Breaking News: Kenyan Internet Community comes face to face with new Legislation
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
Walu, I do concur with you, the heated debate today, means that the silence from the IT Sector on this regulation while the media was making noise is due to some intelligent fear, in my opinion. Can KICTANET do some sort of advocacy on this crucial matter, whose outcomes can be directed to KENIC for further direction and guidance. I see a conflict of interest emanating when CCK is given the mandate of awarding the TLDs by law. Time might get us with pants down, literary! Mburu On 08/05/2009, 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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-- Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill!
Morning! I'Ve seen in today's Nation's editorial that the so called media law is set to undergo some amendments. Could we, in the IT sector, explore a way of injecting what suits us in such an opening window? Just my thoughts. On 08/05/2009, Solomon Mburu <solo.mburu@gmail.com> wrote:
Walu, I do concur with you, the heated debate today, means that the silence from the IT Sector on this regulation while the media was making noise is due to some intelligent fear, in my opinion. Can KICTANET do some sort of advocacy on this crucial matter, whose outcomes can be directed to KENIC for further direction and guidance. I see a conflict of interest emanating when CCK is given the mandate of awarding the TLDs by law. Time might get us with pants down, literary! Mburu
On 08/05/2009, 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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-- Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill!
-- Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill!
The Kenic AGM was a very good platform to road-test the implication of the Kenya Communications amendment Act, and in my view it presented a great opportunity to the ICT stakeholders to articulate the pertinent issues that affect their areas of operation. To a large extent, the lengthy debate, especially on the establishment of an SPV by Kenic for purposes of compliance with the law, showed that there are many concerns in the market place, which points to the existence of big opportunity and threat too. The only certain thing about ICT is that its future is so dramatically dynamic, that before the ink dries, it is time to erase the sentence and write another one!! A K Mugambi Kenic Chairman Sent from my BlackBerry® -----Original Message----- From: Solomon Mburu <solo.mburu@gmail.com> Date: Sat, 9 May 2009 03:09:32 To: <amugambi@jambo.co.ke> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>; skunk<skunkworks@my.co.ke>; ke-users Internet Users<ke-internetusers@bdix.net>; afnog afnog<afnog@afnog.org> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Breaking News: Kenyan Internet Community comes face to face with new Legislation Morning! I'Ve seen in today's Nation's editorial that the so called media law is set to undergo some amendments. Could we, in the IT sector, explore a way of injecting what suits us in such an opening window? Just my thoughts. On 08/05/2009, Solomon Mburu <solo.mburu@gmail.com> wrote:
Walu, I do concur with you, the heated debate today, means that the silence from the IT Sector on this regulation while the media was making noise is due to some intelligent fear, in my opinion. Can KICTANET do some sort of advocacy on this crucial matter, whose outcomes can be directed to KENIC for further direction and guidance. I see a conflict of interest emanating when CCK is given the mandate of awarding the TLDs by law. Time might get us with pants down, literary! Mburu
On 08/05/2009, 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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-- Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill!
-- Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill! _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: amugambi@jambo.co.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/amugambi%40jambo.co.ke ---------------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. --------------------------------------------- "easy access to the world"
Solomon, In January, when we were discussing the Media aspects of the ICT Act members of the KICTAnet list voted(abstained) AGAINST discussing IT issues. I had to comply but ofcourse that could be reviewed and arranged - if public demands ;-) walu. --- On Sat, 5/9/09, Solomon Mburu <solo.mburu@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Solomon Mburu <solo.mburu@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Breaking News: Kenyan Internet Community comes face to face with new Legislation To: jwalu@yahoo.com Cc: "skunk" <skunkworks@my.co.ke>, "ke-users Internet Users" <ke-internetusers@bdix.net>, "afnog afnog" <afnog@afnog.org>, "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Saturday, May 9, 2009, 9:39 AM Morning! I'Ve seen in today's Nation's editorial that the so called media law is set to undergo some amendments. Could we, in the IT sector, explore a way of injecting what suits us in such an opening window? Just my thoughts.
On 08/05/2009, Solomon Mburu <solo.mburu@gmail.com> wrote:
Walu, I do concur with you, the heated debate today, means that the silence from the IT Sector on this regulation while the media was making noise is due to some intelligent fear, in my opinion. Can KICTANET do some sort of advocacy on this crucial matter, whose outcomes can be directed to KENIC for further direction and guidance. I see a conflict of interest emanating when CCK is given the mandate of awarding the TLDs by law. Time might get us with pants down, literary! Mburu
On 08/05/2009, 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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-- Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill!
-- Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill!
Solomon, In January, when we were discussing the Media aspects of the ICT Act members of the KICTAnet list voted(abstained) AGAINST discussing IT issues. I had to comply but ofcourse that could be reviewed and arranged - if public demands ;-) walu. --- On Sat, 5/9/09, Solomon Mburu <solo.mburu@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Solomon Mburu <solo.mburu@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Breaking News: Kenyan Internet Community comes face to face with new Legislation To: jwalu@yahoo.com Cc: "skunk" <skunkworks@my.co.ke>, "ke-users Internet Users" <ke-internetusers@bdix.net>, "afnog afnog" <afnog@afnog.org>, "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Saturday, May 9, 2009, 9:39 AM Morning! I'Ve seen in today's Nation's editorial that the so called media law is set to undergo some amendments. Could we, in the IT sector, explore a way of injecting what suits us in such an opening window? Just my thoughts.
On 08/05/2009, Solomon Mburu <solo.mburu@gmail.com> wrote:
Walu, I do concur with you, the heated debate today, means that the silence from the IT Sector on this regulation while the media was making noise is due to some intelligent fear, in my opinion. Can KICTANET do some sort of advocacy on this crucial matter, whose outcomes can be directed to KENIC for further direction and guidance. I see a conflict of interest emanating when CCK is given the mandate of awarding the TLDs by law. Time might get us with pants down, literary! Mburu
On 08/05/2009, 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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-- Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill!
-- Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill!
Hi As much as it may not be clear whether there was prior consultations with Internet consumers and managers on matters of such kind of legislation, one may want to know ICANN's relationship with govts on matters that touches their policies. Else a stalemate that befits other global organizations viz FIFA, FIDE et cetera may one day compromise Internet consummation especially in Kenya. By the way, is there any other country - in developed and developing - that faces that same test. If YES, how do they manage? If NO, which way poor Kenya???? o. 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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Well permit me to dive into the pool from the Shallow end since it seems murky, to say the least can a player be the referee,? no way!!, a law just like a title deed can be termed as a paper the most important thing is the spirit, and if there is a likelihood of lack of fairplay then we must take action early enough, the regulator must remain a referee in the meantime i like the idea proposed by the board to create an spv even though i didnt make it to the event it will set a good precedence On Sat, May 9, 2009 at 12:34 PM, omolo omolo <omolo@egerton.ac.ke> wrote:
Hi
As much as it may not be clear whether there was prior consultations with Internet consumers and managers on matters of such kind of legislation, one may want to know ICANN's relationship with govts on matters that touches their policies. Else a stalemate that befits other global organizations viz FIFA, FIDE et cetera may one day compromise Internet consummation especially in Kenya. By the way, is there any other country - in developed and developing - that faces that same test. If YES, how do they manage? If NO, which way poor Kenya????
o.
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
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Skunkworks announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
-- Richard Omolo Computer Science, Egerton University +254 73 5431503 +254 72 1680611 Box 536 Njoro, Kenya
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Skunkworks announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
-- Barrack O. Otieno ISSEN CONSULTING Tel: +254721325277 +254733206359 http://projectdiscovery.or.ke To give up the task of reforming society is to give up ones responsibility as a free man. Alan Paton, South Africa
Doesnt this mean that the People of Kenya no longer have a say over what goes on over the internet? On May 9, 2009, at 7:03 PM, Barrack Otieno wrote:
Well permit me to dive into the pool from the Shallow end since it seems murky, to say the least can a player be the referee,? no way!!, a law just like a title deed can be termed as a paper the most important thing is the spirit, and if there is a likelihood of lack of fairplay then we must take action early enough, the regulator must remain a referee in the meantime i like the idea proposed by the board to create an spv even though i didnt make it to the event it will set a good precedence
On Sat, May 9, 2009 at 12:34 PM, omolo omolo <omolo@egerton.ac.ke> wrote: Hi
As much as it may not be clear whether there was prior consultations with Internet consumers and managers on matters of such kind of legislation, one may want to know ICANN's relationship with govts on matters that touches their policies. Else a stalemate that befits other global organizations viz FIFA, FIDE et cetera may one day compromise Internet consummation especially in Kenya. By the way, is there any other country - in developed and developing - that faces that same test. If YES, how do they manage? If NO, which way poor Kenya????
o.
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
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Skunkworks announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
-- Richard Omolo Computer Science, Egerton University +254 73 5431503 +254 72 1680611 Box 536 Njoro, Kenya
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Skunkworks announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
-- Barrack O. Otieno ISSEN CONSULTING Tel: +254721325277 +254733206359 http://projectdiscovery.or.ke To give up the task of reforming society is to give up ones responsibility as a free man. Alan Paton, South Africa _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Skunkworks announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
participants (6)
-
amugambi＠jambo.co.ke -
Barrack Otieno -
John Walubengo -
omolo omolo -
Rahim Kara -
Solomon Mburu