its most popular registrars. Registerfly was once one of the fastest-growing discounters on the scene, amassing millions of domain registrations, until an awkward ownership struggle and a bout of sloppy customer support found countless owners watch their dot-com names expire without renewal. http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2007/03/07/when-domain-names-bite-bac… VeriSign Domain Name Industry Brief Shows Continued Strong Internet Growth (news release) VeriSign released the VeriSign Domain Name Industry Brief for the fourth quarter of 2006. According to the report, which highlights key industry data for worldwide domain name activity, total domain name registrations reached 120 million, representing a 32 percent increase over the previous year, and an eight percent increase over the third quarter of 2006. http://www.verisign.com/press_releases/pr/page_040772.html Domain name registrations increase 32 percent in 2006; China records 43 percent rise in a single quarter Domain name registrations reached 120 million in the fourth quarter of 2006, representing a 32 percent increase over the previous year, and an eight percent rise over the previous quarter. http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;887105837 VeriSign: 120M Domains Registered VeriSign released its quarterly Domain Name Industry Brief. Among the findings is that there are now 120M domain names registered across all top level domain names. This is up 32% compared to 2005. http://domainnamewire.com/2007/03/06/verisign-120m-domains-registered/ http://webhosting.info/news/1/verisign-releases-domain-name-industry-brief_… http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=8612 400,000 .mobi Domain Names Now Registered dotMobi announced more than 400,000 .mobi domains have been registered in 104 countries since the domains launch in October 2006. http://www.circleid.com/posts/400000_mobi_domain_names/ Over 400,000 .mobi domains registered The Dublin-headquartered provider of the international .mobi mobile internet domain has revealed that it has now registered over 400,000 domain names. http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single7903 http://mobile-ent.biz/news/25963/dotMobi-passes-400k http://www.betanews.com/article/mobi_Registrations_Pass_400000/1173125 http://earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,69442.shtml Price of domain names ending in .cn comes down China's top Internet address registration agency has slashed the price of domain names ending with .cn to win users from the ".com" service, whose server is overseas. ... The promotion by CNNIC, backed by the Ministry of Information Industry, charges only one yuan (US$0.13) a year for registration per domain name, which is confined to English names ending with .cn. http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2007/200703/20070308/article_308251… billgates.tel domain could be yours for the asking A new top level domain, .tel, will be launched next year designed to enable organisations and individuals to consolidate all their contact information in one place. Its backers have confirmed that individuals' domain names will be allocated on a first come first served basis. http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/10187/53/ Porn Industry Against New XXX Domain The renewed interest in the proposal of a ".xxx" TLD, created specifically for sexually explicit content, has once again sparked a controversial debate between the adult entertainment industry, domain distributor ICM Registry and conservative groups. The adult entertainment industry (through their professional organization Free Speech Coalition) issued a press release last Tuesday petitioning for help in opposing the proposal set by Stuart Lawley, head of ICM. The ICANN approved the TLD in June 2005, but in May 2006 voted against their contract with ICM. http://media.www.dailytitan.com/media/storage/paper861/news/2007/03/06/News…> nz: Bankers try again for second-level anti-phishing domain The Bankers Association is having another go at setting up a bank.nz second-level internet domain to mitigate the problem of phishing scams in the banking sector. http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/8886E2E9D36A70BFCC257292000EB1B1 InternetNZ investigates becoming a charity InternetNZ, the organisation that manages New Zealand internet domain addresses among other functions, is exploring whether it qualifies for charitable status as an organisation that promotes the public good. http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/1BC9033D86D9E026CC257292000E1A27 Why I left the ICANN At Large Advisory Committee John Levine writes "For about the last two years, I was a member of ICANNs At Large Advisory Commitee. In case anyone is wondering, heres why Im not on the ALAC any more." http://www.circleid.com/posts/why_i_left_icann_at_large_alac/ Social Networking and Web 2.0 Creating DNS Performance Issues for Carriers A revolution is taking place on the Internet, with new sites redefining how we interact online. The next-generation Internet is emerging in collaborative and interactive applications and sites with rich, varied media (images, video, music). As with many revolutions, this one is driven by the younger generation, which is adopting social networking sites like MySpace and video sharing sites like Google's YouTube. But the general shift is not restricted to the young, as more mature consumers and businesses alike are exploring the possibilities of collaborative, media-rich applications. This major shift in Internet applications has its unintended victims. One of them turns out to be the DNS. http://www.circleid.com/posts/social_web_2_dns_performance_carriers/ ICANN Successfully Conducts Laboratory Tests of Internationalised Domain Names In October, 2006, ICANN engaged Autonomica AB of Stockholm, Sweden, to develop, conduct, and report on the results of laboratory testing of internationalized top-level domains in a setting corresponding to the public root. Quoting from their report, "Autonomica AB has, under a contract with ICANN, investigated whether the addition of top level domains containing encoded internationalized characters (so called IDNs) would have any impact on the operations of the root name servers providing delegations, or the iterative mode resolvers used to look up the information. No impact at all could be detected. All involved systems behaved exactly as expected." http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-4-07mar07.htm ICANN gTLD Registry Data Escrow Report This report has been prepared as part of the Registry Failover Project, to assist with the review of ICANN's existing data escrow requirements for gTLD registries, and to contribute to the above mentioned deliverables. As a part of the review, ICANN is working with several gTLD registries to examine data from an escrow deposit for the purpose of determining whether the current requirements are sufficient or need to be improved. http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-05mar07.htm Asia/Australia/Pacific At-Large Community MoU with ICANN Open for Public Comment The Asia/Australia/Pacific (AP) region of At Large has reached a consensus on the contents of a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") between the region and ICANN. http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-07mar07.htm Can't choose your typosquatters Commentator Bill Langworthy points out that, much as in real-world real estate, a domain name's value is all about location, location, location. And, good or bad, typosquatters are just a keystroke away. http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/03/06/AM200703061.html Domain Names & Defensible Traffic Andy Hagans recently posted about his linkbait marathon strategy to rank his sites at the top of the search results. Brian Provost posted about his love for domaining. Domain names may play a big roll not only in anchor text, but also in overall domain credibility, linkability, and defensibility. http://www.webpronews.com/blogtalk/2007/03/01/domain-names-defensible-traff… The 50 Most Important People on the Web - 35. Vinton G. CerfChairman, ICANN Board of Directors, and vice president and chief Internet evangelist, Google http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,129301-page,8-c,techindustrytrends/articl… FamilyAlbum.com and GoDaddy Update Heres the latest about the FamilyAlbum.com fiasco with GoDaddy. Domain Name Wires story about FamilyAlbum.com has garnered lots of attention. A story about the story has about 3,500 Diggs on Digg.com. Message boards are buzzing. Bloggers are blogging. But where does that leave us? Did GoDaddy have the right to delete FamilyAlbum.com? http://domainnamewire.com/2007/03/05/familyalbumcom-and-godaddy-update/ uk: Our Farm Holiday Website Has Been Hijacked to Sell Porn A luxury North Wales holiday farmhouse owner last night called for an investigation after a website promoting the business was hijacked to sell porn. ... Mr Thomas said: "We pay a monthly subscription and a yearly payment which may have gone through just a few days late. "I am not well up on computers, but it may have been lying dormant for three or four days during which time other users were able to get into it and add links." http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/861654/wales_our_farm_holiday_websi… The benefits of renting a domain name (member's sub req'd) Renting a domain name can have numerous benefits including economical profitability. These consequences can be tax benefits, retention of the domain name ownership even despite a bankruptcy filing as well as being able to use the domain name by the original owner. As for individuals that want to rent these domain names, there can be many benefits including the use of a restricted domain name for one. http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=articles&id=279587… ICANN Opens .museum Agreement Proposal for Comments ICANN, last week announced the proposed .museum sTLD registry agreement is posted for public comment and can be viewed at draft proposed agreement and appendices at proposed appendices. http://webhosting.info/news/1/icann-opens-.museum-agreement-proposal-for-co… NameMedia Launches New Domain Sales Platform (news release) NameMedia today announced the launch of ActiveExchange, providing domain owners access for the first time to the exclusive distribution network of the industry's leading domain marketplace. http://digital50.com/news/items/BW/2001/07/14/20070306006115/namemedia-laun… Godaddy Introduces Discounted Domain Club GoDaddy announced the introduction of the Discount Domain Club, a subscription-based service established for frequent domain buyers to save money. Membership in the Discount Domain Club affords domain name buyers registration prices that are up to 36% off of Go Daddy's domain pricing and includes free subscriptions to other Go Daddy services. http://webhosting.info/news/1/godaddy-introduces-discounted-domain-club_030… Demand Media Announces Social Networking Tools For .TV Domain Names (news release) Demand Media and eNom announced that eNom resellers will be able to offer their customers the Demand Media industry leading social networking tools with every .tv registration. http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/862129/demand_media_announces_socia… MindGenies Attains ICANN Accreditation MindGenies, an internet solutions and consultancy company, yesterday announced that it is now an ICANN accredited registrar. http://webhosting.info/news/1/mindgenies-attains-icann-accreditation_030707… British porn mastermind fights US Government (sub req'd) The British man behind the proposed .xxx Internet domain believes that the US Government has intervened to thwart his plans. http://www.legalbrief.co.za/article.php?story=20070307084858371 Regierungskoalition macht sich für TLDs wie .berlin stark Die Koalitionsfraktionen von SPD und CDU/CSU im Deutschen Bundestag setzen sich für die Einführung neuer Top-Level-Domains vor allem für regionale und urbane Gemeinschaften wie beispielsweise ".bayern", ".nrw" oder ".berlin" ein. Die Bundesregierung soll aufgefordert werden, sich im Rahmen der Mitarbeit im GAC der ICANN für die Weiterentwicklung des Adressraums im Internet einzusetzen. http://golem.de/0703/50928.html http://www.pc-magazin.de/common/nws/einemeldung.php?id=50909 http://www.umts-report.de/news.php?ida=575911&idc=236 http://www.internet-magazin.de/common/nws/einemeldung.php?id=50909 Weiterentwicklung des Adressraums im Internet Anlaesslich der Einbringung des Antrages der Koalitionsfraktionen 'Weiterentwicklung des Adressraums im Internet' erklaert der medienpolitische Sprecher der SPD-Bundestagsfraktion im Deutschen Bundestag, Joerg Tauss: http://www.umts-report.de/news.php?ida=575911&idc=236 Bundestag widmet sich dem Domain Name System Die Bundesregierung solle sich für die Einführung neuer TLD im Domain Name System des Internets starkmachen allen voran TLDs für regionale und urbane Gemeinschaften. Den Vorschlag für einen entsprechenden Beschluss bringen die Koalitionsfraktionen nach Diskussionen im Unterausschuss Neue Medien noch diese Woche in erster Lesung in den Bundestag ein. Der Initiator des Vorschlags, Jörg Tauss, medienpolitischer Sprecher der SPD-Fraktion im Bundestag, teilte im Vorfeld mit, Adresszonen mit Regionalbezug ganz im Stil der neu eingeführten Zonen .eu für die EU, .cat für Katalonien und .asia für den asiatischen Raum seien von besonderer Bedeutung für deutsche Bundesländer, Städte, Gemeinden und Regionen. http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/86329 Aserbaidschan: Großer Sprung in den Cyberspace Ali Abbasow, Minister für Kommunikations- und Informationstechnologie von Aserbaidschan, nutzte die erste Vollversammlung der "Global Alliance for ICT & Development" (GAID) im kalifornischen Santa Clara, um für internationale Unterstützung des geplanten großen Sprunges seines Landes in den Cyberspace zu werben. http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/86193 Die wichtigsten Frauen der IT-Branche Esther Dyson Die Schweizerin beeinflusste als Kolumnistin der NY Times viele IT-Diskussionen, prägte als Vorstand der ICANN ( Verwaltung von Internet- Adressen) viele Web-Entwicklung und ist gefragte Netz-Beraterin. http://www.kurier.at/galerie/index/3636/1/nachrichten/techno CeBITaktion für DomainReseller von DNS:NET - -März.de oder Maerz.de? Kein Problem mit DNS:NET Domains (news release) Die DNS:NET Internet Service GmbH startet zur CeBIT ihr Aktionsprogramm für die über 600 Reseller im Bereich Domainregistrierung. 1998 als Domainserviceanbieter gestartet, ist die DNS:NET mittlerweile als Carrier und Telefongesellschaft national und international aktiv. http://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2007-03/artikel-7864320.asp http://www.wallstreet-online.de/nachrichten/nachricht/2032209.html http://www.pressetext.com/pte.mc?id=98951 LICANN durcit sa position vis-à-vis de Registerfly Dans un communiqué publié le 2 mars, lICANN fait le point sur les actions en cours contre Registerfly, un registrar américain très critiqué pour son manque de rigueur. http://domainesinfo.fr/actualite/1146/l-icann-durcit-sa-position-vis-a-vis-… Nouvelle modalité de suppression des .FR et des .RE LAFNIC prévoit au 4eme semestre 2007 de sécuriser toute procédure de suppression de ses noms en lui associant une période de rédemption de 30 jours. http://domainesinfo.fr/extension/1147/france-nouvelle-modalite-de-suppressi… RegisterFly, dopo due anni l'ICANN si muove Su un caso che ha fatto discutere e che per due anni ha visto crescere le proteste dei clienti del registrar, l'ICANN decide finalmente di prendere provvedimenti http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1914836 Telecomunicaciones : Llega el dominio ".tel" Los dominios ".tel" se emplearán para realizar comunicaciones a través de telefonía en Internet. ICANN publica en su blog que en breve podremos comenzar a registrar dominios ".tel". Una entrada para el dominio ".tel" acaba de ser creada en el "root zone". Los registros se podrán realizar en breve a traves de Telnic. http://www.faq-mac.com/mt/archives/021866.php De 50 mäktigaste på nätet - Vinton G. Cerf Vinton G. Cerf utvecklade TCP/IP-protokollen som internet vilar på, därmed går det att påstå att han är en internets grundare. För närvarande har är han ordförande i ICANN. 2005 blev han Googles vice-president och chefsevangelist. http://www.ekonominyheterna.se/nyheter/2007/03/06/natets3135viktigasteperso… Potíe registrátora RegisterFly trvají Webové stránky doménového registrátora RegisterFly jsou vypnuté od úterý tohoto týdne, upozornuje Netcraft. Situace okolo spolecnosti RegisterFly je ji delí dobu problematická. Po vlne obvinování se mezi vedením firmy a vlastníky dolo i na zmínky o prípadném zproneverení financních prostredku. RegisterFly navíc, podle informací z amerických médií, nezaplatil za své zákazníky registracní poplatky. http://digiweb.ihned.cz/c4-10072070-20604820-i00000_d-potize-registratora-r… Túl gyorsan terjedt a net, túl sok lett a visszaélés Az internet alapító atyja szerint számoltak ugyan a hálózat sebezhetoségével, ilyen fokú bunözéssel azonban, ami az almúlt években jelentkezett a világhálón, már nem - igaz, azzal sem, hgy az internet ennyire elterjedt lesz, mint ma. http://www.origo.hu/techbazis/internet/20070305huhh.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check. Try the Yahoo! Mail Beta. http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/mailbeta/newmail_tools.html

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test 20070309 3:55pm EAT - ignore
by John Walubengo 09 Mar '07

09 Mar '07

test ____________________________________________________________________________________ 8:00? 8:25? 8:40? Find a flick in no time with the Yahoo! Search movie showtime shortcut. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/#news

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ICANN publishes DNS Attack Factsheet
by A. Wanjira Munyua 09 Mar '07

09 Mar '07

ICANN's published a very good summary of the February 6 attack on the > root server system. > > <http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-08mar07.htm> > > "ICANN has today released a factsheet concerning the recent attack on > the root server system on 6 February 2007. The factsheet is intended > to provide an explanation of the attack for a non-technical audience > in the hope of enlarging public understanding surrounding this and > related issues. > > Aside from covering the attack itself and the engineers' response to > it, the factsheet also briefly reviews the root server system, the > domain name system, Anycast technology, and what can be done in order > to deal with such attacks in future. > > It is hoped that the factsheet will be the first in a series, with > ICANN's general manager of public participation, Kieren McCarthy, > acting as series editor. Future factsheets hope to follow a similar > approach of providing clear and topical non-technical information > about various aspects of the Internet in which ICANN is involved. > > We welcome whatever feedback the community may have, plus suggestions > for future factsheets. Please post any comments you have on the > related blog post. This factsheet is released under a Creative > Commons licence." > > Good to see creative commons license being used, help spread the word. > Blog post here <http://blog.icann.org/?p=37 > > Factsheet in PDF > <http://www.icann.org/announcements/factsheet-dns-attack-08mar07.pdf> > > > I imagine Kieren McCarthy would like to hear from people what he > should be covering next. And any comments on the factsheet itself. > > Adam > > _______________________________________________ > ALAC mailing list > ALAC(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org > http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac_atlarge-lists.icann.org > > www.alac.icann.org > www.icannalac.org

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Microsoft�s Ballmer rekindles Linux patent fears
by Alex Gakuru 09 Mar '07

09 Mar '07

Sparks fly less than a month after Microsoft and Novell signed partnership By John Fontana, Network World, 11/21/06 For the second time in two years, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer last week played the patent infringement card against Linux and again set off a round of negative speculation and vendor clarifications..... As part of the deal between Microsoft and Novell, the pair is making payments to each other not to assert patent claims. Novell is paying $40 million to Microsoft in exchange for the latter company's pledge not to sue SUSE Linux users over possible patent violations, and Microsoft is paying Novell $108 million for a similar agreement that says Novell wont sue Microsoft users.... Experts have speculated the Microsoft-Novell deal was, in part, a swipe at Linux leader Red Hat and that Ballmers recent comments over intellectual property were in that vein. I guess that could be the rationale, but is Red Hat that much of threat to stoop to this level? said Ovum Summits Davis. http://www.linuxworld.com/news/2006/112106-ballmer-linux.html?page=1 ----- /end test message/ --------------------------------- Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q&A.

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attack on root server
by Rebecca Wanjiku 09 Mar '07

09 Mar '07

ICANN's summary of the February 6 attack on the > root server system. > > <http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-08mar07.htm> > > "ICANN has today released a factsheet concerning the recent attack on > the root server system on 6 February 2007. The factsheet is intended > to provide an explanation of the attack for a non-technical audience > in the hope of enlarging public understanding surrounding this and > related issues. > > Aside from covering the attack itself and the engineers' response to > it, the factsheet also briefly reviews the root server system, the > domain name system, Anycast technology, and what can be done in order > to deal with such attacks in future. > > It is hoped that the factsheet will be the first in a series, with > ICANN's general manager of public participation, Kieren McCarthy, > acting as series editor. Future factsheets hope to follow a similar > approach of providing clear and topical non-technical information > about various aspects of the Internet in which ICANN is involved. > > We welcome whatever feedback the community may have, plus suggestions > for future factsheets. Please post any comments you have on the > related blog post. This factsheet is released under a Creative > Commons licence." ____________________________________________________________________________________ Don't get soaked. Take a quick peek at the forecast with the Yahoo! Search weather shortcut. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/#loc_weather

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OFC final report
by Rebecca Wanjiku 09 Mar '07

09 Mar '07

here is the OFC final report. i have attached a copy and given the executive summary below, hope it will make good reading and background info.... Executive Summary The East African Coast remains the only seabed that is yet to be covered by International Submarine Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) Connectivity. With over three prospective Submarine Optical Cables in the offing, East Africans are standing at the threshold of new opportunities and are expecting better and more affordable communication services that OFCs have provided in other parts of the globe. But the question remains which model of OFC provisioning, will bring about meaningful and sustainable Socio-economic gains for the majority of citizens in East Africa and its environs? The Online Discussion explored this question by investigating the existing models for providing OFC and evaluating how each model would impact on the Key Stakeholders. The Key Stakeholders identified included the Regulator, the Consumers, the Government, the Development Financial Institutions (DFIs), the Private Operators and Investors. Efforts were made to understand each Stakeholders objectives with a view to ensuring that a model that can closely balanced out most of the conflicting interests could be arrived at. The generic models of Consortium, Open-Access and Privately provisioned OFC were discussed and their requirements and the impacts they (would) have on the various stakeholders were elicited. The role of the Regulator with regard to protecting Consumer interests in whichever of the above models were particularly emphasised and considered fundamental. The Open-Access principles were preferred irrespective of the OFC provisioning methods adopted especially with respect to allowing market-rate access both to existing and future Data Operators. With regard to ownership and financing of the OFC, it was felt that a mixture of Public, Private and DFIs sources of capital maybe the most efficient. In such a case, the owners would then constitute a body (Special Purpose Vehicle, SPV) to operate and maintain the OFC in the interest of the stakeholders. On the other hand, there was also the other alternative that placed less or no emphasis on the construction and ownership of the International OFC. Instead, it suggested that more emphasis should be placed towards developing a comprehensive and national (domestic) OFC. A comprehensive and active domestic infrastructure, coupled with local content would be expected attract Internet Backbone Providers (IBPs) wishing to tap into this new source of domestic traffic. Such Operators would therefore construct and extend their own OFC into the region at their own cost - as long as the local (domestic) Operators can guarantee to purchase an economic capacity of International bandwidth from the IBPs at market rates. Both the Online discussions as well as the Face-to-Face workshop provided a rich source of information that is hoped will provide valuable input in shaping the Policy and Regulatory direction regarding the provisioning of this critical submarine cable that would finally conquer the last frontier the East African Coast. Rebecca Wanjiku, journalist, p.o box 33515, Nairobi.00600 Kenya. Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss an email again! Yahoo! Toolbar alerts you the instant new Mail arrives. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/

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[Fibre-for-africa] Invigorating debate on EASSy and other fibre
by A. Wanjira Munyua 09 Mar '07

09 Mar '07

Dear Listers, > > A short note here to draw your attention to some of the new resources that > have recently been uploaded on the Fibre for Africa website > (www.fibreforafrica.net) which provides information about international > bandwidth in Africa, its costs and the existence of monopoly access to it: > > 1) Question and Answer Interview with Dr Edmund Katiti, Policy and > regulatory Advisor for the NEPAD eAfrica Commission. He speaks about the > plans for forming the Special Purpose Vehicle to develop, own, operate, > and maintain the regional ICT broadband network for Eastern and Southern > Africa; moves toward engaging consultants to attract shareholders in the > network; and how the Commission views cables being planned by countries > such as Kenya and South Africa. > 2) Question and Answer Interview with Mr Edmond Nyakairu, chairman of the > finance committee of the EASSy Memorandum of Understanding signatories: On > the operators current feelings about the NEPAD eAfrica Commission; on the > Commissions continued use of the name EASSy; the impact which building > EASSy would have on proposed Kenyan and South African cables; on whether > EASSy makes commercial sense; and the way forward in delivering cheaper > and more accessible bandwidth to east and southern Africa. > 3) Article on the cables planned for the East Coast of Africa: This > resource lists the various initiatives to build cables that are parallel > to EASSy and questions whether this will not render EASSy less competitive > or even unviable. But how viable will these cables themselves be, and are > they planning on embracing Open Access principles? > 4) Paper on Enabling Open Access through Universal Access: This paper > makes the case for Open Access Infrastructure in addressing Africas > connectivity headaches; it examines flaws that are common in some of the > connectivity (including Universal Access) programmes on the continent; and > concludes that regional infrastructure undertakings like EASSy require > Universal Access to be correctly implemented and to address demand in > order for Open Access principles to prevail. > > EASSy appears to be at crossroads, with operators and the Commission > maintaining major disagreements. It is not clear when the champagne > bottles will be popped for its ground-breaking ceremony, or even who the > investors in it will be. The clock is ticking. Debate on what needs to be > done to secure a win-win situation not just for the NEPAD and the > telcos but importantly as well for the users who endure slow service at > exorbitant prices, needs to be sustained at this time. > > Wakabi > > > > ============== > Wairagala Wakabi > Research Associate > CIPESA > Plot 22 Bukoto Street, Kamwokya > P.O Box 26970 Kampala, Uganda > Tel. +256 41 531899 > Cell: +256 772 406 241 > Email: wakabi(a)cipesa.org > www.cipesa.org > > _______________________________________________ > Fibre-for-africa mailing list > Fibre-for-africa(a)lists.apc.org > http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fibre-for-africa

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My Evening in Jail (O.K, next to Jail)
by John Walubengo 08 Mar '07

08 Mar '07

O.K, before the moderator tells me to take this conversation off the list - I wish to promise that it will end with an IT twist... Yesterday evening, I was stopped by the Traffic Police at Madaraka Roundabout (next to Strath University). As a law abiding citizen, I stopped and without being asked, I opened the boot, stepped out and handed over my Driving Licence. After 5minutes (eternity for me!) I realised that the young police officer was struggling with his torch trying to shine the lamp on my annual renewal licences. I moved closer and he seemed happy to have discoverd and even happier to confirm that I had FORGED it (what???). He was alleging that it expired last year and since I was the clever-one, i simply extended the year by overwriting the original deadline and replacing it with next year (i.e from 2006 to 2008 expiry date) I tried to say indeed the overwriting was truly there, but it must have been done by the KRA (Kenya Revenue Officials, they are human and can make mistakes) but he was adamant that I must visit their Police station and be checked in. I tried to say that if I had committed a traffic offence , I would have expected that he would write me a ticket/summons? to appear in court sometime later in the week and stand accused awaiting defence/judgement/penalty..(lawyers could correct me on that). Later on he agreed that he will write the Summons from the Poice Station and so we drove to the nearest police station for this summons to be written. We reached there (Nyayo Stadium Police Station) and he asked me to sit right next to the Cells (which were full of some very mean looking 'Matheri' type of characters). After 5min, he came back to say that his Boss, the Officer in Charge of the Station is not in and so I have to be locked in until tomorrow morning, when he will come and write me the summons (hallooo??- next to THOSE guys?). To cut down the story, my wife new someone, who knew some Senior cop, whom she called and he eventually gave instructions to have me released - on Condition that I apologise for the offense (O.K. now what had I done again?). Here is the IT angle - isn't it time their website www.kenyapolice.go.ke gave the Citizens the correct position regarding Police Procedures for Civil/Criminal offence? I mean I never knew a traffic offence could earn you 1-night accomodation with General Ali's (the Police Commissioner) guests. Further more, when are those so called Tamper-proof Driving Licences going to hit the market? walu. nb: the overwriting was explained to me by KRA this morning - they say that it often happens and all they do is to double-stamp the affected license which they actually done- but I never knew the implication of that double-stamp. Am sure the young Police Officer had seen the double-stamping but was not in a hurry to educate me - he preferred to drag me to next to his cells for whatever (you are allowed to speculate) reasons. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Get your own web address. Have a HUGE year through Yahoo! Small Business. http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/domains/?p=BESTDEAL

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