DotAfrica Top Level Domain

Fadi's Resignation, Sepp Blatter's Resignation - Others Should Consider Resigning as Well…

2015-06-08T06:18:00.000-07:00

"Only proper regulation by an independent agency with full Congressional mandate will ensure that a 'FIFA-Mafia type' organization of systematic corruption does not emerge. ICANN should not be trusted by Congress to regulate itself." (Excerpted from March 9, 2015, CircleID)

A Review of Fadi Chehade's Incomplete Legacy at ICANN
Fadi Chehade, the incumbent President and CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), on 21 May 2015 announced his intention to leave ICANN by March 2016. No actual reasons were given for his summary and unexpected decision to stop being the head of an organization that he has led since 2012 — against the background that Fadi Chehade had recently received an ICANN Board-approved contract extension up till 30 June 2017; together with a slate that has a long list of things to do with many uncompleted assignments. Apart from mentioning that Fadi Chehade would be moving after March 2016 to a career in the private sector, outside the domain name industry, no other helpful detail was contained in the ICANN announcement.

By the time Fadi finally departs from ICANN sometime in the spring of 2016, he would be leaving a mixed leadership record and legacy at ICANN. The following summarizes what he inherited and/or did at ICANN:

The ICANN new generic Top-Level Domain Name Internet Expansion program which he has been shepherding as a work-in-progress during the past three years.
He also inherited an ICANN Strategic Planning process which he cancelled and started another 5-year ICANN Strategy afresh. Under this charter, he commenced plans to internationalize ICANN by establishing overseas offices in different regions, and also appointed Vice-Presidents for Multi-stakeholder Engagement for different ICANN regions.
Following the National Technology and Information Administration (NTIA) announcement to Transition the IANA Technical Functions to a Global Multi-Stakeholder Group, it was Fadi's ICANN that took the responsibility of facilitating and coordinating the IANA Transition process.
As part of Fadi's internationalization strategy and his close engagement with countries such as Brazil, the announcement of the IANA Transition plan in March 2014 was quickly followed by the establishment of the NETMundial Initiative (NMI) which came out of the 'Global Multi-Stakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance' that took place in Sao Paulo, Brazil in April 2014.

In a nutshell, Fadi Chehade attempted to consolidate his professional legacy at ICANN based on achieving internationalization, completing the IANA Transition, and causing a paradigm shift in Global Internet Governance by introducing the NMI as 'a new kid on the block' that would help strengthen the structures of Internet Governance.
The non-completion of some of these programs and initiatives that Fadi Chehade started before deciding to step aside as ICANN CEO would cause his leadership achievements and professional legacy at ICANN to remain mixed and incomplete.
The concerns and anxieties engendered by this premature departure of the ICANN helmsman caused the NTIA's Larry Strickling to issue a statement which tried to reassure the community that: "a successful transition does not depend on the leadership of a single individual" and urged the community to remain focused on developing the IANA Transition Proposal.

NETMundial's Birthing Problems and the IANA Transition
The NMI was not thoroughly embraced because its roles, organization, and activities were ill-defined, for which reason it attracted the frantic attentions of different polemicists who argued strenuously against it.

The truth behind the NETMundial idea, namely, preparing it as a possible vehicle to handle the IANA Transition, has not been mentioned at anytime. It was obvious to any interested analyst that there was a link between the NTIA's intention in March 2014 to devolve the IANA Technical Functions to a Global Multi-Stakeholder Group, and a Global Multi-Stakeholder Conference that was convened in April 2014 to discuss the future of Internet Governance. Even so, efforts were made to carefully distance the NMI from the IANA Transition; for instance, by ensuring that Hon. Larry Strickling, Assistant Secretary and Head of the U.S. NTIA, who announced the IANA Transition Plan, was not on the NMI Inaugural Coordination Council; and instead, indicating that the US Government was supposed to be represented on the NMI — Inaugural Coordination Council by the Hon. Penny Pritzker, US Secretary of Commerce. In other words, a very senior cabinet-level official in the US Administration would be involved in the NMI that is still under-formation whilst the head of an executive agency under the same U.S. Department of Commerce would oversee the IANA Transition.

Post Transition IANA (PTI) – a wholly-owned ICANN subsidiary
Notwithstanding, those people within the Internet Governance Community that were suspicious, fought against the NETMundial Initiative, with the result that the NMI continued to falter, because of lack of cross-cutting stakeholder support since its clear mission and purpose has not been clearly articulated apart from the general concepts contained in the Terms of Reference that was issued after the Stanford Meeting Communiqué.

These factors have caused the process of the IANA Transition Proposal to move faster than the NMI; and when it became obvious that the NMI will not be realized in the near future, a quick decision was made to ensure that the IANA Transition Proposals would be centered on a model that is entirely 'internal to ICANN' — whereby a Post-Transition IANA (PTI) will be based on a wholly-owned ICANN subsidiary. This implies that the 'IANA Transition' in essence will simply replace the NTIA's current role with ICANN, whilst ICANN's present role as the IANA Functions Operator will be transferred to an ICANN-owned subsidiary. The PTI ICANN Subsidiary will be accountable to ICANN but not to the Global Multi-Stakeholder Group that was originally given responsibility for the IANA Transition.

The Brazilian Connection & NTIA's Stamp of Approval
Fadi's connections to the Government of Brazil — as a spirited high-level outreach and engagement effort that was meant to give a more substantive voice to the 'Global South' in Internet Governance affairs — was the impetus that created the nexus of 'ICANN and Brazil' that was used to drive the NETMundial Initiative. The NTIA's Larry Strickling has tacitly approved of this relationship by mentioning China, Iran and Russia as countries that oppose the multi-stakeholder model by seeking to increase governmental/inter-governmental control of the Internet using bodies like the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and United Nations; whilst singling out Brazil for special commendation as a country that promotes the multi-stakeholder model of Internet Governance on account of Brazil's successful hosting of the NETMundial Conference.

It is easy to speculate that Fadi's absence from the scene would cause NMI to rapidly lose traction and become orphaned in the coming months. Even so, Fadi Chehade's tenure would be remembered within the ICANN Global Community for the high number of Independent Review Panel (IRP) juridical proceedings that were instituted to challenge ICANN Board and Staff actions; unsettling issues of accountability improvements that were inextricably tied to the IANA Transition; and increased Congressional focus on the IANA Transition.

Why FIFA is reminding us of ICANN!
About three (3) months ago, Fadi Chehade was a Panel Witness at the United States Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on 'Preserving the Multistakeholder Model of Internet Governance' that was convened on February 25, 2015 to look into aspects of the IANA Transition, and assess the level of preparedness of the NTIA and ICANN regarding the Transition. At that hearing, the Honorable Senator John Thune, Committee Chairman, had been more concerned about ICANN's accountability and continuing government oversight in a Post-IANA Transition regime when he commented that:

"Some worry that, in the absence of U.S. involvement in the IANA functions, ICANN may be subject to capture by authoritarian regimes, and these are valid concerns."
"But I also worry that, in the absence of the contract with the U.S government, ICANN could become an organization like FIFA — the international soccer organization that is flush with cash, unresponsive to those it supposedly serves, and accountable to no one." (See Chairman Thune's Majority Statement)

These statements unmistakably convey the notion that senior members of the United States Government have been seriously concerned about FIFA's ('Fédération Internationale de Football Association') lack of accountability.

They didn't get it!
Whilst some of the Panel Witnesses at the Senate Hearing like Fadi Chehade and Larry Strickling were busy trying to demonstrate that the focus of the IANA Transition Proposal that was being developed by the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) would ensure that no government-led or inter-governmental solution will commandeer the IANA functions in the absence of the U.S. NTIA's direct oversight, these officials failed to address this other very important concern: that without any robust accountability and legal safeguards, including governmental oversight, the IANA Transition could be hijacked by an unaccountable and corrupt system, similar to the type that FIFA had unwittingly created to govern the sport of global football (soccer).

This is where both Mr. Fadi Chehade and Hon. Larry Strickling failed to convince the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation that they have thoroughly addressed the most important concerns regarding the 'IANA Transition' — which like they say in the US 'we got this'. In a nutshell, what Senator Thune actually alluded to was that some governmental involvement or control was necessary in addition to ICANN accountability improvements that would be attendant to the IANA Transition. This is what the NTIA and ICANN leaders failed to grasp or 'did not get'.
It was this clear understanding that led me to posit in my Post-Mortem Analysis of the Senate Committee Hearing that:

"Only proper regulation by an independent agency with full Congressional mandate will ensure that a 'FIFA-Mafia type' organization of systematic corruption does not emerge. ICANN should not be trusted by Congress to regulate itself."

This partly explains why increased oversight of the NTIA-ICANN framework relationship with respect to the IANA Transition has now become a more regular Congressional activity in recent weeks.

The FIFA Global Corruption Scandal — "World Cup of Fraud"
It was therefore not surprising to me when many executive committee members of FIFA and some sports marketing executives were indicted and arrested last week in Switzerland and the Americas following a spirited investigation that was led by the United States Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); in collaboration with the United States Federal Internal Revenue Service and the Swiss Federal Police. Many high-ranking executive committee members of FIFA were arrested in Zurich as they congregated there to attend a FIFA Congress.

In announcing the indictment, the Head of the US Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen, called FIFA a "World Cup of Fraud” and was quoted as saying: "today, we are issuing FIFA a red card”. After the scandal broke, this became CNN TV's leading headline on 28th May 2015. The Hon. Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney General and Secretary of Justice, accused FIFA operatives of "corrupting the business of world-wide soccer to benefit themselves” through profiting about US$150 million from awarding media and marketing rights; and charged them with many serious crimes including bribery, money laundering, racketeering, wire fraud, violation of United States banking laws, income tax evasion, obstruction of justice, structuring of financial transactions, etc. — the sort of conspiracy crimes that would be typically mentioned in an indictment of Mafia mob bosses by the FBI and a prosecuting US District Attorney.

From the events of the past week, it is obvious that if the United States of America can go after FIFA which is based in an extra-territorial jurisdiction as part of leading a determined global effort to clampdown on FIFA's corruption. An organization that is resident in the United States like ICANN can be readily pursued at any time, if lack of accountability leads to an official investigation for corruption.

FIFA Scandal Implications for the ICANN-led IANA Transition
Taking the FIFA as a good example of an unaccountable institution, the present FIFA global scandal and corruption probe by the US Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigations is an important lesson applicable to the need for sound corporate governance for any institution tasked with global responsibility. Thus, this imperative now requires that the entire IANA Transition Framework should be re-evaluated immediately.

FIFA's corruption was propelled by massive revenues of about US$5.7 billion and cash reserves of US$1.5 billion. Since the first new gTLD Program was launched, ICANN has also garnered significant revenues of about US$400 million or more from new gTLD application fees and extra revenues generated from the auctioning of some new gTLD domain names. ICANN also takes a 'cut' from all domain name registration fees, and its cash balances would be further bolstered with increased uptake of more new gTLD domain names. Huge cash balances should not be left in the hands of an organization that is widely perceived as unaccountable and which also habitually pays very large financial claims, hefty travel allowances and per diems to its Board Members.

Need for Fresh Thinking and New Beginnings at ICANN and NTIA
Fadi's departure from ICANN, and the FIFA global corruption scandal that has caused Sepp Blatter's resignation as FIFA Chief less than four days after being elected to a fifth term as FIFA President, should now compel a rethink of what has been happening at ICANN and the NTIA regarding the IANA Transition — against the backdrop that US leaders like Senator John Thune have already expressed their concerns about this important matter.

Need to Investigate the Conflicts of Interests of ICANN Board Members: Fadi's resignation as CEO should also cause ICANN to be re-evaluated and its Board Members numerous Conflicts of Interest to be thoroughly investigated by the US Department of Justice and the pertinent Congressional Judiciary Committees.
We need not remind ourselves once again that there is still no governing legal framework for the IANA Transition.
ICANN should first of all be given a clean bill of health before the IANA Transition is allowed. A US-centered organization like ICANN must not become like FIFA.
Only the establishment of a proper regulatory environment would help avoid any potential criminal mismanagement of funds generated from the governance and technical administration of the Internet.

FIFA mistakes should not be repeated at ICANN — without anyone to oversight, it will!
The entire world became scandalized by the misconduct of FIFA executives simply because FIFA was not regulated by any over-sighting authority in the first place. The same mistake should not be allowed in the case of ICANN that is now being given the responsibility for the Post-IANA Transition regime by the U.S. NTIA. As Attorney-General Loretta E. Lynch said when announcing the FIFA indictment, "FIFA was too powerful to go unchecked”. Similarly, I believe that a Post-Transition IANA regime that will create an all-powerful ICANN will be too dominant to go absolutely unchecked.

The last U.S. House Sub-Committee on Communications and Technology hearing on 'Stakeholder Perspectives on the IANA Transition' that was convened on May 13, 2015 did not invite the ICANN and NTIA leaders to attend as Panel Witnesses. Does this in any way suggest that the NTIA and ICANN no longer enjoy the complete trust of the U.S. Congress who now wanted to hear only from other stakeholders?

Who else should resign?
I personally think that in addition to Fadi Chehade, the ICANN Board Chairman Dr. Stephen Crocker should also probably resign; and the NTIA's Hon. Larry Stickling too — so that both ICANN and NTIA will benefit from fresh thinking regarding the IANA Transition. Only new people that can inspire and win the full confidence of the U.S. Congress should now take responsibility for the IANA Transition at ICANN and the NTIA; and at the same time ensure that the mandatory ICANN Accountability Improvements that are now being sought will not just be a pro-forma effort.
The IANA Transition will be held up for some time at Congress, and only those who can work properly with Congress will be trusted to deliver this effort based on far-reaching accountability safeguards.

Accountability structures on their own are not sufficient to stop corruption — after all, FIFA has an Audit and Compliance Committee
But this did not stop a pervasive organizational culture of corruption to develop. Governmental oversight is a very essential preventative measure that is also used correctively whenever infractions occur.

Therefore, the time to act is now and the re-evaluation of ICANN and the IANA Transition should not be put off until ICANN's reputation is seriously damaged like FIFA's before doing that which should have been done at the beginning. A future scandal of global proportions that will cause widespread angst and hand-wringing within the Global Internet Community must be avoided.

By Sophia Bekele, CEO of DotConnectAfrica. Ms. Bekele is a former ICANN generic Names Supporting Organization (gNSO) Council policy advisor & contributed to policy over the new gTLD programme & IDNs. She was also policy advisor to various UN Agencies on ICTs. Founder and spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica campaign. Bekele is a business and corporate executive, an international entrepreneur, a thought leader in Corporate and ICT Governance, international policy, Business Strategy, Internet, ICT & development. Her Profiles on sophiabekele.com / wikipedia.

"No Legal Basis for IANA Transition": A Post-Mortem Analysis of Senate Committee Hearing

2015-03-09T05:27:00.000-07:00

Only proper regulation by an independent agency with full Congressional mandate will ensure that a 'FIFA-Mafia type' organization of systematic corruption does not emerge. ICANN should not be trusted by Congress to regulate itself.

Introduction – The cure is closer, and not arms-length, Internet supervision
The recent hearing conducted by the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation on 'Preserving the Multi-stakeholder Model of Internet Governance' which took place during the last week of February 2015, again showed that the Republican-controlled US Congress needs to act decisively to protect the status quo.

The Senator Thune-led Committee convened the hearing on 25th February to look into the 'IANA Transition' and assess the level of preparedness of the non-governmental agencies that are handling the Internet Technical Management functions and assess threats regarding the possible take-over of Internet governance by foreign governments that might be antagonistic to US National Security, International Public Diplomacy and Internet Policy.

If general fear supposes the US Government giving up control of some parts of the IANA functions, would lead to a situation where some unfriendly foreign governments would now exercise control of critical Internet technical functions, then a correct medicine must be taken to cure a particular ailment that has been diagnosed. It is only closer, and not arms length, US government supervision that will control or mitigate any fears and anxieties of foreign take-over of the Internet. Therefore, Congress has to plug any existing legal loopholes, and tighten its administrative, technical, financial, public policy, and political oversight over the entire process no matter whose ox is gored.

The US Senate Committee heard from three (3) Panel witnesses, namely: the Honorable Larry Strickling, Assistant Secretary of the National Technology & Information Administration (NTIA), an agency of the US Department of Commerce; Ambassador David A. Gross, the former United States Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy (2001 to 2009) within the US State Department, who presently leads the non-governmental Internet Governance Coalition (IGA); and Mr. Fadi Chehadé, President & CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Most of the witnesses made lengthy presentations that were, at times, heavy on historical content but glossed over the purpose of the Senate Hearing. Only Ambassador Gross stressed that the IANA Transition Process should not be rushed which was in line with the thinking of Senator John Thune; whilst the witnesses from the NTIA and ICANN are inclined to proceed full steam ahead, so as to submit a proposal and allow the 'IANA Transition' to occur at the expiration of the current IANA Contract by 30^th September 2015.

ICANN Oversight to become a Mainstream Congressional Role
One important take-away for me from reading the Congressional documents, and watching a recorded video of the event, is that regular oversight of the NTIA and ICANN will become a more mainstream activity for the pertinent US Congressional Committees that are keeping this matter within their purview. This is what I have always advocated (See for example, Congress will Oversight ICANN – CircleID).

The Senators have already sent an oversight letter to the NTIA to state their support for the present bottom-up multi-stakeholder process. Whilst voicing their concerns, the Senators also signaled the direction that they would like this to go: that is, any resulting proposal on the IANA Transition must not replace the NTIA's current role by a governmental or inter-governmental solution. Again, a similar condition is also stipulated in the NTIA's directive to the ICANN-led Multi-Stakeholder Group regarding any resultant proposal on the IANA Transition.

Therefore, even though the Senators might accept a process-led by a non-governmental Global Multi-stakeholder Group, tighter US government supervision would be required. Only the US Congress can provide this level of process oversight that would ensure that the 'Multi-Stakeholder Group' remains accountable to the global public interest that it is supposed to serve, and does not become a law onto itself.
A Legal Loophole that needs to be closed

"NTIA has fulfilled this temporary role not because of any statutory or legal responsibility, but as a temporary measure at the request of the President. Indeed, Congress never designated NTIA or any other specific agency responsibility for managing the Internet DNS. Thus, NTIA has no legal or statutory responsibility to manage the DNS."

That a legal void currently exists was revealed by the above excerpt taken from Assistant Secretary Strickling's written presentation to the US Senate Committee hearing. It is obvious that the NTIA has so far acted out of political expediency to enable it to play an important role; even though, within a nebulous legal framework. However, this must no longer be so, if the IANA Transition must take place.
As part of ensuring an enduring oversight mechanism, the Congress must now put a permanent legal structure in place to designate a specific agency for this role — with legal/statutory responsibility for managing (or regulating) the Internet DNS. The NTIA believes that it did not have the legal responsibility to act, and that its role was temporary; so on what basis is the NTIA driving the current IANA Transition process without the requisite legal authority or Congressional mandate?
I believe that the IANA Transition should be indefinitely postponed until such a time that a proper governing legal framework for it is established by the US Congress. Proper oversight has to be anchored on appropriate legal and statutory mechanisms that would guide the entire process. The IANA Transition and resulting devolution to a Global Multi-stakeholder Group cannot be operated as long as this patent legal lacuna continues to exist. Congress must first be allowed to close any existing legal loopholes, before those who are rushing the IANA Transition may be allowed to proceed.

Avoiding the 'sorry Example' of FIFA
Senator Thune in his opening statement was perspicacious enough to cite FIFA as the type of non-governmental example that must be avoided in the absence of proper US governmental control over the IANA Technical functions.

The International Federation of Football Associations (officially known as 'Fédération Internationale de Football Association' – 'FIFA') is the global body that governs the administration of 'Soccer' (which is the sport of Football outside the United States). The whole world is always busy enjoying the world's 'beautiful game', without paying any attention to FIFA's accountability or the transparency of FIFA's actions and processes. In recent years, FIFA has been bedeviled by many controversies and unresolved scandals.

During the last few years, numerous allegations of administrative high-handedness, bribery, vote-rigging, vote-buying, corruption and graft relating to the award of World Cup hosting privileges, marketing rights and payments to FIFA Executive Committee members by special interest groups have been rife. Many of these accusations have been investigated by committees affiliated to FIFA but no one has ever been found culpable and properly punished, yet the allegations refuse to go away (See for example, "Fifa 'like mafia family', says former FA boss Triesman”. Many books have been written, and TV documentaries have been produced on this issue. If the oversight of FIFA had been within the purview of the US Congress, the organization would have been thoroughly investigated and 'hammered' like other sports governance associations in the United States, but since FIFA remains only accountable to itself and operating out of Zurich in Europe, the world soccer governing body has continued with 'business as usual'.

It is therefore the responsibility of Congress to ensure that the IANA Technical functions are not transitioned to a Global Multi-Stakeholder Community that will become like FIFA. FIFA has refused to demonstrate any accountability to the global public interest that it serves or to the international coalition of quasi-nongovernmental organizations ('quangos' – Country Football Federations and Associations) that comprise its membership.

It is often mentioned that 'the love of money is the root of all evil', and a global body suffused with cash but not accountable to anybody, will fall into many evils of corruption. ICANN's coffers are beginning to bulge with cash that it has no idea how to spend: monies that it has garnered from new gTLD application fees, and auctioning of some new gTLD names plus cash generated from regular industry-sponsors of its events. ICANN has so far not shown how it intends to spend these enormous surpluses for the global public interest. Rather, it regularly pays millions of dollars in per diems and hefty allowances to Board members and those within the ICANN Community that it sponsors to its events. Those who continue to benefit from these sinecures have no interest in fiscal accountability and would not welcome any oversight from any external body.

Again, the US Congress must be steadfast in ensuring that ICANN or anybody that takes eventual responsibility of the Internet DNS functions does not become like FIFA but must remain fiscally responsible and accountable to a regulatory structure that will be set-up by Congress. Accumulated surpluses in billions of United States Dollars that are held by organizations like FIFA and ICANN should be properly escrowed with an International Financial Pool or given to global charities such as UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund) and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies so that excess funds in the hands of unaccountable officials does not engender a culture of unbridled financial recklessness and runaway international corruption.

ICANN Remains Unaccountable
The issue of ICANN's accountability remains unresolved. All those who are involved in the ICANN Global Community have continued to complain about ICANN's accountability or lack thereof. The existing ICANN accountability mechanisms remain at best unsatisfactory.

Senator Thune has made it clear that reforming ICANN's accountability processes must precede any IANA Transition deal. It would be foolhardy to completely devolve the Internet Technical Management functions to a Global Multi-Stakeholder Community that pivotally rests on an ICANN that is widely perceived as largely unaccountable. As a matter of fact, without the required accountability process improvements, it would not be long before ICANN becomes just like FIFA. This must be prevented at all cost.

ICANN's respect within the community that it represents continues to decline at a rapid pace. The administration of the ICANN new gTLD program led to the institution of eleven (11) Independent Review Panel (IRP) legal proceedings that have been lodged against ICANN by different bodies that have disagreed with ICANN decisions. These IRPs are usually invoked after internal mechanisms such as 'Requests for Reconsiderations' and 'Cooperative Engagement Processes' (CEPs) have been completely exhausted. Everyone knows that the ICANN Board Governance Committee (BGC) regularly refuses any submitted re-consideration requests. The organization would rather go to an expensive legal proceeding, instead of re-considering its internal decisions. This demonstrates that there is urgent need to re-evaluate ICANN's decision-making, if those within the community continue to question ICANN's decisions, which are already seen as not unimpeachable.

Again, it needs not be over-emphasized that an unaccountable ICANN cannot take responsibility for a completely devolved IANA Technical function. Therefore, it must be re-emphasized once again, that the IANA Transition should not be rushed, and should be indefinitely delayed by the US Congress until ICANN's accountability mechanisms have been fully reformed to make those processes more reliable and trustworthy.

The Need to Continue Defunding the IANA Transition
The US$1.1 trillion Omnibus Spending bill expressly defunds the IANA Transition until September 30, 2015. The current term of the IANA contract implementation that is presently in force between the NTIA and ICANN runs until 30th September 2015. Thus, as I have previously reported, the IANA Transition cannot take place in violation of US Federal Law that has defunded it within a stipulated time-window; neither would the IANA Transition happen without the express approval of the proposal by Congress. This peculiar proviso in the Omnibus spending bill actually implies that Congress believes that the IANA Transition should be delayed with proper deliberation, and not be rushed as ICANN and NTIA are inclined to.

Therefore until certain things happen, it would be prudent for the US Congress to continue defunding the IANA Transition process beyond September 30, 2015. As already mentioned, any existing legal loopholes have to be closed, first of all to ensure that a proper legal regulatory framework is put in place to govern the IANA Transition. This is an important duty for Congress to perform — that is, its primary law-making role in addition to executive oversight that happens after the fact. Second, ICANN's accountability processes must be completely reformed and improved upon. Third, any complete proposals on the IANA Transition that are developed and submitted by the ICANN-led Global Multi-stakeholder Community (working as the 'IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group') must be thoroughly evaluated and scrutinized by the US Congress to ensure that it satisfies the most rigorous standards of probity and policy expectations regarding an accountable governance structure; and enduring US Government oversight of a non-governmental body that might be saddled with an important global responsibility. At the same time, those that are preparing and submitting the IANA Transition proposals under the aegis of ICANN should also not be evaluating the proposals that they have developed, and further 'awarding' the devolution process to themselves — as ICANN that always draws expertise from the same small gathering field of people that it feels comfortable to work with. Only the US Congress can ensure that there are proper 'checks and balances'.

Working Methods from Contemporary US Public Experience
Contemporary US public policy and administration experience suggests that a trusted method that works is the devolution of functions to a quasi- public-private model that is properly over-sighted by the US government and regulated by a body that is fully empowered by law. One only needs to look at the current US Federal Environmental Management and Protection Regime to see how this sector is managed and regulated; and also the US Banking, Financial, and Securities sector to see how these important economic pedestals are governed. The environmental and natural resources policy sectors have been protected because of robust legal provisions and oversight by the US Congress and close governmental regulation by the US Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Similarly, those who violate US Financial and Securities laws and policies have been made to face huge financial penalties and other legal risks. It is only close government supervision that protects the public from institutions that may become neglectful of their responsibilities or who chose to remain unaccountable. Multi-stakeholder Internet Governance should be similarly handled based on normative governmental regulation and oversight.

I believe that such proven methods from contemporary US Public Policy experience must be applied in administrating any Internet Governance structure that would result from the IANA Transition proposals. This further underscores the need for Congress to establish a US Internet Regulatory Authority (USIRA) which I had called for in my December 2014 article (See Congress will Oversight ICANN – CircleID). The proposed USIRA should be set-up by Congress to exercise direct supervisory responsibilities over the working relationship between the NTIA and ICANN; and the governance of any regime that results from the IANA Transition process. Such a body will also take responsibility for Internet policy-setting and governance, whilst the NTIA and the ICANN-led Global Multi-stakeholder Community take responsibility for technical program implementation. The present situation, where the same body sets policy and also implements, is highly flawed in terms of its conceptual design.
Dissimulation: NetMundial and the Dissatisfaction of Brazil, ICANN GAC and Other Issues
NMI:
It is often argued by those who have been strenuously pushing for the IANA Transition that the NetMundial Initiative (NMI) ("Global Multi-Stakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance") was devised to address the evident dissatisfaction of countries like Brazil with the current Global Internet Governance structure. Nothing could be further from the truth. With respect to Internet Governance, the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China plus South Africa) have, in recent years, pushed for a UN/ITU-led model of Global Internet Governance and not the present 'US-centric' ICANN-led Multi-Stakeholder Model. The main reason for Brazil's 'apparent dissatisfaction' is due to the Snowden revelations of NSA's surveillance activities on foreign government leaders and not because of the structure of Global Internet Governance. Any claims to the contrary are meant to dissimulate and mislead.

The same way that Brazil has been won over to the 'Multi-Stakeholder Camp' through involvement, consultations, reassurance and cooperative outreach is the same way that other countries (that is, those who are not opposing just on account of perceived US-Internet hegemony) may also be won over; but not because the NTIA has agreed to an 'IANA Transition' to a Global Multi-Stakeholder Community. One argument that is now being presented by ICANN to accelerate the IANA Transition process is that devolution of the IANA technical functions will curb the agitation by certain countries to push for the UN/ ITU-led model of Global Internet Governance. My view is that those countries that oppose 'US-centricity' will always favour a UN/ITU-led model irrespective of whether an IANA Transition occurs or not.

ICANN GAC:
Before concluding, it is important to also comment on the issue of ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC). It is a well-known fact that ICANN decision making is often 'grid-locked' on account of GAC Policy Advice. This has often given the ICANN GAC body an extraordinary amount of influence within ICANN which typically undermined the 'Multi-Stakeholder' principle as governments at ICANN inadvertently assumed an exaggerated role.

It was ICANN's intention to give more power to governments and inter-governmental organizations represented on the ICANN GAC body, by setting a voting threshold of 2/3^rd of ICANN Board Members that can overturn a GAC Advice/Decision. During the recent Senate Committee Hearing, the ICANN CEO has signaled that the ICANN Board will not accept decisions from the GAC, presumably to bring ICANN Board thinking to be more in line with the IANA Transition expediency (benchmark) of ensuring that any final Transition Proposal does not replace the NTIA's current role with a government-led or inter-governmental organization. It seems that this admission was actually forced from Mr. Fadi Chehade because of a probing question from Senator Debra Fischer (Republican-Nebraska), member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, who pointed out the inconsistency of the 2/3^rd threshold of rejecting GAC Advice with limiting governmental influence in a Post-IANA Transition regime. This reversal of intention remains to be seen in practice, since there could be an ICANN Board-ICANN GAC confrontation.

Conclusion
I believe that the argument made that the US Congress can, and would oversight ICANN is already won. I think that I have also won the argument that Congress will be deliberative, and aware of its arduous responsibilities regarding Internet Governance; remain focused and due-process oriented, and not allow itself to be steamrollered by both the NTIA and ICANN regarding the IANA Transition.

The case for 'Transition' has NOT been properly made, since nobody has said that "Global Internet Governance is broken and now needs to be fixed". ICANN accountability and transparency process improvements should be more of priority concern instead of exerting inordinate and very ambitious efforts to 'fast-track' the IANA Transition.
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Recommendations:
1) Congressional oversight of the 'IANA Transition' should be deepened to ensure that any proposals developed and submitted by the ICANN-led Global Multi-Stakeholder Community are independently evaluated, but not by the same group of people that prepared the proposal in the first place.
2) The legal loopholes that have been identified need to be properly closed by the US Congress.
3) It must be reinforced that the duties of Internet Policy-Setting should be separated from Internet Technical Program Management, so that the same organization does not handle policy governance and technical implementation like ICANN is currently doing, i.e. there should be a formal separation of duties.
4) An Internet Regulatory Agency that reports directly to Congress is now required more than ever to help shepherd this complex process. Only proper regulation by an independent agency with full Congressional mandate will ensure that a 'FIFA-Mafia type' organization of systematic corruption does not emerge. ICANN should not be trusted by Congress to regulate itself.
5) and finally, Congress must act as soon as possible to ensure that there are no process irregularities, so as to help mitigate identified risks. The process should be driven by critical-thinking and considered consultations with Congressional leaders and not based on scare-mongering and other tactics of dissimulation.

By Sophia Bekele, CEO of DotConnectAfrica. Ms. Bekele is a former ICANN generic Names Supporting Organization (gNSO) Council policy advisor & contributed to policy over the new gTLD programme & IDNs. She was also policy advisor to various UN Agencies on ICTs. Founder and spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica campaign. Bekele is a business and corporate executive, an international entrepreneur, a thought leader in Corporate and ICT Governance, international policy, Business Strategy, Internet, ICT & development. Her Profiles on sophiabekele.com / wikipedia.

ICANN Should Not Ululate Over "Booking.com" IRP Outcome: Decision Exposes Failure of Accountability

2015-03-07T05:20:00.000-08:00

The IRP Panel that was tasked with deciding the Booking.com vs. ICANN IRP that was filed regarding the application for the .hotels new gTLD name has made a decision that seems favorable to ICANN as the Defendant. However, this is not a victory for ICANN but an indictment of the ICANN procedures and accountability systems which are widely viewed as detrimental to new gTLD applicants. The result mirrors a negotiated dispute resolution outcome that is costly and only returns the applicant to an auction with its competitor — Despegar Online's who applied for .hoteis — that is in contention for the same (or similar) string name.

Reading between the lines, perhaps, the IRP was wrongly filed and lost based on a technicality, but this does not mean that ICANN has been victorious. It is possible to assume that this middle-ground ruling was also 'negotiated' to enable Booking.com win via an auction, since the issue was string similarity, and an auction process could be also be used to settle a string similarity/contention set.

Board Member's Reactions:
Technical details that have been raised in the ruling include the Panel's reiteration of the ICANN Board members' hesitations over the string similarity panel findings saying:

"There is no question but that process lacks certain elements of transparency and certain practices that are widely associated with requirements of fairness."

They also stated that:

"We can — and we do — acknowledge certain legitimate concerns regarding the string similarity review process raised by Booking.com, discussed above, which are evidently shared by a number of prominent and experienced ICANN NGPC members."

Some of the statements quoted by the ICANN NGPC members at a September 10^th 2013 meeting where four board members abstained from the vote, with five voting in favor including —
George Sadowsky who stated that: "they understood that the BGC did the right thing, but thought the end result was contrary to ICANN's and the user's best interests. George noted he intended to abstain from voting as a result." He concluded in his statement that "I cannot and will not vote in favor of a motion that reflects, directly or indirectly, an unwillingness to depart from what I see as such a flawed position and which does not reflect in my opinion an understanding of the current reality of the situation."

Olga Madruga-Forti noted that she intended to abstain from the vote because "there was not sufficient rationale provided for why the string similarity review panel made its determination".

Ray Plzak also abstained from the vote, saying that while the process was followed "it needs to be reviewed to potentially add a mechanism that would allow persons who don't agree with the outcome to make an objection."

Bill Graham who voted yes, however agreed with Ray's suggestion, and noted that generally, "there is a considerable level of discomfort and dissatisfaction with the process as expressed by Committee members." Sadly, ICANN board members were repeatedly informed that because the process had been followed, they had no choice but to deny the reconsideration request.

No Options for applicant
The expressions of concern within the technical issues in ICANN's own structure indicates systemic weaknesses and failures that are unable to provide appropriate reliefs and remedies that are seen as fair and just by all those seeking accountability review using ICANN's processes. Therefore when the .hotels/.hoteis application process failed almost from the start it means that applicants find themselves at an absolute loss. All the applicant complaint redress/internal dispute resolution procedures against ICANN Board or Staff actions such as the ICANN's Ombudsman, reconsideration requests, Cooperative Engagement Process (CEP) and the IRP must not remain weak options for the applicants.

Looking at the IRP Panel's decision, ICANN is not an outright winner and it is just the beginning of an indicative voice to find a permanent solution to its recourse mechanism.

An IRP Process is about accountability and not a negotiated resolution
IRP is a procedure-based juridical inquiry into ICANN Board or ICANN Staff actions. Therefore any IRP Decision that looks like a 'resolution' does not in any way further the cause of ICANN accountability improvements; nor adds any legal precedence value to IRP-based Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes. The persistent issue that remains is that the ICANN system for recourse by applicants has not been fixed and that means it is broken and will continue to affect applicants materially — including the time and money wasted in pursuing accountability through the IRP Process.

Lack of ICANN's accountability should be subject to due process in court of law

Therefore, ICANN should not engage on any premature ululation regarding this particular Booking.com IRP outcome; rather ICANN should be very troubled that there may be need for a higher place from which to find justice by affected new gTLD applicants. The next phase of the new gTD program should allow for applicants to sue ICANN in courts for any damages caused as a result of lack of proper accountability processes. This is what I would like to see as part of the Congressional Review of ICANN's Accountability which I would also recommend strongly.

By Sophia Bekele, CEO of DotConnectAfrica. Ms. Bekele is a former ICANN generic Names Supporting Organization (gNSO) Council policy advisor & contributed to policy over the new gTLD programme & IDNs. She was also policy advisor to various UN Agencies on ICTs. Founder and spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica campaign. Bekele is a business and corporate executive, an international entrepreneur, a thought leader in Corporate and ICT Governance, international policy, Business Strategy, Internet, ICT & development. Her Profiles on sophiabekele.com / wikipedia.

ICANN Africa Strategy - A View from the Inside

2015-02-16T05:18:00.000-08:00

The rise of "Exclusive Mulistakholder"

Will Africa be able to move and stand on its feet?
"Africa is rising" is a phrase we are accustomed to hearing nowadays. We Africans also seem desperate to make that positive narrative about Africa. From the vantage point of the digital Africa that I seat, it is most promising, but only if we can face some of our own self afflicted stagnation.
Having been in the African Domain scene for nearly a decade now, I am always challenged to view our situation with a pinch of salt, a fact that doesn't attract many friends. But I am willing to go at it and point out the shortcomings.

ICANN has been in a process to find its place and expand the footprint in Africa, but this has not been easy coming; with very few performing ccTLDs and a small number of new gTLDs, it seems like a long way off. Let us look at a few scenarios.

The formation of ICANN Africa Strategy
When the current CEO joined ICANN, there was a proposal for an 'ICANN Africa strategy' with a view to endear ICANN to Africa, and also get Africa into ICANN. Despite that our organization was excluded from initial meetings and the formulation of this strategy, as an African organization that is very active stakeholder at ICANN and Africa, we however gave our views on the proposal.

Most recently at the center of the Singapore meeting was the ICANN Africa strategy meetings which was accorded a press release by ICANN on Feb 3, 2015 calling on emphasis for participation of the African community. The ICANN Africa team thus hosted two meetings in Singapore namely "The Africa Strategy 2016–2020" on 10th Feb 2015 and "Enhanced Engagement With Africa" 11th Feb 2015. The purpose is said to enhance ICANN's Engagement in Africa leading to the ICANN 55 meeting in Marrakech Morocco next year. DCA members have participated in most of the Africa sessions.

Community Opposition to the Initial ICANN Africa Strategy
Similar to the experience of the NetMundial Initiative, there was a well-known opposition from the African Community that the original ICANN Africa Strategy was not inclusive, transparent, and was unambiguously captured by "special interest group" who pronounced themselves as "Leaders of the African Internet community". This was symbolized by the joint letter they wrote to ICANN prior to forming the strategy.

DCA was also one of the opponents at the time, and wrote a strongly worded letter to ICANN leadership. As with many of DCA's complaints under the current ICANN leadership, this letter was completely ignored.

Decrypting what ICANN Africa Strategy is Not
In a rebuttal, I wrote on CircleID to correct an article written on how the .Africa gTLD was to be at the center of the ICANN Africa strategy, I recall clarifying the conflated issue of ICANN Africa Strategy vs "Africa Agenda".

I made clear to the African and Global ICANN community between the failed "Africa Strategy" in Dakar, which encompassed a rough call to reserve the .Africa gTLD for the AUC, so as to delegate it to a structure that the AUC choose (that included ZACR and the African Community kinship) versus what the new ICANN Africa Strategy is, and should be. We called to dismiss any reference to a .Africa gTLD.

Multistakeholder Model Quashed by Preferential Treatments
For reasons beyond any conjecture of Africans, the African community was widely informed that the ICANN Africa Strategy was architected by ICANN Board Chairman and his close allies on the board. The ICANN Africa Strategy members, who have self selected themselves as "Leaders of the African Community" were then said to have been handpicked by these same ICANN Board members leading to criticism and objections by many. These findings also substantiated the reasons why many were not aware of the initiative on the ground in the first place. It was a top down construct and had no community consultation.

The implications of this preferential treatment became more apparent, when the actions that took place by the ICANN Board Chairman during ICANN Toronto, made a visible promotional effort to the gathered audience, that the launch and strategy of this initiative included their handpicked people as representative of the African Community. There were no representatives invited from DCA, a long term member of ICANN community which was also attending nearly every ICANN meeting at its own expense.

A scholarship award without the merit or grade
It should be worth informing that non of the so called "Leaders of African Community" now selected and consolidated as ICANN Africa Strategy members, except one or two who are already members of other ICANN structure, were even attending the ICANN meetings for the past many years. In particular during New gTLD program development of 5-7 years.
DCA and its members however have had significant visibility and continuous contributions to ICANN since 2005, not only to the .Africa gTLD, but to the success of the New gTLD program, IDNs, Multistakholer model, and beyond.

Equally, this exclusion treatment given to DCA by ICANN was understood by many Africans, as well as the closely observing global ICANN community, as an attempt to endear a selection process of who should be representing Africa, due to the high stakes over the .africa gTLD - a sort of .africa Magna Carta, if ICANN was to succeed in Africa.

Later to be noted by one AfriICANN list member who wrote in the list attributing ICANN's action by saying "we now know whose support ICANN has for the community" giving rise to an what I call "Exclusive MultiStakholderism".

What Measurable Results did ICANN Africa Strategy Achieve so far?
With the link that tied the ICANN Africa Strategy and .africa gTLD cut off, several markers have been mentioned to show the success of the initiative. The budget allocations for the previous quarter to support the strategy are not known.

However what we do know is that, at first instance, the budget carried along those member appointments who could not afford to attend ICANN meetings at their own cost. This we believe to be nearly all members of the ICANN Africa Strategy other than the ones who are already carried by ICANN's other structures.
In lieu of "African participation to ICANN", there were many African Governments sponsored by ICANN to GAC at the last minute. These Government Representatives had no understanding of ICANN, the New gTLD program, nor .africa gTLD, but were directly made to object to DCA's .africa application, amounting to simply a planned invasion on DCA. I guess some would say this is quite an achievement to ICANN Africa Strategy program.
There were also mentions of the DNSSEC roadshows that are said to have resulted to a few ccTLD DNSSEC signings and one DNS Forum in Durban.
We also hear of announcements that some supporters of the African kinship get fellowship awards and continue to be sponsored to ICANN, or noise makers, such as tech day organizers, have been given roles to be occupied and keep them quiet.

Apart from these, we do not really see much development in reaching out to Africa.
High Level Appointments and Expat Hires - A witness protection program
Perhaps it will be right to say that the Africa Strategy has benefited a few individuals more than the community. This also extends to other high-level ICANN appointments and numerous salaried positions that have been concluded so far. Almost all those who proclaimed themselves as "Leaders of the African Internet Community" now seem to have escaped to salaried positions at ICANN in different parts of the world. These are newly created positions by ICANN CEO which issues titles of "Vice President", positions which amounts to a witness protection program. Therefore, one would wonder if the Africa Strategy was meant for the real African community and/or even be sustainable in the long run?

The Special Session on "Africa on the Road to Marrakech" — A Surprise ICANN Africa Strategy 2.0, Call for African Governments

Before the shock has even left the scene of the original ICANN Africa Strategy, and its performance or lack thereof, we are now introduced to a version 2.0. From looking at the design of things in the report, the 2.0 seems to call for more African government's involvement in Internet Business. In reality, the African private sector has moved ahead on its own with little or no engagement from the governments.

Statistics on Internet development, innovation, startups and Entrepreneurship have demonstrated that Africa's rise is private sector led, with government acting as a support rather than catalyst. What the African Strategy needs is not a new 2.0 strategy but a total revolution of the working structure, involving more stakeholders and voices. Finally, a workable formula that is SMART — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-related.

Déjà vu Dakar Masquerade — An "Africa Agenda 2.0" in Marrakech?
It is noteworthy to observe that while the whole internet governance ecosystem is becoming wary of government involvement, the ICANN Africa Strategy 2.0 is heading in the opposite direction. Customarily, DCA was not invited to be part of the development of this ICANN Africa Strategy 2.0 document, but we believe this strategy is potentially problematic.

However, if I shall give a heads up, should the script to bring in more governments in Marrakech be written by the same playwright, and mirror what we experienced with "Africa Agenda" Dakar, it will be another tragedy for ICANN and the African Community's expectation.

Finally, having followed the ICANN Africa Strategy closely, it is almost hard to quantify the benefits to the African Community. In fact, the implementation of the strategy, so far, in the opinion of many Africans, is a failure in the multi-stakeholder model of Internet Governance we aspired for. The entire ICANN Africa Strategy is an apparent usurpation of the model by a Special Interest Group who has appointed themselves as "Leaders of the African Internet Community" and has used it to their limited benefit rather than the wider African community.

By Sophia Bekele, CEO of DotConnectAfrica. Ms. Bekele is a former ICANN generic Names Supporting Organization (gNSO) Council policy advisor & contributed to policy over the new gTLD programme & IDNs. She was also policy advisor to various UN Agencies on ICTs. Founder and spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica campaign. Bekele is a business and corporate executive, an international entrepreneur, a thought leader in Corporate and ICT Governance, international policy, Business Strategy, Internet, ICT & development. Her Profiles on sophiabekele.com / wikipedia.

Wikileaks 2012, NSA 2013, NTIA Mishaps & Global Cyber Crime 2014: U.S. Exceptionalism over IG 2015?

2015-01-15T05:14:00.000-08:00

The internet has become almost part of our daily involvement and reality is that it affects every facet of our modern lives. We are increasingly becoming dependent on the Internet, for which reason its availability, functionality, safety, stability and security are now of great and continuing concern to all of us and most importantly to US Congress, who so far has maintained stewardship over these key functions.

As the internet gets new updates, services apps and new technologies, so is the increased threats to the very resource we would like to use and trust. Several issues have become evident and have hit the headlines and drawn us to concerns we must boldly address. In my previous article, "From Wikileaks of 2012 to Snowden's NSA Leaks of 2013: Implications for Global Internet Governance”, I covered the trending issue that came to the fore, that whilst Wiki leaks was about US diplomatic cables, the Edward Snowden disclosure of classified NSA information to private media organizations such as the UK Guardian newspaper has had graver implications for global Internet privacy. The NSA leak presented the United States of America as a country that practically spies on everybody in a most indiscriminate manner, including its own allies.

In an interview with CIO East Africa, I gave the African continent's perspective as to why the "The AUCC debate on Cyber Security needs to involve all stakeholders" concerning the NSA issue and that "African governments are still a long way in accepting such technologies as open data… African governments can prepare proper legislations and strategize on how to handle private data in a manner that is not intrusive to rights of its citizens. The backlash of the NSA revelations wouldn't be a good experience for any government". Therefore "this emphasizes that internet governance should be a matter that is handled by many stakeholders to avoid giving the governments a monopoly of leadership in policy development"

From a private sector perspective , I wrote a piece on the reality of Emerging Cyber-Security Threats and Implications for the Private Sector, including a case for New gTLDs & Security — where I highlighted that "cyber-warfare will be conducted against computers and network resources owned and operated by the private sector who own the utilities, financial corporations, and a lot of intellectual property." As such "The cost of Internet Security protection is bound to sky-rocket in the coming years." As "Private sector organizations that have their information resources compromised as a result of cyber-security attacks will not only suffer huge financial losses, and loss of business good-will, but their stock value could be affected and plummet and suffer degradation of overall market value. Investors stand the risk of losing their money invested in such companies." A case and point that soon exasperated was when Target, a US National Retailer was attacked by hackers who gained access to as many as 40 million credit and debit cards used by customers of Target during the height of the holiday shopping season.

Only at the end of 2014, did we come across deafening noise on the famous Sony Pictures Entertainment cyber hack, as it also took interest of the US political scene. Here there was a release of confidential data belonging to Sony Pictures Entertainment, the hackers who also called themselves the "Guardians of Peace" or "GOP" demanded the cancellation of the planned release of the film "The Interview", a comedy about a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The US leadership saw it as un-American to recoil to such threat and also an attack on free speech.
As a result of such global cyber crime matters, President Obama Obama signed an order to protect consumers from identity theft by strengthening security features in credit cards and the terminals that process them and also plans to announce legislation that would shield companies from lawsuits for sharing computer threat data with the government in an effort to prevent cyberattacks.

Most recently ICANN the internet gatekeeper announced that it was "investigating a recent intrusion into our systems. We believe a "spear phishing" attack was initiated in late November 2014. It involved email messages that were crafted to appear to come from our own domain being sent to members of our staff. The attack resulted in the compromise of the email credentials of several ICANN staff members". Whilst, this goes to show that no one is safe from these targeted attacks. ICANN's mission is tied to being the gatekeeper over the availability, functionality, safety, stability and security of the global internet, which directly impact Cyber Security. ICANN itself is embroiled in a bid to sever its ties with the US government; therefore, aside from the mainstream accountability concerns, governance of the cyber security has and will form a major part of discussions on designing a new model to oversight ICANN. From the statements and activities, the US congress is not keen to let this separation happen soon, with the budgetary interventions, the IANA transition may just be but a dream.

From an individual perspective, a recent case was reported by Addis Fortune Newspaper where "The Court passed a guilty verdict against Yonas, a member of the Ethiopian diaspora from Germany, and sentenced him to two years in prison (although reversal was made afterwards by a higher court to a 6 months only imprisonment by suspension, based on lack of reasonable prove on aggravating circumstances to delete data from the computer of the victim) and a 5,000-Br fine for the cyber crime he was said to have committed against his business partner lady Akiko Seyoum". This is among the rare cases of prosecution for cyber crime, and a signal that Africa is becoming aware of the need to mitigate the increase of cyber crime and money laundering schemes.

In conclusion, the need to protect the global internet from such implications above as to its availability, functionality, safety, stability and security and using it also as a diplomacy tool to ensure the same, would definitely give a justification by a wide margin to the US status quo over the internet. Whilst, the US would not allow itself to be liable as exemplified during the global financial crisis of 2009 and the 1930, for blowing out its house of cards over its American Exceptionalism, a concept that has its roots from the principle of a country organized around an ideology that includes a set of dogmas about the nature of a good society, especially the one that tied it to a future mission of bringing liberty and democracy to the world.

Therefore, expect nothing less but 2015 to be a year of American Excepionalism over Internet Governance!

By Sophia Bekele, CEO of DotConnectAfrica. Ms. Bekele is a former ICANN generic Names Supporting Organization (gNSO) Council policy advisor & contributed to policy over the new gTLD programme & IDNs. She was also policy advisor to various UN Agencies on ICTs. Founder and spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica campaign. Bekele is a business and corporate executive, an international entrepreneur, a thought leader in Corporate and ICT Governance, international policy, Business Strategy, Internet, ICT & development. Her Profiles on sophiabekele.com / wikipedia.

Congress Will Oversight ICANN: And You Can Take That to the Bank

2015-01-05T05:11:00.000-08:00

Therefore, I wish to call for the establishment of such a new body that will work in cooperation with the NTIA to exercise supervisory responsibilities over ICANN.

Even though the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) plays a very important role in the global Internet ecosystem, its activities are not frequently mentioned in the mainstream international media; that is, until ICANN's name is mentioned alongside that of the US Congress in a US$1.1 trillion Omnibus spending bill. Since the bill was passed by the House of Representatives, the issue of ICANN has assumed a certain topicality and has attracted commentary from many pundits.

Advocacy on Internet Governance Matters
The organizations that I lead, DotConnectAfrica Trust and its registry technology services affiliate are very active members of the Global Internet Governance community. Apart from applying for the .Africa new Internet Top-Level Domain name, we spend our spare time on spirited advocacy — writing letters urging the National Technology and Information Administration (NTIA) of the US Department of Commerce to support the new generic Top-Level Domain (new gTLD) program of ICANN; or writing to Senator John 'Jay' Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, to express unequivocal support for the ICANN-led Global Multi-stakeholder model of Internet Governance and urging a Re-Affirmation of the status quo.
Therefore, when DCA started voicing certain issues concerning the .Africa new gTLD process, and feeling that no one was listening to its multi-faceted complaints, I was then compelled to write to Congressional leaders, and copied other leaders in the US Administration. A few months ago, I also wrote on behalf of DCA Trust to Senator John Thune and Senator Marco Rubio both of the Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee to express our thanks to them for intervening to enhance ICANN's accountability.

My appeal to US Congress and clarifying Congress's role to the public
Last year, when I took our complaints to Congress some people scoffed. I only requested Congress to appoint a Congressional Ombudsman for the ICANN new gTLD Programme. I directly recommended that "the new gTLD Ombudsman will be authorized by Congress with the powers of an Independent Counsel to investigate and adjudicate on issues of illegality that have been reported regarding new gTLD matters." I believed that such an Independent Counsel would assist in resolving most of the problems that would be brought by applicants based on issues that could not be handled within the guiding policy framework of the new gTLD program.

DCA Trust is now forced to engage in an Independent Review Process (IRP) Panel proceeding with ICANN regarding ICANN Board decisions over the .Africa new gTLD name string. The IRP is administrated by the International Center for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) of the American Arbitration Association (AAA). Similarly, many applicants who have disagreed with ICANN decisions have gone to seek accountability under the same IRP Process mechanism.

One Internet blog that covers the Internet Domain Name industry scoffed that Congress would not understand the import of my letter. In fact, I only wrote to specific leaders and as such, I did not expect most people to understand the deeper aspects of the complex articulations and the essential pivots on which I have based DCA's case regarding the .Africa new gTLD name-string that we applied for. I recall engaging in an exchange of communications with the same Internet Blogger and used the opportunity to clarify and explain to a skeptical public how the US Congress has direct legislative and policy oversight over ICANN. I strenuously argued at the time that:

"… the same ICANN is under U.S. Federal Government Oversight by virtue of its mandate as a federal contractor handling the Internet Technical Management Functions (such as domain names and unique Internet address numbering and assignment) under the IANA Contract. It is therefore our contention that the United States Congress has complete jurisdiction over the entire new gTLD program of ICANN and this cannot be challenged (or scoffed at) by anybody without drawing the ire of Congress. DCA Trust has therefore acted correctly by recognizing the overarching authority of Congress over the entire ICANN new gTLD process and deciding on its own to undertake a necessary due process escalation of this matter to Congress. ..."

As a result of my engagement with Congress, some within the ICANN global community thought that I drew the attention of Congress to ICANN by blowing the whistle of accountability on them. However, such thinking wrongly presumes that Congress has not been aware of Global Internet Governance and the leadership role it could play in this process; or the debates about who should be responsible for governing the Internet — a global communications platform that came out of advanced US research leadership capabilities and computer technology innovation.

Central to this history of innovation is the fact that the Internet is seen as an essential part of U.S. science and technology national public policy; which is also a tool for US international public diplomacy in this era of technology-driven globalization. When combined, these two elements make a very strong and unassailable case for the US to keep the Internet under its firm control. This therefore makes the complete devolution of Internet Governance functions a 'No Go' area for the United States Government.

The Omnibus Spending Bill, NTIA & ICANN
In the recent US$1.1 trillion Omnibus spending bill that was approved by both Houses of Congress, we find the following unambiguous stipulation:

"None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to relinquish the responsibility of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration during fiscal year 2015 with respect to Internet domain name system functions, including responsibility with respect to the authoritative root zone file and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority functions."

This is very deliberate language that specifically mentions the IANA Transition by name and denies its funding. The implication is that if the NTIA and ICANN ignore this, and move ahead with the transition during Fiscal 2015, then this would be considered as a very serious violation of US Law. This explains why Congress is strong, because Congressional leaders would go to any lengths to ensure that there is wholesale conformance, compliance and accountability for any or all matters under its direct purview as an operative arm of the United States Federal Government.

Continued Misunderstanding of the Role of Congress and Some Flawed Arguments
Any action by Congress is thoroughly binding because of the concept of Parliamentary Sovereignty i.e. a constituted Parliament cannot be restricted in its powers to make any type of law. In addition to law making privileges, its powers of executive oversight enable it to hold hearings on matters within its interest; conduct investigations, subpoena witnesses to give testimony, appoint Special Independent Counsels, approve or withhold funds in the appropriations bill, screen Cabinet nominees appointed by POTUS, etc. Hence, wherever there is true constitutional rule, Congress (or a similar National Assembly within a federal democracy) is usually the highest over-sighting institution of the Federal Government.

I have observed some flawed arguments by some recent commentators who do not seem to understand what is happening in light of this recent development; and who have also failed to grasp the inimitable and rather broad powers of Congress. For some, Congress is interfering and think that the legislative body's 'unwarranted involvement' could be bypassed by 'crowd-funding' the IANA Transition in defiance of the express wishes of Congress; while some others are advancing the supposition that Congress cannot oversight ICANN.

Next Steps for Congress
At this initial stage, Congress has simply withheld funding based on a very clear stipulation enshrined in the US$1.1 trillion Omnibus spending bill. After September 30, 2015, Congress could launch an investigation led by an Independent Counsel into the IANA Transition program, and also conduct public hearings on the issue. A US law could be enacted by Congress to permanently keep control of the Internet under a special agency of the US Government that would be formed; perhaps, the United States Internet Regulatory Authority (USIRA) — and such a new body would be required by law to make periodic reports to Congress regarding matters of Global Internet Governance and Internet Domain Name functions.

The force of law is typically used to give binding weight to administrative policy. Therefore, I wish to call for the establishment of such a new body that will work in cooperation with the NTIA to exercise supervisory responsibilities over ICANN.

The need for a more Accountable and Transparent ICANN
With focused Congressional searchlight on the NTIA and ICANN regarding Internet Domain Name functions and the implementation of the IANA Contract, one would now expect better accountability of ICANN's decisions and processes — which everyone has always agreed upon: that ICANN's accountability mechanism must be improved upon. Only Congress can deliver what the people have asked for. An institution that could report on the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques can equally dissect ICANN's decision-making and processes with a view to making them more transparent and accountable. Congress always had the power to oversight ICANN. What is new is that Congress has now demonstrated the political will to do so; and you can take that to the bank.

By Sophia Bekele, CEO of DotConnectAfrica. Ms. Bekele is a former ICANN generic Names Supporting Organization (gNSO) Council policy advisor & contributed to policy over the new gTLD programme & IDNs. She was also policy advisor to various UN Agencies on ICTs. Founder and spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica campaign. Bekele is a business and corporate executive, an international entrepreneur, a thought leader in Corporate and ICT Governance, international policy, Business Strategy, Internet, ICT & development. Her Profiles on sophiabekele.com / wikipedia.

Call for ICANN to Educate and Not Mislead GAC

2014-08-14T04:49:00.000-07:00

I read with interest the recent blog written by Theresa Swinehart a Sr. Advisor to the President on Strategy. She wrote: "The most critical element of this [ICANN Transition] process is trust and alignment. To ensure success on this accountability track, we must as a community work closely together to make sure that the final process is meaningful. There is plenty of work to be done in an ambitious period of time."

Post the completion of the ICANN 50 London meeting, I wrote a Commentary on this forum titled "Thank You GNSO - From the SHE.africa”, endorsing a call by the ICANN's Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) which unanimously endorsed a joint statement in support of the creation of an independent accountability mechanism. As a former GNSO member I thanked GNSO for their good efforts and reminded them of DCA Trust's call for the same mechanisms. This was even before the NTIA transition became an issue. I also pointed the concerns we expressed to US Congress. We pointed out in our letter Congress has the overarching responsibility for the oversight of ICANN. I also commented on some of my observations from the outcome of the ICANN 50 London meeting regarding the misleading message that was being conveyed by ICANN CEO on DCA's .africa gTLD application.

DCA GAC Responses valuable to ICANN's Accountability improvements
In a follow up note, I wrote directly to the GNSO to bring to their attention the above mentioned matters. The letter can be found here [PDF]. In this letter, I also referenced DCA's response to the recent GAC Advice conveyed in the GAC London Communiqué on africa. DCA pointed out specific deficiencies that could be cited in various forms. These included inappropriate communications, misleading information, incompetency and a lack of understanding that exists within the ICANN structures in handling its matters. Our response and observations should be taken in this context, and in adherence to any accountability and transparency improvement measures.

It is within this context that I am compelled to post again DCA's case to shed more light on what I think would be of public interest. In particular the activities of GAC and ICANN's reaction to it.
Inappropriate GAC Advice on .Africa in London GAC Communiqué, while under an IRP
Amid these developments and in a surprising move, the London meeting saw the GAC give yet another Advice to the ICANN board concerning DCA Trust's application on .africa, an application which is currently going through ICANN's Independent Review process (IRP) created by ICANN and set forth in its Bylaws.

In reality, the IRP is a process for independent third-party review of Board actions. DCA Trust initiated an IRP seeking that an independent third-party panel adjudicate the rights that DCA has asserted in its Notice of IRP, and in particular, the right to have its application treated fairly, transparently, and with due diligence by ICANN in accordance with ICANN's Bylaws, Article of Incorporation, and the gTLD Applicant Guidebook. The IRP is currently ongoing and the discussions and Panel discussions are hosted both on ICANN and DCA site here.

Where the New gTLD Program is concerned, the role of GAC requires the representatives to understand the gTLD Applicant Guidebook, the ICANN Bylaws and the IRP process contained therein, a process which as noted is independent of both ICANN and the applicants. From the questions raised in the GAC Advice and in the available transcripts of the various GAC meetings during ICANN 50 and during past ICANN meetings, it is our deep concern that ICANN allows the GAC to intervene in ICANN's evaluation and delegation of new gTLDs without ensuring that the GAC representatives actually understand ICANN processes.
Lack of Proper Education of GAC members

A lack of proper education is the clear explanation for certain GAC members urging ICANN to truncate the IRP and/or compromise the independence of the proceeding, which is according to ICANN, an applicant's only method of legal recourse. Based upon the GAC's recent actions and advice, DotConnectAfrica has also raised various questions to ICANN which are of the public interest.

ICANN has a duty to educate the members of the Internet community at large as well as the members of the GAC themselves, as part of its obligation to act in a transparent and accountable manner.

It is on this basis and others which we incorporated in our full GAC response that we felt strongly that the GAC Advice given to ICANN during ICANN 50 in London demonstrated both the African Union's inappropriate efforts to determine the outcome of the applications for .africa and ICANN's improper acquiescence to the GAC's demands. We strongly urged ICANN not to accept this advice.
In addition, ICANN must prevent that a GAC member use its position on the GAC as a tool to promote its own interest, as the African Union has attempted to do with respect to .Africa, by prompting a GAC advice for ICANN to delegate .africa to the AU-backed applicant competing with DCA Trust.

In summary, we objected to the GAC's advice as improper and showing a failure on the part of ICANN to adequately educate and inform GAC representatives. We expect ICANN to decline to follow the London GAC Advice with regard to .africa, consistent with its obligations under the Bylaws and other documents governing ICANN and the IRP.

Our response was detailed and the full response can be found here [PDF]. Additionally for those following the IRP, the direct links can also be found here.

By Sophia Bekele, CEO of DotConnectAfrica. Ms. Bekele is a former ICANN generic Names Supporting Organization (gNSO) Council policy advisor & contributed to policy over the new gTLD programme & IDNs. She was also policy advisor to various UN Agencies on ICTs. Founder and spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica campaign. Bekele is a business and corporate executive, an international entrepreneur, a thought leader in Corporate and ICT Governance, international policy, Business Strategy, Internet, ICT & development. Her Profiles on sophiabekele.com / wikipedia.

CircleID link: http://www.circleid.com/posts/20140814_call_for_icann_to_educate_and_not_mislead_gac/

DotConnectAfrica Trust contributions to the ICANN Draft Five-Year Strategic Plan (FY16 – FY20)

2014-07-24T23:24:00.001-07:00

DotConnectAfrica submitted its contribution in response to the call to create ICANN's new, overarching vision and long-term strategic plan. The input and perspectives are critical to ICANN’s processes.

The Public comments were on the Draft ICANN Five–Year Strategic Plan (FY16 – FY20) [PDF, 1.10 MB] through June 2014.

According to ICANN this is

“Built on community input received throughout an extensive, public strategy conversation, the Draft Strategic Plan proposes a new Vision, reiterates ICANN's existing Mission, and describes five focus areas with Strategic Objectives and Goals. Each goal includes proposed, strategic outcomes, risks, measures and phasing over five years. ICANN is seeking general feedback, as well as input on the proposed measurable outcomes for the Focus Area Goals. Your comments will help inform the final ICANN Five–Year Strategic Plan.”

DotConnectAfrica appreciates and promotes the Multistakeholder approach in developing strategies and policies for a better future of internet governance and have continuously contributed to the Internet Governance debates, since the inception of the idea.

April 09 2014: DCA's contributions to the ICANN draft Strategic Plan of ICANN of FY16 – FY20 Read here:

July 18 2014: DCA’s comments published on the ICANN Initial Report of the draft Strategic Plan of ICANN of FY16 – FY20 Read here and here

Thank You GNSO - From the SHE.africa

2014-07-03T04:43:00.000-07:00

The recent announcement at the ICANN 50 London, by all stakeholder groups and constituencies comprising of ICANN's Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) to endorse a joint statement in support of the creation of an independent accountability mechanism "that provides meaningful review and adequate redress for those harmed by ICANN action or inaction in contravention of an agreed upon compact with the community" is a very welcome development to the Multistakeholder framework.

It is well known to the ICANN community that myself and the various internet organizations that I represent have supported this model since its inception and we have campaigned for it all over Africa and globally.

It is in following the currently available ICANN accountability process that DotConnectAfrica (DCA) has chosen to file for an Independent Review Process (IRP), despite a very expensive process and in hopes to seek a resolution. We also expect, if not yet verify, this process will allow the basic principles of transparency, accountability, probity and equity to prevail.

The IRP is a proceeding provided for in Article IV, Section 3 of the ICANN Bylaws, by which any person materially affected by a decision or action of the ICANN Board may request that the action be reviewed by an independent third party for consistency with the ICANN Bylaws and/or Articles of Incorporation. DCA filed an IRP because we were not allowed to complete processing to the end of Independent Evaluation (IE) by ICANN, as a result of GAC Objection, which we stated was "unfair, discriminatory, and lacked appropriate due diligence and care" as well as "anti-competitive".

The GNSO is a policy advisory body which advises the ICANN Board on global public policies that guide the development of the Internet, including the gTLD policy and processes affecting such TLDs as .asia, .com, .net, .org and the policy development work on new gTLD (generic Top Level Domain names).

I was appointed as a policy advisor on GNSO in 2005 when the New gTLD programs was just taking off and I know the painstaking deliberation we had to formulate a fair, competitive, transparent and equitable policy development process over the outcome of the gTLD guidebook and I will not take it in vain. I have since been an ICANN citizen and an active participant in its process, and currently put in a position to test its accountability.

Our organization DCA is a non-profit corporation and .africa gTLD applicant, yet was referred to during ICANN 50 as a "SHE". It was particularly surprising to hear the reference made by the CEO of ICANN Fadi Chehadi during a Press Conference at the just concluded London ICANN International meeting referring to DCA's application as a "SHE".

The CEO's comments that DCA has "Rights" to the IRP was a welcome clarification and a wake up call to any special interest group that may think the "African continent" is only represented by them.
Despite, I thought it would be to the public interest, to list out the multiple errors made by the ICANN CEO in defense of ICANN's accountability process, using the .africa as an example. The CEO of ICANN:

Incorrectly referred to our application as an individual applicant, which is untrue, as ICANN guidebook does not accept "Individual" applicants. One has to be a Corporation to apply.
Incorrectly referred to DCA as a "SHE", whereas DCA is a Corporation that has no gender identity.
Incorrectly stated that DCA is challenging the "entire AUC" in the IRP, whereas the IRP is about ICANN's actions.
Incorrectly suggested that DCA is challenging the "entire AUC" as if the AUC is a legal applicant to the .africa gTLD, which they are not.

Allow me to use this forum to remind the global public that DCA is a .africa applicant, and we applied on behalf of its global constituency and we made sure in our application that we stated that we are not serving any "specialized community". It is also widely known now that we have passed all criteria by the independent evaluators, as it relates to our financials, technical and operational competencies.

And yet, ICANN agreed to stop processing DCA's application based on GAC advice put forward by the AUC, which was effectively the only competitor for .africa thanks to its relationship with UniForum/ZACR, the other applicant for .africa. In other words, ICANN allowed the AUC to use its position as an intergovernmental organization to quash DCA's application and ensure that ZACR's application would proceed without competition. At a minimum, this is the subject of the IRP that DCA is currently pursuing against ICANN.
I will not lay out here all the issues that are in dispute, but anyone who would like to see how this IRP is proceeding — including ICANN's own statements as to what the IRP is and is not — should take a look at the parties' submission.

Recall I wrote to Congress, on a matter that now has become a serious issue of Internet Governance and transition plan of ICANN. You can dissect one process from another to conquer and divide, but the principles of accountability and transparency in any organization remain the same around the world.

Therefore, I ask all of you fellow GNSO constituencies to continue to be vigilant, and leave no stones unturned to make sure that ICANN decision makers are held accountable in their decision makings. There is a saying that you make the bed, therefore you lay in it, and so let us not lay in a bed of thorn.
Finally, in support of the recent speech I presented to young girls on ICT Girls day this past April, and quoted as saying "Internet is a SHE", behold I pray then that ".africa be a SHE".

By Sophia Bekele, CEO of DotConnectAfrica. Ms. Bekele is a former ICANN generic Names Supporting Organization (gNSO) Council policy advisor & contributed to policy over the new gTLD programme & IDNs. She was also policy advisor to various UN Agencies on ICTs. Founder and spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica campaign. Bekele is a business and corporate executive, an international entrepreneur, a thought leader in Corporate and ICT Governance, international policy, Business Strategy, Internet, ICT & development. Her Profiles on sophiabekele.com / wikipedia.

CircleID post: http://www.circleid.com/posts/20140703_thank_you_gnso_from_the_she_dot_africa/

DotConnectAfrica Trust contributions to the NETmundial Conference April 2014

2014-03-28T01:21:00.000-07:00

DotConnectAfrica has sent its contribution to the global internet governance conference on March 2014. This meeting will focus on the elaboration of principles of Internet governance and the proposal for a roadmap for future development of this ecosystem on the Multistakeholder model and its effectiveness in the changing Scope and Oversight Roles of ICANN in Internet Governance and DNS Management.

The Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance will focus on crafting Internet governance principles and proposing a roadmap for the further evolution of the Internet governance ecosystem. The meeting is scheduled for this week April 23rd and 24th 2014 in Sao Paulo, Brazil and will be live webcast enabling remote participation. The meeting follows an initiative proposed by CGI.br and /1net. #netmundial2014.

The goal of the MetMundial is to consolidate proposals the goal of bringing together representatives of civil society, private sector, academia and technical community to establish strategic guidelines related to the use and development of the Internet in the world, NETmundial was concept into committees format, each one with representatives of the involved stakeholders, distinguished experts, aiming to give guidelines and organize the meeting.

The meeting is organized in a partnership between the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br) and /1Net, a forum that gathers international entities of the various stakeholders involved with Internet governance.

DotConnectAfrica since its inception in 2006 has been an active part of the DNS industry and have continuously contributed to the Internet Governance debate, be it one led by organizations like the ITU WCIT Draft of the future ITRs in November 2012 and ITU CWG-Internet: Public Consultation of March 2014, the African Union Cyber Security Draft Convention in October 2013 and conferences like the 2013 Transform Africa Heads of State Summit in Kigali Rwanda on New SmartAfrica Manifesto to Accelerate Socio-Economic Development. DotConnectAfrica appreciates the Multistakeholder approach in developing strategies for a better future of internet governance.

Please see our contributions here

DotConnectAfrica Comments on the Kenya Connected ICT Masterplan 2017

2014-03-21T06:24:00.001-07:00

The Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) invited stakeholders for a public consultation forum on the Connected Kenya ICT Masterplan 2017. The forum was held on 20th March 14 at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies to provide an opportunity to Share views on the draft document of the ICT Master Plan .

The Masterplan, was first launched in February 2013 is a five (5) year plan and details the government ICT led strategy. It endeavors to cover the vision 2030 pillars as well as focus on other functional areas. View Full Document on http://www.scribd.com/doc/212456855/KICTB-Connected-Kenya-2017-Master-Plan

In November 2013, a National ICT Master plan taskforce was put together to review the current Connected Kenya 2017 ICT master plan and are about to complete this task. DotConnectAfrica Trust a Kenyan based company endeavored to contribute its ideas and submitted the comments to the forum. DotConnectAfrica and its Principal and Members have in the past have worked or been advisors with International organizations giving advice on various developmental issues as well as legislations and policies.

The outcome of the review process is expected to be a comprehensive new document that will guide the management of ICT in the country.

Read our comments here:

DotConnectAfrica Contributes to the ITU CWG-Internet: Public Consultation (March 2014)

2014-03-21T01:03:00.000-07:00

On 10 July 2012, the ITU Council resolved that the Council Working Group on international Internet-related public policy issues (CWG-Internet) would hold online consultations for all stakeholders on certain policy issues to be decided by the Group. Council also resolved that all stakeholders could submit their responses to a reflector set up by the ITU and that all responses received from stakeholders would be posted, without edits, to the CWG-Internet website.

On 4 March 2014 the Council Working Group decided that Open Consultations would be convened on the following issue:

"Recognizing the scope of work of ITU on international Internet-related public policy matters,

represented by the list of topics in Council 2009 Resolution 1305 Annex 1 which was established in accordance with decisions of ITU membership at the Plenipotentiary Conference, the Council Working Group on International Internet Related Public Policy invites all stakeholders to provide their position on following question :

Q1. What actions are to be undertaken by governments in relations to each of the international Internet-related public policy issues identified in Annex 1 to Resolution 1305 (adopted by Council 2009 at the seventh Plenary Meeting)?"

DotConnectAfrica and its Principal and Members have in the past has worked or been advisors with International organizations such as Organization for Africa Union (OAU) aka Africa Union, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa UNECA), and International and regional organizations such as the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and (ICANN), The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), The Internet Society (ISOC), Internationalized Domain Resolution Union (IDRU), Internet Business Council for Africa (IBCA), and various private sector technology companies in Africa and internationally, with a view to increase synergy that encourages all stakeholders to participate in this dialog, in particular the African Diaspora.

In 11 July 2012, the ITU Council decided that the Draft of the future ITRS be made publicly accessible for an open consultation process, where all stakeholders could express their views and opinions on the content of the Draft of the future ITRs or any other matter related to WCIT. DotConnectAfrica as a concerned stakeholder in the ICT sector of the African continent submitted several recommendations to that effect. DCA's contribution has been published at ITU's Public Views and Opinions page

DotConnectAfrica takes this opportunity to submit its comments to the ITU Council Working Group on international Internet-related public policy issues (CWG-Internet : Public Consultation (March 2014). Read our comments here

DotConnectAfrica celebrates 25 years of WWW since invention

2014-03-14T03:25:00.000-07:00

Twenty-five years ago, precisely in 1989, the World Wide Web was just an idea from Tim Berners-Lee at the CERN lab in Switzerland, outlining a way to easily access files on linked computers it was a technical paper from a young computer scientist at a European physics lab that changed the global communication would happen. It was the beginning of writing new history that would open the space and make the world a village.

The Web was not an immediate winner out of a creative idea but faced competition from rival online services such as US-based CompuServe and France's Minitel but they involved fees, while Berners-Lee's system was free. In 1993 it was announced that anyone would be free to use all the technology behind the World Wide Web, this gave the www an edge over the others as it would get users to analyze and improve it.

The resource that is now being used all over the world opened a frontier that has given people and institutions instant communications, apart from just communication, the internet has become a tool for use in all aspects of economies, education, research, communication and many other needs.

DotConnectAfrica an early advocate for the connection of gaps and bridging the digital divide celebrates this innovation. The internet is a platform that has given individuals and business a useful tool to manage day to day activities.

Africa for instance is a continent that has perhaps the youngest populations who are a niche market for mobile revolution and use of internet, Africa has therefore become a major market for technology innovations.

DotConnectAfrica which is an applicant for the .africa gTLD looks to celebrate WWW at 50 with .africa registry in space, this name space which is currently under review in ICANN will become a huge resource for the development of content, apps and e commerce apart from offering entrepreneurship opportunities.

As we celebrate 25 years since the birth of WWW let us endeavor to create more innovative opportunities for the young people to build their skill and change the world.

DotConnectAfrica Contributes to ITU’s Strategic Plan for 2016-2019

2014-02-07T04:22:00.001-08:00

The International Telecommunication Union Council launched a public consultation process on the development of a new ITU Strategic Plan for 2016-2019, which will be approved at ITU’s next Plenipotentiary Conference, to be held in Busan, Korea, in October 2014. DotConnectAfrica has in support of the multi stakeholder approach contributed the strategic plan in response to the call.

DotConnectAfrica Trust is an independent, non-profit and non-partisan organization that is based in Port Louis, Mauritius (Reg ID. CT8710DCA90) with its registry operations located in Nairobi, Kenya. Its main charitable objects are: (a) for the advancement of education in information technology to the African society; and (b) in connection with (a) to provide the African society with a continental Internet domain name to have access to Internet services for the people of Africa as a purpose beneficial to the public in general.

The ITU Council Working Group for the Elaboration of the Draft Strategic Plan and the draft Financial Plan for the Union for 2016-2019 is mandated to develop a coordinated draft of this strategic plan. To do this well, it is vitally important to consider everyone’s opinions, ideas and proposals on where ITU should prioritize its efforts in the post-2015 era.

According to the ITU, “This public consultation is a great opportunity for all voices to be heard, and demonstrates ITU’s openness, transparency and inclusiveness in its planning processes. ITU – with its commitment to connecting the world – continues to help to bring everyone online, ensuring that the global communications infrastructure runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible, and enabling everybody to access the benefits of ICTs and assisting in mitigating new risks.”

DotConnectAfrica strongly believes in the engagement of all stakeholders in the preparation of the ITU 2016-2019 Strategic Plan. Other similar significant contributions by DotConnectAfrica include the New SmartAfrica Manifesto to Accelerate Socio-Economic Development. , Agenda 2063 of the Africa Union and Draft African Union Convention on the Establishment of A Credible Legal Framework For Cyber Security In Africa October 2013

See link to the contribution here

From Wikileaks of 2012 to Snowden's NSA Leaks of 2013: Implications for Global Internet Governance

2013-12-20T04:39:00.000-08:00

2012 will always be remembered as the Year of Wikileaks. Similarly, 2013 shall also be remembered as the year that Edward Snowden, a computer security specialist and former CIA employee and National Security Agency contractor, leaked classified information regarding the NSA global surveillance programs.

Whilst Wikileaks was about US diplomatic cables, the Edward Snowden disclosure of classified NSA information to private media organizations such as the UK Guardian newspaper has had graver implications for global Internet privacy. The NSA leak presented the United States of America as a country that practically spies on everybody in a most indiscriminate manner, including its own allies.

It was revealed that the President of Brazil, Ms. Dilma Rouseff had been spied upon by the USA; a dangerous revelation that compelled her to cancel a planned official visit to the United States of America. The German Chancellor, Dr. Angela Merkel also complained that her mobile phone had been hacked into, and the 'usual suspect' had been listening into all her conversations. The German Government was indignant and complained directly to the US Government. The EU also sought clarifications from the United States. Most foreign leaders demanded that US spying must stop after it was revealed by the Guardian that 35 world leaders had been spied upon after their telephone communications were tapped.

Brazil had to take the matter to the United Nations General Assembly and collaborated with Germany in October to draft a resolution on the US spying allegations that would guarantee the privacy of electronic communications. The consensus resolution on "the right to privacy in the digital age," was adopted on 19th December 2013. It calls on UN Member States to "review their procedures, practices and legislation on the surveillance of communications, their interception and collection of personal data, including mass surveillance, with a view to upholding the right to privacy by ensuring the full and effective implementation of all relevant obligations under international human rights law." This seems to be the only coordinated reaction by the international community to the US global spying and surveillance activities.

But the revelation that the US Federal Government has expanded its global electronic surveillance program and has been collecting diverse types of information including email, chat, video-conferencing, file transfers, etc. supplied by Internet companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple, Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL, YouTube, etc. These companies are often forced to comply since it is lawful under US laws for them to cooperate with National Intelligence Agencies. The US-based Internet and Telecoms companies (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.) ordinarily cannot refuse to provide data upon the request of US national security agencies against the backdrop that increased surveillance activities by US National Security operatives are justified by heightened global counter-terrorism efforts that are aimed at discovering and disrupting terrorist threats.

Thus, anything that is happening on the Internet, especially on the Social Media space is no longer private. These recent revelations have clearly shown that Internet user privacy has been significantly undermined and public confidence and trust on the Internet as a communications platform has been considerably eroded.

It is expected that these issues would remain topical throughout 2014 and beyond, as the future of Global Internet Governance is debated. The voices of those calling for a paradigm shift in the architecture of Global Internet Governance towards one that deemphasizes the centrality of US-based institutions will no doubt become more strident. The NSA leaks and the allegations of widespread international spying activities by the United States of America, including access to millions of data records obtained from Internet and telephone companies, have seriously undercut US moral authority as the custodian of Internet privacy, civil liberties and human rights. The countries that have been clamoring for a new internet Governance model that is led by the UN would try to buttress their case by citing US global Internet surveillance program and global spying activities.

The independent panel that was setup by the US Administration to review the surveillance programs recommended that some restrictions should be placed on NSA spying activities. During 2014, the global community will be closely monitoring the commencement of implementation of policy reforms regarding the US surveillance programs by the NSA.

By Sophia Bekele, CEO of DotConnectAfrica. Ms. Bekele is a former ICANN generic Names Supporting Organization (gNSO) Council policy advisor & contributed to policy over the new gTLD programme & IDNs. She was also policy advisor to various UN Agencies on ICTs. Founder and spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica campaign. Bekele is a business and corporate executive, an international entrepreneur, a thought leader in Corporate and ICT Governance, international policy, Business Strategy, Internet, ICT & development. Her Profiles on sophiabekele.com / wikipedia.

DotConnectAfrica contributes to New SmartAfrica Manifesto to Accelerate Socio-Economic Development.

2013-11-03T23:47:00.000-08:00

The conference was attended by over 1,500 delegates and Seven African Heads of State including among others Presidents of Kenya, Uganda, Gabon, and Burkina Faso. Other delegates included Ministers and CEO’s of blue chip firms.

Transform Africa Heads of State Summit 2013, Kigali Rwanda

The summit was Co-hosted by President Paul Kagame and Dr. Hamadoun Toure, the Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), with the aim of pooling together International participants to set a new agenda for Africa to leapfrog development challenges through the use and uptake of Broadband and related services.

Six years ago in 2007, Rwanda took the lead and mobilized the whole continent and the world around through ‘Connect Africa Summit’ and that agenda has spread across the globe where there is now a Connect Asia, Connect Americas among others.

The summit focused on increasing and improving content affordability in a bid to move Africa from a content generating continent rather than one that just consumes, entrepreneurship and local capacity were also deliberated upon. Good governance has also been identified as part of the catalysts of development. ICTs as the latest focus platform were classified as an enabler and not a standalone system.

The four-day high level event was held under the theme, “The Future Delivered Today” will devise ways on how Africa can leverage broadband to transform communities, governments and the private sector. It is organized by Rwanda a country that is passionate in its quest for change and is leading Africa in ICT and not only formulating but executing developmental strategic blue prints.

Dr. Hamadoun Toure, the Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) applauded the summit saying “this encapsulates the tremendous spirit of optimism and confidence which I see right across this great continent of ours”. He went on to “ stress the importance of these three different stakeholders – communities, businesses and governments” and emphasized once again that all three are absolutely crucial players if we are to achieve the substantial social and economic progress this continent deserves.

Speaking at the conference, the President of Kenya H. E Uhuru Kenyatta said ICT is no longer a luxury but a powerful tool that will help address most of the problems facing Kenya and Africa at large. “We are determined to ensure that our people fully benefit from the advantages to ICT and related technology,” adding that “ICT is being used in security, checking corruption and promoting quality education, Innovations require young minds. Broadband is one way of propelling Africa to prosperity.”

Ms. Sophia Bekele, speaking at the "Infrastructure" session, gave update on the journey of DCA's current project .africa Domain, saying " Our organization has been very much a part of the International conference that was first launched as ConnectAfrica 2007, when we introduced this very important Pan African initiative, to provide Africa an online digital identity. This is evident from the list of projects still hanging as part of the ITU commitment on the ConnectAfrica website. http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/connect/africa/2007/commitments/.... search "dotafrica": At the time we committed 100k USD and 6 years later, we have raised over 1million US dollars and campaigned all over Africa to create awareness and the benefit to all African peoples and organization. We have since been credited by the African people and the African and International Media for our excellent work, over & over again".

Asserting her organization's position in the summit, she said "Our organization has pioneered this initiative and we want to register for the record that this Summit also acknowledges and registers our success. DCA is an African company that has met and exceeded its ConnectAfrica 2007 commitments and 6 years later is Transforming Africa through ICT. We want the Summit to acknowledge our Success."

In yet another session, Bekele posed questions and made comments on what should be included in the “Smart Africa Manifesto”, an ICT Vision championed by Rwanda Ministry, as an outcome to the conference. “It is a very topical issue that will be much more relevant in near future will be, what is Africa's articulated position on Global Internet Governance and Policy vs-a-vis the present divergence of opinion that has become rather evident; whether continuing with the status quo driven by US-based institutions or facilitating a change to the UN/ITU led model as proposed by some countries?”, asked Bekele.

She also asserted “There needs to be a structured involvement of Youth and Women in ICT within the foundations of a strategy. There is a strong need to encourage women and youth to embrace ICT. Where technology had a base in engineering, which attracted mostly men in the past, now women can get involved in the marketing and social media, a growing segment of ICT. Finally, Public Private Partnerships should be encouraged with balanced and open transparent bidding avenues”.

Rwanda's Minister for Youth & ICT, Philbert Nsengimana called for the implementation of the manifesto and ensuring the success of the SmartAfrica agenda. "Let's make the dream of 'SmartAfrica' become true. SmartAfrica will become a reality very soon." He said. The new manifesto is built on five principles: To put ICT at the centre of our national socio-economic development agenda, To improve access to ICT especially Broadband, To improve accountability, efficiency and openness through ICT, To put the Private Sector First, To leverage ICT to promote sustainable development.

DotConnectAfrica is confident that the future of Africa is secured today by ensuring that proper systems of governance is set up in order to encourage technology development that will transform Africa. Africa is full of potential and through such initiatives as generation.africa and miss.africa, launched by DCA already, more youth and women will be empowered to drive the continent to a new level.

Participants hope to monitor progress through the Smart Africa Alliance, a partnership between participating African states, the Africa Development Bank, the World Bank, the ITU, and the private sector.

DotConnectAfrica Comments to the Draft African Union Convention on the Establishment of A Credible Legal Framework For Cyber Security In Africa October 2013

2013-10-25T02:03:00.000-07:00

DotConnectAfrica is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization that has

its base of operation in Nairobi, Kenya and headquartered in I/F River Court 6th Denis Street Port Louis, Mauritius, Africa, is a millennial organization that has the African Vision embedded in its inception and looks to create a continental domain and registry that will not only revolutionize but also create a platform that will nurture all other facets of African socio-economic development.

DotConnectAfrica appreciates the subtle efforts that are being made daily by the governments in partnership with private organizations to better the internet technology platform as a means of bridging the digital divide and as such has participated in several similar processes such as the improvement of the International telecommunications Regulations that were being discussed in December 2012 at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The Draft Convention should lay a background for the African states to review their legislations on cyber security. ICT is becoming a key element and player in the development of a nation and more importantly day to day running of institutional mandates.

Businesses play a key role in deriving and generating revenue that is used to run governmental affairs, this affects how tax regimes and systems must be properly instituted to match the changing commercial sector that is increasingly dependent on ICT and most importantly mobile online transactions.

Africa is growing into this important technology, ICT comes with several critical issues that must be addressed for proper operations that can curb issues such as cyber crime that includes fraud, impersonation, spam among many others.

Interventions that are of a continental or global levels that require signing of such conventions must be properly drafted and understood by all the stakeholders, this includes the governments, businesses, academia and citizens, this will provide a harmonized treaty that will at least not overlook critical existing individual government legislations nor contradict them.

Electronic commerce organization, personal data protection, cyber security promotion and cyber crime control are the most important factors of the online economy and while it’s critical to create harmonized continental legislation it’s important that the personal data and privacy is protected as the bottom line.

DotConnectAfrica has been spearheading the proposed new Top Level Domain (TLD) .africa (DotAfrica) Initiative since 2006. And has placed an application for DotAfrica to the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a US-based institution that is at the apex of Global Internet Governance.

We believe that multistakeholder discussions will help create the best legislations for the governments as well as continent and globally.

See the comments here

Link to the Draft Convention here

DotConnectAfrica Contributes to the Agenda 2063 of the Africa Union

2013-10-24T04:58:00.001-07:00

DotConnectAfrica has contributed to the ambitious future roadmap whose vision for Africa is that of “An Integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena”.

DotConnectAfrica is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization that has its base of operation in Nairobi, Kenya and headquartered in I/F River Court 6th Denis Street Port Louis, Mauritius, Africa,is a millennial organization that has the African Vision embedded in its inception and looks to create a continental domain and registry that will not only revolutionize but also create a platform that will nurture all other facets of African socio-economic development.

In this regard, DotConnectAfrica (DCA) has been spearheading the proposed new Top Level Domain (TLD) .africa (DotAfrica) Initiative since 2006. DotAfrica is one of the new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) that will be delegated into the root zone of the Internet Domain Name Structure (DNS) by the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a US-based institution that is at the apex of Global Internet Governance.

According to the Agenda 2063 Vision and Priorities website, the main elements of “Agenda 2063” at the operational level are/will be outlined. At its heart, this new roadmap, emphasizes the importance to success of rekindling the passion for Pan-Africanism, a sense of unity, self-reliance, integration and solidarity that was a highlight of the triumphs of the 20th century.

DotConnectAfrica has in its agenda initiatives that are aimed at creating a connected Africa.DCA understands that the youth and women are the greatest assets of any organization or community and as such the most formidable way to catalyze growth is to partner to increase ICT’s expertise and reach to these groups.

DCA intends to utilize surplus proceeds from the registry operation accruing to the Trust Fund for Charitable projects. Funds will be regularly allocated to different corporate social responsibility programs. Specific projects will be identified, and supported. Such programs will include The Miss.africa program is a gender-focused initiative targeted mainly at female youth audiences in Africa to increase their personal involvement in early technology use and adoption with a view to improving their digital self-awareness and empowerment, and overall self-esteem and Generation.africa is a youth focused program launched by DCA to empower a new generation of Internet users in Africa using its Generation.africa theme.

DotConnectAfrica has in the past participated with several global and Continental organizations to front the amazing ability of internet technology to bridge the digital divide and as such believes that the synergy with organizations such as the Africa Union, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa UNECA), and International and regional organizations such as the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and (ICANN), The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), The Internet Society (ISOC), Internationalized Domain Resolution Union (IDRU) will create best practices that will spur Africa’s tech future.

The link for the contribution here , PDF

ICANN CEO optimistic while discussing New gTLD Milestones and Deadlines

2013-03-27T02:46:00.002-07:00

Fadi Chehadé ICANN CEO

March 20, 2013, The ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé gave a video report discussing the current new gTLD process its milestones and the deadlines that have been set. Throughout his talk, the CEO was confident and optimistic about the developments that have been achieved so far and more so after he took over the reins of the organization that manages the DNS.

He gave a report of his global trips that he has managed to be on these past months and especially mentioned Africa, the continent that ICANN has worked hard and has put steps forward to increase relations and activities that hopefully will help increase the DNS business sector that is still growing. This he says has given him incredible enthusiasm for the new gTLD program.

The CEO talked about how it’s going to affect the world and the anticipation with which all stakeholders were looking forward to an expanded DNS, like entrepreneurs looking to expand their ideas, the commitment of those who want to express themselves in their own scripts like the Chinese and Arabic users, governments looking to expand their economies in the planet.

Kenya was mentioned as an example of a country that has focused on the internet as a key element of its economies, where 20% of its GDP is based on ICT a remarkable state, South Africa known for mining is also big on the internet business.

He was pleased that ICANN is on track and within its timelines ,mentioning the Drawing URS Contention sets and this week the first batch of the initial evaluation panel results were released in order of the prioritization draw.

The trademark clearing house he said is also ready to take on the registration of the new trademarks which is expected to begin on March 26, 2013. The Strawman solution and the immense numbers of public comments that aided in making decisions that affect the process, such as implementing the 30 day period for each sunrise of a new gTLD, among others

He promised that all milestones will be in place and that all the target dates will be achieved. That will culminate to the delegation of gTLDs on April 23^rd, he requested that there is need for a common stand that will help in hitting the set targets

He concludes that “the excitement about the new gTLDs is global and is upon us and I urge all of us to keep that focus in mind and to work together without cutting corners but rather with collegiality, with genuine common interest, always from the bottom up, always involving everyone with public interest and the growth in DNS balanced properly so that we can be proud of what we achieved in these weeks”

View the video below

DotConnectAfrica’s Reflections on the WCIT-12 Process

2013-01-04T05:05:00.001-08:00

DotConnectAfrica Trust being an independent, non-profit and non-partisan organization that is based in Nairobi Kenya and a Stakeholder in the Internet development and also an new gTLD of the applicant “.africa” string. We are an organization whose main charitable objects are: for the advancement of education in information technology to the African society; and in connection with to provide the African society with a continental Internet domain name to have access to Internet services for the people of Africa as a purpose beneficial to the public in general.

DotConnectAfrica has always encouraged all stakeholders to participate in this dialog, in particular the African Diaspora. In our observation and reflections of the Dubai WCIT 2012 process we wish to observe that the WCIT conference though much anticipated failed to achieve its goals of successfully providing new ITR’s. The meeting proceedings came below the expectations of majority of the ITU member states. Many came expecting dialogue and proper communication mechanisms to provide free flow of knowledge and information but that was never to be.

Among the minimum issues that Internet community worldwide expected to be wisely managed are that WCIT would steer clear of the Internet governance and content and that there would be proper balance of all voices to no avail despite the assurances of the ITU Secretary General.

The intensity at which the proposals touched on the internet threatens the very existence of this diverse and free resource. DotConnectAfrica observes the involvement of the Multistakeholder approach in all internet related issues and encourages that it must be adopted if the continued thriving of the internet is to be upheld.

DCA encourages that any other discussions that concerning internet governance must be properly managed , organized and facilitated in a manner that will not endanger the gains that have been achieved at the expense of a few.

A 397 - 0 vote : US Congress passes a new resolution to opposie UN Internet takeover.

2012-12-11T06:44:00.000-08:00

It was a unanimously 397 to 0 Vote in favour of a resolution by the US House of Representatives urging the U.S. government not to give the United Nations' International Telecommunication Union (ITU) control over the Internet. The WCIT conference that started last Monday ends on December 14.

According to the House's website, the bill passed by the U.S. Senate in September emphasizes the importance of the Internet to the global economy, saying that "it is essential that the Internet remain stable, secure, and free from government control."

The house’s adoption of the resolution was intended to send a clear message to the ITU a UN wing not to increase government control over the Internet during the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT)that is underway in Dubai. The the adopted bill read that the proposals by the UN body to increase control over the Internet "would undermine" the current organization of the internet "that has enabled the Internet to flourish “.

This is not the first time the House has urged the Obama's administration in Washington to continue promoting a free universal internet devoid of any governmental control. In June, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed another resolution telling the ITU to keep its hands of the Internet.

Terry Kramer, U.S. ambassador to the WCIT

Credits:

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Another government that is also wary of the ITU plans alongside the USA is the European Commission which put it clear last Friday it was opposed to increasing the ITU's powers over the Internet during the conference, following a vote by the EU Parliament loudly calling for negotiators to block such attempts.

While many stakeholders in the Internet including companies such as Google , organisations and governments are alarmed that the ITU will increase its powers at conference, the ITU has insisted that the worried parties have not understood what the WCIT conference can decide on saying that conference cannot grant the ITU regulatory powers over the Internet, the organization emphasized on Friday, adding that "it seems the message is simply not getting through."

Protests against the ITU's move have also attracted support from different quaters including academia such as the Harvard Law Professor Jack Goldsmith. Goldsmith in his detailed blog post has attempted to debunk what he called pre-WCIT "hysteria”.

DotConnectAfrica had also opposed such moves. The DCA President in her commentary the “Empire Fights Back” on internet freedom and governance, Bekele stated, The battles lines are already drawn. “An open, inclusive, participatory, multi-stakeholder Internet goes beyond ordinary 'Internet governance', and is really about whether people should be free in a global society. It is all about the Universal Right to Freedom, and the UN, the main guarantor of Human and People's Rights, should not be unwittingly used as a tool to rein in that sacrosanct freedom bestowed on people everywhere by a Free Internet in the name of an ITU-led and controlled Internet governance architecture. Is it not ironic that a multi-lateral UN-ITU led Internet governance process is not aimed at guaranteeing a multi-stakeholder Internet?

The Model that DCA openly support is the Multistakeholder format where everybody has a voice and stake in the governance of the internet, as fact reinforced by Bekele’s open letter to the US Senate, stating “The Internet itself has proved to be a very useful platform for bringing Africa into the mainstream of global information and communication technology usage, and its gradual and increasing availability is helping Africa to bridge the so-called 'Digital Divide”.

DotConnectAfrica E-Participates at the Baku IGF 2012 - Contributes to ITU Changes

2012-11-12T23:45:00.000-08:00

The Seventh Annual The Internet Governance Forum that was held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 6-9 November 2012 has finally come to a close. DCA was not present physically but participated in various sessions of the IGF meetings remotely.

The meeting's main theme was: 'Internet Governance for Sustainable Human, Economic and Social Development'. Internet experts and advocates from around the world attended the conference.
The Baku IGF comes at a time when major changes are happening to the internet and telecommunications landscape. For example ICANN is currently evaluating over 1390 applications that were made during this year's new gTLD program.

Other remarkable changes in the offing include the ITU changes for the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs). These regulations have not been updated since 1988. A broad consensus was made on the need to update the ITRs to comply with the 21st century's ICT landscape. Therefore, in 11 July 2012, the ITU Council decided that the Draft of the future ITRS be made publicly accessible for an open consultation process, where all stakeholders could express their views and opinions on the content of the Draft of the future ITRs or any other matter related to WCIT.
DotConnectAfrica as a concerned stakeholder in the ICT sector of the African continent submitted several recommendations to that effect. DCA's contribution has been published at ITU's Public Views and Opinions page.

DCA's submissions on ITU's ITRs looked at the various sections that need to be critically analyzed to take account of coming changes. These will include the current advancements to the Telecommunications sector including Mobile and Internet. With the major technological changes that have occurred, the world is looking at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12) which runs from 3-14 December in Dubai. Read More

DotConnectAfrica Participates in ICANN 45 Toronto Unveils new IBCA Initiative at ICANN Public Forum

2012-11-01T02:48:00.001-07:00

DotConnectAfrica at ICANN 45 Toronto.

DotConnectAfrica had participated at the ICANN45 Meeting in Toronto, in Canada. DotConnectAfrica which was represented by its Back-End Registry Partner CentralNIC. DotConnectAfrica used the afforded presence of the entire ICANN Global Community gathered at Toronto to also unveil the IBCA – Internet Business Council for Africa –an initiative that it has independently developed as a component of the ICANN Africa Strategy. The objective of the IBCA is to increase and promote the participation of the African Private Sector, and the Africa/Global non-governmental constituency (involved in Africa) in the ICANN community and in Global Internet Governance.

The opening speech by the new ICANN CEO emphasized new management delivery goals and objectives that are pivoted on Affirmation of Purpose, Operations Excellence, Internationalization, and Multi-stakeholder Model Evolution; to be driven by a new global leadership that is operating based on a new management structure. Mr Clement who spoke on behalf of the Canadian government emphasized that vast potential that the Internet is and how it has transformed how the world communicates. He further outlined the efforts of the Canadian government to ensure an open Internet and the free flow of information, a key component to stimulating innovation, growth and accountability.

The ICANN-45 Meeting in Toronto also saw the presentation of the initial draft of the ICANN Africa Strategy by the Africa Strategy Working Group (ASWG). This initiative is hoped to increase the activity of ICANN in Africa and further press for more development oriented platforms in advancing the multi stakeholder approach.

ICANN TORONTO

The IBCA which was also introduced by DCA is an initiative that will rally alongside the ICANN strategy . It’s a strategy that is meant to run separately from and according to the DCA president Ms. Bekele : “the proposed IBCA initiative squarely and tangibly addresses an important issue regarding increased African private sector participation at ICANN in a rather straight-forward manner”. ”This is what makes the IBCA proposal quite compelling“, she added.

DCA President Ms. Bekele at ICANN Toronto

The ICANN 45 meeting was also a ripe opportunity that DCA delegates met Dr. Tarek Kamel who is the Senior Advisor to the ICANN President & CEO and also has the responsibility of leading the formulation of the ICANN Africa Strategy. The meeting with Dr. Kamel was utilized by DCA Trust to discuss the scope of the ICANN Africa Strategy, and after receiving the necessary reassurances that DCA Trust can participate in the Africa Strategy, DCA announced the IBCA initiative formally.

The Toronto meeting was a successful time for DCA who actively participated in the deliberations that transpired. The venue was also a welcome chance for the new gTLD program updates. The most recent activity concluded is the Public Comments Period which featured the submission of 8,956 comments for the Evaluation/Review Panels. In addition, 127 Change Requests were submitted by applicants, and 29 have so far been approved whilst 84 are in review, and 14 would require follow-up with applicants. So far, 7 applications have been withdrawn and no objections have been filed.

DotConnectAfrica Trust (DCA Trust) celebrates the launch of SophiaBekele.com

2012-10-30T00:46:00.001-07:00

Ms. Sophia Bekele

DotConnectAfrica Trust (DCA Trust) celebrates the launch of the new professional website of its founder and CEO, Ms. Sophia Bekele (http://www.sophiabekele.com). The website and attempts to introduce as well as capture the professional life and biography of Ms. Bekele who has pursed diverse corporate interests and tackled many work-related challenges throughout her career.

Sophia Bekele is arguably one of Global Technology and Internet Authorities. Having studied and worked in the most technology vibrant State, in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley California with Blue Chip organizations, then as an Entrepreneur with successful projects, this daughter of Africa from (Ethiopia) has made great impact in the Technology and the Business World.

A Woman with a future and a past, Sophia is well known in the Global ICT and Internet Society in her efforts to connect Africa to the rest of the World. With a long history of advocacy for private sector participation in the development agenda for emerging economies & Africa, and defining the role of governments through education as well as holding them to high standards of accountability and transparency, Bekele has set consecutive records publicly challenging policies and the authorities that set them, and won.

The website embodies the career of Ms. Bekele including her achievements, Challenges and future plans, her pictures, Biography, Interviews writing among others have been laid out in a concise manner.

As We launch the website the entire DCA fraternity wishes her success in all her present and future endeavors

You can have a look at the website and explore here

DotConnectAfrica attends AITEC 2012 Annual Summit.

2012-10-29T01:11:00.001-07:00

DotConnectAfrica was privileged to be among the delegates to the AITEC Africa Summit held at the Oshwal Centre, Nairobi, 24-25 October .AITEC is the continent’s leading business event organizer for the ICT sector, is celebrating 25 years of serving Africa’s ICT community by holding a series of regional ICT Summits each year. The Summit covers West, Southern and East Africa.

DotConnectAfrica at AITEC 2012

The Summit brought together speakers from all over the globe to discuss ICT with the theme: “Smart Cities > Smart Societies > Smart Enterprises” and it also included a market-leading business-to-business exhibition alongside the extensive conference programme, whose focus areas were Data Security World ,Cloud Computing World ,Mobile Applications World Smart Exports: ICT-empowered services.

Africa is gaining much ground in the ICT fiend and a such has become the focus of world leading firms to develop and establish long standing business enterprise relationships across the continent. This coupled with an extensive and ambitious multiple fiber connectivity that has provided the much needed broadband capacity to accommodate the rising need for bandwidth and favorable speeds.

The mobile sector is also largely the most advancing facet of the African internet quest for attaining the levels of developed nations in this information age. This comes clear even as the statistics show an exponential increase in the number of mobile devices subscribers, this coupled with young innovators who have risen to the task of developing locally compliant mobile applications to serve the immediate needs of its market share.

While giving his key note speech, The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Information and Communications Dr. Ndemo stressed on the need for the young people to be empowered so that they can be self reliant especially now that more opportunities for developing local content and applications is great, Speaking on the Smart cities, he noted the importance of developing such cyber cities to match the rapidly changing internet landscape. This includes Deploying ICT solutions to increase the quality of life for both urban and rural populations while delivering improved services in healthcare, education, agriculture and housing.

Issues of Cyber Security were also part of great deliberations with the panelists as well as delegates stressing on the importance of new focus in the development of mechanisms to counter the rise of cyber threats, a fact that is more real now than ever before. Cloud Computing was also a key topic with the experts outlining the rising need for the cloud technology to be utilized, delegates also learned on the implications and the need for a concerted effort to analyze risks as well as benefits before deploying the cloud.

Another important session included the “ICT Skills Gap Forum” whose eminent panelists included industry , academia and Government experts who discussed extensively on the rapidly dynamic workforce environment and how to fill the gap that exists between the Academic and job sector. Since the workforce IT needs keep changing. “It has therefore become imperative that academic institutions actively engage with the private sector and government to be aware of what they need to incorporate into their curricula in order to prepare their graduates adequately for the job market” said Sean Moroney, Chairman AITEC.

“There is no doubt that universities and tertiary institutions are providing a large pool of graduates. The problem however lies in the large disparity between academia and work. Accreditation has therefore become key in this market” Concluded Kevit Desai, Chairman of the Linking Industry With Academia (LIWA) Trust.

In closing, the Minister of Information and Communications Hon, Samuel Phogisio Concluded by thanking the conveners of the AITEC Summit especially recognizing Mr. Moroney for working tirelessly for over 25 years to continuously organize successful events to tackle changing ICT sector, he noted that more needed to be done even as Kenya and indeed Africa and the world were embracing ICT

DotConnectAfrica looks forward to attending more AITEC summits and congratulates AITEC for 25 years of excellence.