Alex - I am NOT against competition. It is good for the industry. The problem is how such competition is introduced. Yes, KENIC has had a monopoly over the .KE namespace, but at least it is(was?) a Multistakeholder Partnership in its legal formation. If this partnership was NOT exercised adequately for the benefit of the community it should be fixed rather than move the rights of the .KE namespace to with due respect -just one of the stakeholders (Govt/Regulator), however strong they are. The idea and law specifying that the regulator is ONLY going to regulate the 2nd level domain is to me mischievious /grey area and I shared the same feelings at the KENIC AGM. This is because the money/action/activities of ICT lie at the 2nd level! Claiming that the regulation is not touching the top level .KE but the lower level is similar to and I quote one of the members "telling a parent that you wont regulate him/her but his/her kids will be totally under 3rd party control". walu. --- On Fri, 5/8/09, Alex Gakuru <gakuru@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Alex Gakuru <gakuru@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [ke-internetusers] Breaking News: Kenyan Internet Community comes face to face with new Legislation To: jwalu@yahoo.com Cc: ke-internetusers@bdix.net Date: Friday, May 8, 2009, 10:55 PM Walu,
Thank you for the info although I find it bordering on alarmist;)
I deliberately boycotted today's Kenic AGM because, among others, kenic folks decided they will not post to this list minutes of last year's AGM resolutions, such as, constitutional change made to allow an a certain individual's term of office to be extended beyond what the constitution allowed. There are a couple of complaints I restrained myself from posting onlist.
Background:
During last year's AGM the said "Internet Community" for the second (or third?) year running repeatedly complained about kenic's failure to lower .ke domain prices as frustrating .ke domains growth. Registrars we later hurriedly called to a meeting at the Grand Hotel and we were asked to volunteer ourselves to a committee that would look into domain price issue. To the best of my knowledge information and belief no such meeting has ever been called, to-date.
At today's 10,133 domain numbers statistics ( CO.KE 9, 465 NE.KE 14, OR.KE 654) see:<http://www.kenic.or.ke/statistics.html> kenic annual domains selling income exceeds kenya shillings 20 million every year - while Internet consumers continue screaming "lower domain prices!" to seemingly deaf ears and half-hearted Kenyan domain space (.ke) administrator.
They fail to see the bigger picture. By lowering domain prices they would have very many more being able to afford local domain.
Lets face it, shillings 20 million is not kidogo money without necessarily dwelling on the fact that many of their staff are interns ( Aren't permanent staff only 4?) I suppose Board members do not draw salaries? Again, really whom does the Kenic Board answer to/ i.e.holds them accountable? Only to themselves with ceremonial AGMs?
The Law:
Kenya Communications (Amendment) Act, 2008 states:
Section 83F: Licence for country code top-level domain
"The Commission [CCK] may, upon application in the prescribed manner and subject to such conditions as it may deem necessary, grant licences under this section authorizing a person to administer a sub-domain in the country top-level domain"
What's wrong with CCK granting licenses to, for example 3 or 4 (legal) persons to compete in offering the best-priced domains to Kenyans consumers?
Conclusion:
Kenic attracted the competition which perhaps might have been avoided if they had listened to the "Internet Community" cries over the year. I note that you refer to kenic as "partnership." Licence conditions could include all others be representative partnerships and PPP 'problem' solved;) What I am trying to say is that kenic should not be viewed as the only PPP model possible.. ICANN does not break national laws and in any case, note how many registries exist in the US itself. Our market has matured and we need competition in the domain space area also, Yes/No?
My take is kenic's honeymoon ended when the law opened domain pricing competition space that should lower prices- good for consumers but bad for old kenic 'monopoly era' ;)
In other words, we do not have a crisis so let us not make one up.
Regards,
Alex --- References 1. Boosting numbers in .ke domain names <http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9451&Itemid=5843>
2. Kenyans to enjoy reduced charges for acquiring Internet domains <http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8270&Itemid=5847>
On Fri, May 8, 2009 at 5:12 PM, John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
Apologies for cross-posting:
It took a KENIC (KEnya Network Information Center,
www.kenic.or.ke) Annual General Meeting for the Kenyan Internet community to digest the implication of the a Kenyan ICT Legislation passed more than five months ago. The law which included sections that touched on the Media, IT, Telecommunication and Postal Services has faced stiff resistance from the Media fraternity while the Internet Community kept a low if not a dead profile.
It was at the KENIC general meeting held today in
Nairobi that the Internet Community grappled with the implication of the IT section on the operation of the .KE namespace. The law specifies that all second level .KE internet domain names must be licensed by the country's converged Regulator, Communication Commission of Kenya. The law requires that all Registries - those who manage the internet domains - must apply for a license by the 2nd of June 2009.
KENIC, a public-private-partnership has under the
ICANN Policies been managing the .KE namespace including the 2nd level sub-domains such as xyz.CO.KE, xyz.OR.KE, etc. From 2nd June 2009, KENIC must seek permission from the Regulator to continue managing these sub-domains. In an effort to comply with the law, the KENIC Board requested the community to support a resolution that a new legal entity (Special Purpose Vehicle, SPV) be created in order to apply for the license from the Regulator as well as compete with other potential entities that are set to fight in that space.
The proposals opened up heated discussions with some
members wondering if KENIC was ceding its hard-won rights & control over the .KE namespace to an exclusive and single entity. The current governance structure for KENIC provides for a Multistakeholder Partnership over the whole .KE namespace and has the Govt, Academia, Private Sector/Telcos and Civil Society Board Representation that is wholly accountable to Internet Users during Annual General Meetings. Effectively, the new law takes part of this mandate and places it under one or two of these Stakeholders that is the Regulator/Govt.
Members wondered about the criteria that would be used
by the Regulator to award the management licenses to various competitors. Others wondered about the potential conflict between the local legislation and the ICANN policies given that KENIC has currently been operating under ICANN policies but now has to take cognizance of the local law. For example, if the Regulator granted a license to someone else to manage the "co.ke" subdomain BUT the local internet community for one reason or the other instructed the KENIC Board NOT to accept and transfer the delegation from KENIC how would that be resolved? And yet other members wondered to what extend the proposed SPV would cannibalize their existing markets and services.
It has taken five months of silence but clearly, the
Kenyan Internet community is just beginning to understand and feel the heat of some sections in the ICT law that had previously been hijacked and labeled "Media law" at the expense of IT practitioners. It will be interesting to see how this plays out before and after the 2nd of June 2009 - the date when all subdomain managers must be licensed by the Regulator.
walu
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