Bwana PS, I have read today's papers and I do agree with you that we have everything to worry about. This is particularly because in part I agree with the newspaper reports regarding the Communications Amendment Bill. My fear and worry is that this very serious matter is now going to be politicized and we shall not have a soberly thought-out change in our laws. I have to say as one who participated in the policy formulation process am disappointed because most of the recommendations we made and agreed on seem to have been left out in the gazetted bill and things we totally were unhappy about were left in. Basically we have the original draft the government gave without taking our views which we presented into account. Let me give examples; 1) The definition of a broadcaster and broadcasting (page 1205) both paragraphs are vague and ambiguous. Internet Protocol services can be defined as broadcasting (or not). Laws need to be very clear. This has all sorts of implications especially with the convergence of technologies. Which licence an Internet service provider should get is not clear. Today you can watch BBC and CNN news online. YouTUBE ( http://www.youtube.com ) and many other multimedia sites offer video and other services, Radio stations and POD Casts are streamed online. We raised these issues and we were ignored. 2) Certification Authority (page 1236/7) - certification authority. This is very useful for e-commerce and online trading. With the revised legislation, Internationally recognised and globally accepted certification authorities such as Verisign can only be recognised in Kenyan law if they apply for a licence from CCK. E-commerce is also international. This will put Kenya in an Island and with globalisation this is not workable 3) On the top level domain (.ke) (page 1236/7) - Today CCK already regulates KENIC through the sitting on its board and I do not see the need for increased regulation. .ke is faced with competition from other domain names and we must ensure regulation of the same does not discourage it's use. Registrars locally are able to administer top level domains without CCK and this will not change. These are just a few points to explain my point - the list is not exhaustive I would also like to go on record and state in summary that if the Amendments are passed, am afraid the COST of regulation in Kenya will be so high for example CCK will have the obligation to manage and determine suitable content for the country. Secondly, the cost of monitoring and storing all content in Kenya will not only be astronomical but I also believe impractical and will create a significant "grey market" So Bwana PS, what can be done to incorporate some of the recommendations to the otherwise much needed Communications Amendment Bill. -- Joseph Mucheru mucheru@wananchi.com
From: <bitange@jambo.co.ke> Reply-To: Kenya ICT Action Network - KICTANet <kictanet@kictanet.or.ke> Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 15:03:12 +0300 (EAT) To: <mucheru@wananchi.com> Subject: [kictanet] Media Bill 2007.
Dear All, If you read today's papers, you have everything to worry. It is being alledged that the ICT Bill is worse than the Media Bill and That Government did not consult. I know you all participated in many ICT fora discussing just what is being criticised. After the first reading we have another go at it but not to kill it at inception.
I need not tell anyone that this Bill will unlock the ICT potential in this country. Where were these people when you sacrificed your time to have a just legislation in place?
On Broadcasting, Kenya has one of the most liberal laws in place. We have tried to have a frequency in Britain, China, the USA on reciprical relations in vain. We toned down stakeholder's requirement on restrictive cross media ownership by adopting South Africa Model but these people want nothing but jungle laws in a democratic country.
Since you access internet, please check, there is no country in the world that does not have some sort of media regulation. In fact opponents of these Bills should be asked to name at least one country that has no regulation in media.
Regards
Ndemo.
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