DotAfrica Top Level Domain

2012: The Year of the New gTLD Program and the Year to Support ICANN - Part II

2012-01-20T13:35:00.000-08:00

By Sophia Bekele

Talk of giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it!
Even though ICANN leaders were busy writing letters to transparently communicate further details of the new gTLD program and convince skeptics and explain the amount of work that has already been done to address the main concerns that were being raised, especially by the Association of National Advertisers, the issue caught the attention of big media.

The Washington Post Editorial Board on the other hand ignores such meticulous transparency on the part of ICANN and calls the Internet governance body "the obscure but powerful organization that manages domain names" and that "ICANN reports to no one." This is a failed attempt to give ICANN a bad name.

ICANN can hardly be described as 'obscure but powerful' as if its Internet governance work and decisions that affects us all are conducted in a secret conclave. ICANN is very transparent, holds regular international meetings on a regular basis, and publishes its entire technical and fiscal activities and works-in-progress and Board Decisions on its web site as behooves an organization that is committed to a transparent model of operation, even as it sits on top of a global multi-stakeholder system that gives everyone a voice in the governance of the Internet. ICANN reports to the global community of stakeholders as it continues to serve a global public interest. It is rather patent that such skewed editorial comments by the 'Washington Post' are aimed at influencing public opinion to go against the ICANN new gTLD program. Another influential American newspaper, the 'New York Times' has also taken cue from the Washington Post and published another critical editorial calling on ICANN to delay the new gTLD program launch date. So far, the vociferous commentaries against the new gTLD program by these two leading newspapers have not shaken the resolve of ICANN.

Furthermore, it is clear that as those who have abiding faith in the multi-stakeholder model and the new gTLD program try to move forward in 2012, there are many who would like to weaken the resolve of ICANN by attempting to portray it as what it is not, and by so doing try to derail the new gTLD program. It is for these reasons that I urge the global community of multi-stakeholders to provide unconditional support for ICANN to enable it deliver the new gTLD program successfully.

Political e-Sovereignty vs. Multi-stakeholder Model - The Battle Royale
Only the new gTLD program guarantees that our Pan-African constituency will get the DotAfrica gTLD based on an open and transparent process. Early in January 2011, as spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica Campaign, I had written an open letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce to provide support for ICANN, and clarify that the program contained adequate safeguards to protect brands and copyright owners. In the same letter, I had also tried to further justify the need for the DotAfrica gTLD, arguing that as the last frontier for development, Africa sorely needs the new geographical top-level domain name.

Already the battles lines are drawn over DotAfrica. On one side are those who are against the multi-stakeholder model, and believe that political sovereignty over African countries also gives them de facto technological rights over an Internet-based geographical gTLD such as DotAfrica. A recent CNN 'Inside Africa' news story quoted Mr. Moctar Yedaly of the African Union as saying, "[t]he .africa domain represented all Africans in the same way as the African Union flag," and further saying, "[i]t should operate in the 'interests of the community', rather than the interests of individuals in the private sector. 'This is for Africa, and Africa is 54 states.'" Such tenuous arguments which are simply a veiled attempt to use political sovereignty to take over the DotAfrica gTLD are unsustainable since the new gTLD program was not devised by ICANN to enable the AU Commission achieve e-sovereignty over Africa (or DotAfrica).

The goals of the new gTLD program are very clear, and if Africans are to benefit from what the DotAfrica vision offers, then such arguments that are based entirely on political sovereignty, and not on a well-articulated mission and purpose should be jettisoned as ill-conceived. In a true multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance as it applies to the new gTLD program, political sovereignty should not be used as a lever by governments or inter-governmental bodies such as the AU, since each country already has its two-code country-level domain. This again underscores why I am calling on the global community to continue to provide the necessary support to shore up the multi-stakeholder modeled by ICANN.

The new gTLD program needs the multi-stakeholder model in order to achieve its stated objectives. There is a 'battle royale' ahead and I will not shy away from fighting to vigorously defend the multi-stakeholder model under ICANN's leadership. 2012 is the year to defend the multi-stakeholder model so that the new gTLD program will be successful for everybody.

ICANN is not Alone
As we go into 2012, I am encouraged that there are many, including top officials and leaders in Washington DC, who believe in ICANN's leadership of the multi-stakeholder model, and that the organization should be allowed to successfully midwife the new gTLD program. The Honorable Senator John 'Jay' Rockefeller for example was reported in the ICANN Blog as giving his full support: "I think we have to get used to dot-hotels. I think we have to get used to dot-auto." This is an important vote of confidence for ICANN that came from the distinguished Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation during the official hearing regarding ICANN's new gTLD Program on December 8, 2011. Further support for the ICANN-led multi-stakeholder model also came from Mr. Lawrence E. Strickling, the Assistant Secretary in the United States Department of Commerce, whose department oversees ICANN's mandate. Assistant Secretary Larry Strickling believes that the multi-stakeholder process is "critical to preserving the model of Internet governance that has been so successful to date that all parties respect and work through the process and accept the outcome once a decision is reached."

ICANN's new gTLD program Readiness Efforts
ICANN on its part has already published its operational readiness matrix for the program by its 12th January launch date. Detailed preparations have been made regarding readying the TLD Application System (TAS), launching a customer service centre, engaging dispute resolution service providers, application fee processing, putting in place a process to provide support to applicants, and many other important activities and tasks that required detailed planning and implementation. Thus, this is one big program management effort on the part of ICANN that is the culmination of many years of committed policy development working on actionable objectives, and it would be self-defeating to either delay or stop the program altogether at this stage. The wise course of action is to continue with the new gTLD program, whilst the only present challenge is how to garner adequate support and encouragement to ICANN to ensure that the program succeeds in the face of strong but uninformed opposition. It is therefore vital that ICANN continues with its gTLD communications plan even as the new gTLD application round commences by 12th January 2012.

Those prospective new gTLD applicants who have made ample technical preparations and financial investments to participate in this current application round would be strongly encouraged that ICANN has decided to continue with its new gTLD program plan of action despite strident voices calling for delays and work stoppage altogether.

It is important that the present new gTLD round succeeds so that ICANN will feel confident enough to move to the next (second) new gTLD round. Failure will have very negative ramifications for the overall future of the Internet, with harmful implications for ICANN's stewardship of a stable and secure Internet based on the multi-stakeholder model, and this must be avoided at all cost. If the new gTLD program fails, the detractors of ICANN will be the first to point accusing fingers, even though they worked against the launch of the new gTLD program in the first place.

On this note I would like to wish ICANN and all prospective gTLD applicants a resounding success in the new gTLD program.
By Sophia Bekele, CEO of DotConnectAfrica. Ms. Sophia Bekele is a former generic Names Supporting Organization (gNSO) Council policy advisor to ICANN from 2005 to 2007 and is presently the spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica campaign. During her stint with the ICANN GNSO Council, she contributed to the new gTLD policy development effort.

2012: The Year of the New gTLD Program and the Year to Support ICANN - Part I

2012-01-20T13:27:00.000-08:00

By Sophia Bekele

2011 proved to be an unforgettable year and will always be remembered as the year that the ICANN Board approved the expansion of the Internet Domain Name System thus paving the way for new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) such as DotAfrica to be introduced and included in the root zone of the Internet.

The ICANN new gTLD program began today, 12th January 2012, with the application round now open and this important activity will make 2012 a very memorable year. It is expected that a minimum of 500 fresh applications for new generic Top Level Domains will be received by ICANN through the online TLD Applications System (TAS) by April 12 when the round closes, for processing and evaluation afterwards. This promises to be a hectic and engaging period for new gTLD applicants, and also for ICANN.

It is customary for individuals and organizations to make New Year resolutions. In 2012, my New Year resolution is to lead a team to apply to ICANN to win the mandate for the DotAfrica new gTLD and operation of the DotAfrica registry when the application round opens on January 12, 2012.

I believe that the new ICANN gTLD program offers a more transparent method to arrive at a suitable operator for the DotAfrica registry. Many international/inter-governmental organizations (IGOs) including the African Union Commission have already asked for certain new gTLD name strings to be included in the Top-Level Reserved Names List so that such 'reserved names' would be unavailable for applicants. It is important to note that ICANN has so far not wavered and yielded to such impossible and unreasonably imperious demands.

Also, during 2012, we foresee that the debate will intensify for a new global Internet governance architecture to perhaps, dethrone the present governance mechanism led by ICANN. I believe that such moves will be disruptive to the current system and will be championed by those who wish to see greater control of the Internet by governments as they wish to use political sovereignty to forcefully impose their ownership on the Internet and restrict the applicability of the current stakeholder model.

Therefore, whilst we are all enthusiastic for 2012 because of the new gTLD program, we must also be cautiously optimistic and very mindful on account of the difficult battles ahead. ICANN needs support from all those who are genuinely committed to the multi-stakeholder model within the global Internet Community.

The U.S. Government's Interest in a 'Free Internet'
Those who wish to disrupt the status quo argue against ICANN because they see it as a United States-based entity that works to oversight and execute a U.S.-government contract, thus, an agent of the United States Government. Such arguments that mostly emanate from outside the U.S., for example China, Russia, and India, are often aimed at countering perceived U.S. hegemony over the Internet, but also fail to realize that the U.S. gave the Internet to the world. We all seem to forget so soon that the history of the Internet is actually rooted in the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency Network (DARPANET). Even though the U.S. 'owns' the Internet on the basis of its historical origins, we must all recognize that the U.S. has also tried to maintain the independence of the Internet, since something that was born out of the innovation of scientific and technological freedom, a pillar of American culture, cannot be subjected to unnecessary restrictions that will hinder its further development as a platform of true innovation on a sustainable basis. This is what the new gTLD program aims for — as one of its key objectives — to spur further innovation on the Internet as new Internet domains are creatively exploited beyond what we have currently. It is anticipated that the new gTLD program shall unleash further inventiveness on the Internet platform.

Another reason why the United States government tries its level best to ensure a free Internet is because it serves its foreign policy goals with respect to public diplomacy and outreach at very minimal cost. Internet-enabled protest movements are bringing down undemocratic governments faster than any overt regime-change effort or ideology has managed to do in the past. Judging from the recent experience of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and now Syria, it would have been very difficult for a successful case to have been made for the military invasion of Iraq — but this is 2012 and not 2003 when there was no Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. A contemporary argument would be: "we need not send a large military force to achieve regime change; let the people have their Internet access, and their Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and let them mobilize, organize themselves on social media and bring about political change themselves."

Special Interest Groups against the ICANN new gTLD Program
Thus, on one hand, a free Internet serves the American interest of promoting freedom on a global basis, there are also forces within the United States that are against ICANN, who do not wish the new gTLD program to proceed such as the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) that are worried about brand and trademark infringements and have actively lobbied the U.S. Department of Commerce and campaigned against the new gTLD program. The new gTLD program is threatened by those who think it is being rushed, but conveniently ignore the fact that the new gTLD policy development process has taken about seven (7) years to accomplish during which period all necessary safeguards and measures were put in place to protect trademarks and brand-owners during the new gTLD application process. The ANA argues that new gTLDs will increase 'cyber-squatting', meanwhile the ICANN new gTLD process has zero-tolerance for cyber-squatting behavior, and any applicant with a proven history of cyber-squatting risks automatic disqualification by ICANN.

The Prolonged Policy Development Process
As a former ICANN GNSO council member who was involved during the rigorous new gTLD policy development process, I believe all these issues raised by the ANA and other corporate brand owners have already been addressed adequately. Such fears, even though valid, are presently unfounded because they have already been taken care of.

In a recent ICANN Blog post, Kurt Pritz who heads the new gTLD Program and recently testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation's hearing on the new gTLD program, wrote:
"I gave the Committee a brief history of the new gTLD program and highlighted the seven years of thorough, transparent and inclusive discussion and debate, including: 2400 public comments from 47 extended comment periods that resulted in over 1400 pages of comment summary and analysis, formation of ten independent expert working groups, and 59 explanatory memoranda and independent reports."

In a nutshell, Kurt Pritz, speaking for ICANN, has successfully argued before the U.S. Senate Committee that mutatis mutandis, the new gTLD program should work for everyone's benefit.

Support for ICANN
It became clear by the day that ICANN needs both institutional support and moral encouragement to proceed with the program in a level-headed manner. Personally I saw the clamors for delays as simply the first step in attempting to kill the program, and pull the rug from under the feet of ICANN. Early in this New Year, Steve Crocker, ICANN Board Chairman was quick to explain that delaying the program would serve no purpose, other than playing into the hands of those who wanted to derail it, and that the critics of the program could not point to any specific aspect where additional time would help in working out further details.
I am glad to see that 2011 ended and 2012 began with ICANN continuing to show resolve in staying the course, and a strong determination to proceed with the new gTLD program and not buckle in the face of ardent political pressure especially from lobbyists.

By Sophia Bekele, CEO of DotConnectAfrica. Ms. Sophia Bekele is a former generic Names Supporting Organization (gNSO) Council policy advisor to ICANN from 2005 to 2007 and is presently the spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica campaign. During her stint with the ICANN GNSO Council, she contributed to the new gTLD policy development effort.

Obama Says So Long SOPA, Killing Controversial Internet Piracy Legislation

2012-01-20T13:14:00.000-08:00

The growing anti-SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) support that has swept through the gaming and Internet community found a very big ally today. With websites like Reddit and Wikipedia and gaming organizations like Major League Gaming prepared for a blackout on January 18^th – the same day that the House Judiciary Committee hearing on HR 3261was scheduled in Washington, DC – President Barack Obama has stepped in and said he would not support the bill.

SOPA has been delayed, for now. The House has agreed to revisit the issue next month, but they now know the White House will veto any bill that’s not more narrowly focused.

Much to the chagrin of Hollywood, the Entertainment Software Association (which has been a backer of the bill from early on), and Internet domain company GoDaddy.com (which lost many accounts as a result of its support for the bill); SOPA has been shelved. The Motion Picture Association of America, one of the bill’s largest sponsors, is expected to regroup.

California congressman Darrell Issa, who has been opposed to the bill from the beginning, praised the Internet action that has swept like a virus across the Web the past week.

“The voice of the Internet community has been heard,” said Issa. “Much more education for members of Congress about the workings of the Internet is essential if anti-piracy legislation is to be workable and achieve broad appeal.”

But there remains another similar bill, Protect IP (the Enforcing and Protecting American Rights Against Sites Intent on Theft and Exploitation Act), that poses a problem for gamers and Internet users. This legislation is scheduled to go before the Senate on January 24^th.

Both SOPA and Protect IP attempt to combat online piracy by preventing American search engines like Google and Yahoo from directing users to sites distributing stolen content. Both bills also would enable people and companies to sue if their copyright was infringed. Obama has come out against both bills, which killed SOPA and puts pressure on senators come January 24^th. The full White House response can be read here.
“Any provision covering Internet intermediaries such as online advertising networks, payment processors, or search engines must be transparent and designed to prevent overly broad private rights of action that could encourage unjustified litigation that could discourage startup businesses and innovative firms from growing,” said The White House. “We expect and encourage all private parties, including both content creators and Internet platform providers working together, to adopt voluntary measures and best practices to reduce online piracy.”

Just like piracy itself, this debate isn’t over. Expect more bills to move forward, although the wording in future legislation is expected to be more narrowly focused in an attempt to appease the current administration. But given the current economic climate and the upcoming Presidential election, there could be a different administration entering The White House soon, changing the landscape for these types of bills.

Article Courtesy Forbes

An end to Domain Parking business?

2011-12-02T04:54:00.000-08:00

Google has tweaked its algorithm in order to deindex parked domains from the search engine results pages(SERPs) by introducing a new parked domain classifier. According to the search engine's Inside Search blog, "This is a new algorithm for automatically detecting parked domains. Parked domains are placeholder sites that are seldom useful and often filled with ads. They typically don’t have valuable content for our users, so in most cases we prefer not to show them."

Domain owners will also be compelled to use DNS instead of URL forwarding to clearly indicate the nameservers for the domain parking companies thus help Google crawlers to easily identify and deindex parked domains from the search engine results pages. Domain portfolio owners are however complaining of "hypocrisy" since Google too is involved in the domain parking business as a direct beneficiary of the ads it serves to parking companies' networks and also through its own Adsense for Domains service. As one popular domain blogger has said, Google has "both pie and the knife" in the domain parking industry..

Domain parking in this context refers to the practice of registering domain names and then serving PPC ads on those pages to visitors to generate revenues for the Parking companies, companies serving the adverts and the domain owners. Domain registrars also own massive portfolios of parked domain names. Some of the biggest players in the domain parking business include Sedo, Skenzo, Moniker, TrafficZ, Domain Sponsors, Namedrive plus many other registrars including GoDaddy, .The new rules will definitely cut deep into the revenues of domain parking industry. Some of the parked domains on the web include names of African countries such as ethiopia.com zambia.com lesotho.com. mozambique.com

DotConnectAfrica's application to ICANN will incorporate rights protection mechanisms that will ensure countries and geographical regions can protect their names from unauthorized use in the .africa namespace before the general availability of the domain names to all internet users.

On Pre-registration of .africa(DotAfrica) domain names

2011-11-16T05:42:00.000-08:00

It started off as a trickle but now there is an avalanche of websites offering consumers "pre-registration" of new gTLD domain names including .africa. In some quarters, especially for those users unfamiliar with new gTLD process but interested in acquiring a cool domain like ideas.africa or brand.africa this can create a lot of confusion. Many registrars offer domain per-registrations for varying reasons.

Domain pre-registrations are not illegal. At the same time, ICANN has never authorized pre-registrations of any future TLDs. According to the organization, "the reason is simple: There is no way to be sure that a certain string will become a TLD and hence available for domain name registration until all steps in the associated evaluation and delegation processes are successfully completed." So this practice exists in a legal/policy no man's land in the launch of generic top level domains. It's purely speculative as both registrants and registrars assume, optimistically, that the new gTLD will be available soon.

While this can result in abuse, eg companies asking consumers to pay for domain "pre-registrations" long before the applications for new gTLDs have even been submitted to ICANN or evaluations finalized, for the most part in this new gTLD round, the practice has been harmless.

It's important to realize that while pre-registering a domain can be useful especially in cases where registrars frequently keep you updated on the progress of the new gTLDs program, it does not confer any rights on you for the domain name, which is yet to be applied for or delegated anyway. Some registrars offer consumers promises that the domain will be secured for them when they are launched but it's important to realize that this is not guaranteed as domains will be registered on a first come first served basis and you might find yourself competing with other potential registrants for the same domains when the .africa domains are available for registration to all internet users.

Given the risk of confusion or even fraud in a few cases, consumers and companies interested in "pre-registering" .africa domains are advised to carefully look at what is being offered by various domain registrars. In case in doubt or for further clarification on domain pre-registrations, email us at yes2dotafrica[at]dotconnectafrica.org

DotConnectAfrica at AFRALO Showcase in Dakar

2011-11-12T22:26:00.000-08:00

DotConnectAfrica attended the AFRALO showcase in Dakar as well as the AFRALO general assembly. We witnessed as regional At Large Structures(ALS) leaders came forward in true African fashion and attire and represented various constituencies of individual African users at ICANN.

AFRALO Showcase at ICANN 42 in Dakar

AFRALO refers to the African At Large Regional Organization and is the regional constituency representing African internet users within ICANN. The term "At Large" refers to all the individual internet users that are not represented by other constituencies at ICANN.

As far as policy making is concerned, ICANN has the ccNSO that caters for the interests of the ccTLDs, gNSO in charge of policy development for the generic top level domains, the GAC which caters for the interests of the governments, the Registrar Stakeholders Group which caters for the interests registrars and their registrants and so on. ALAC is the body at ICANN that caters for the interests of internet users who have "no stake" on the internet body's policy making processes.

AFRALO is relatively new and was conceived during the ICANN meeting in Lisbon when some 15 ALSs signed an agreement with ICANN after the culmination of a 5 year effort to get the constituency off the ground, an effort that was led by the ISOC chapters of Sudan, South Africa and Morocco.

In Dakar, we witnessed with admiration as AFRALO put forward a great African showcase with music, dance, food and culture to announce Africa's resolve to influence policy making at ICANN. DotConnectAfrica looks forward to a dialogue and to working with the various African ALSs to make .africa a reality.

Note: AFRALO membership is open to organizations based in Africa. For more information on whether your organization is qualified and how your organization can apply and become an At Large Structure, please AFRALO page here

Remembering Dakar: An ICANN with an African taste

2011-11-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

ICANN has not yet assimilated Africa fully and neither has Africa assimilated ICANN but there are good reasons to believe we are headed in the right direction towards assimilation. The organization is evolving faster than we had imagined, from an American nonprofit into a true international organization. It's time for Africa to embrace ICANN and make it even more international!

The ICANN Dakar meeting was a good bonding session between ICANN and Africa. Africa was able to bring its issues out in a clear and engaging manner to the ICANN community and Board, many Africans participated in various ICANN discussion groups; AFRALO, representing individual African internet users, had its day in the sun as ALS(At Large Structures) representing 15 African countries attended the ICANN Dakar meeting. Many Africans interested in internet governance, from governments, civil society, academia had their first ICANN fellowship at the ICANN 42 meeting in Dakar.

ICANN needs Africa's participation to ensure the stability of the internet. African users are a part of the global internet community and participation that brings out our own unique set of challenges regarding the DNS and IP addressing issues is critical to the stability of the global internet and the multistakeholder process that drives the internet. Our participation also ensures greater global legitimacy for ICANN.

We need ICANN's help more in managing and developing our internet infrastructure as more of our populations find internet indispensable in their daily lives. There's need to ensure African internet resources-Domain name system and IP addresses- are available, stable, secure, open to innovation and competition, well governed through best practices as far policy oversight is concerned and that African internet leaders can participate in the management of these critical resources at the global decision making table table.

So hopefully, Dakar is the catalyst for greater future African involvement at ICANN and DCA welcomes that. It's now time to contribute our perspective and concerns on the various policy issues affecting us and help give the community, this multistakeholder internet community, an African voice too.

Africa: Becoming an ICANN Accredited Registrar

2011-11-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

There are only 5 ICANN Accredited Registrars in Africa

There are only 5 ICANN Accredited registrars in Africa out of over 995 ICANN Accredited registrars globally. Africa and Latin America are the regions least served by ICANN Accredited Registrars. This means the continent is ill equipped in terms of the profit advantages, marketing support and capabilities, clout, trust, stability and technical capability that ICANN Accredited registrars are always associated with.

It’s therefore no surprise that the Registrars Stakeholder Group (RrSG) at ICANN, a body that looks after the interests of registrars and registrants at ICANN has only representatives from North America, Asia Pacific and Europe. African registrars are not represented because their share of the global registrar/reseller business is almost negligible. It’s however important for African ICANN accredited registrars and others to participate in the RrSG at ICANN for networking, business, technology transfer and industry best practice.

The first ICANN accredited Registrar in Africa was Senegal’s Kheweul. Other ICANN Accredited Registrars in Africa include AfriRegister from Burundi, Ghana.com, Internet Solutions from South Africa and Genious Communications from Morocco. The first ICANN Accredited Registrar in Latin America was Brazil’s Nommer. You will need $70,000(working capital) in cash to set up an ICANN Accredited Registrar. For more details on the discussions on becoming an ICANN Accredited Registrar, download the presentations here.

Here is summary of what it takes for your registrar to have the envied “ICANN Accredited Registrar” mark:
Qualification:
-Business Requirements: Corporate structure, ability to run registrar
-Financial Capabilities: Evidence of financial stability
-Commercial General Liability: Insurance requirements by ICANN and registries.

Governing Agreements and Policies
-Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA): Contract between ICANN and Registrar
-Registry-Registrar Agreement (RRA) : Contract between registrar and each of the gTLD registries
-Registrar-Registrant Agreement: Contract between registrar and registrar’s customers
-Reseller Agreement (if applicable) : Agreement if you plan to do business with resellers
-Consensus Policy: Dispute resolutions and inter-registrar transfers
-Data Escrow Agreement: Agreements to escrow data: To reconstruct data and protect registrants when registrar goes out of business.

Fees (as of 26 October 2011)
-Application fee (1 time USD 3,500): One time application fee
-Yearly accreditation fee (USD 4,000): Annual accreditation fee. First year paid uofront,opt to pay quarterly in subsequent years.
-Quarterly variable fee (approximately USD 1,100 per quarter). Possibility of 2/3 reduction for smaller registrars (see budget) : Spread across registrars. For small registrars, there is 2/3 reduction=$300-$400
-Transaction fee (USD 0.18 per one year increments for new registrations, transfers or renewals):
-Fees paid to the Registries: For example VeriSign charges $7.34 per .com domain

Application Process
-The applicant submits the completed application and pays the application fee.
-ICANN reviews the application for approval – Follow-up conducted with the applicant for further information or to clarify application answers.
-Once the application is approved, ICANN sends the RAA along with an invoice for the first year accreditation fee to the applicant.
-Applicant must then return the signed RAA and the payment of the first year fee and satisfy any outstanding requirements.
-ICANN signs the contract and announces the new registrar’s accreditation to the registries.

After Accreditation, you can join the Registry Stakeholder Group which has several advantages including opportunities to:
-Participate in industry policy formation
-Make a direct impact on rules and regulations that directly affect your business
-Network with and learn from the exclusive set of Registrar businesses from around the world

Read more on becoming an ICANN Accredited Registrar

ICANNWiki Caricatures for generation.africa

2011-11-05T18:11:00.000-07:00

A fun part of the ICANN meeting is the ICANNWiki! ICANNWiki was founded by American Internet Entrepreneur Ray King as a grassroots project, involving community efforts to compile articles on people, companies, and organisations related to ICANN and the domain name industry.

In every ICANN meeting, ICANNWiki collects brief biographies of participants in their booth , furnished with a chair for interviews and a photo studio. The interview is brief, about 5 minutes if you are quick with your answers and they ask about your work, interests, societies and associations, hobbies, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles and other minor details! They then take a snapshot of you and in 12 hours you have the infamous ICANNWiki caricature. I don’t know what you think of mine but my nephew tells me it looks like a very famous cartoon. Here are some of the ICANNWiki Caricatures and profiles for DotConnectAfrica’s generation.africa team taken during ICANN 42 Dakar, all of whom were attending an ICANN meeting for the first time, hence having their first ICANNWiki date.

Adame

Djibril

Khadidiatou

Senegal gets an L-Root server, some insight into root servers in Africa

2011-11-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

An important event during the ICANN 42 meeting was the launch of the L-Root server in Dakar which will be hosted by Senegal's Sonatel.

Root servers are the backbone of the internet, containing a database of all the top level domain names on the web and they provide resolution for top level domain names(TLDs) like .com .org .net .info etc and almost all of the country code top level domain names(ccTLDs).

Currently, there are 243 root server copies grouped in 13 clusters (13 root servers with 243 instances) operated by various organizations : A(Verisign), B(Information Science Institute), C(Cogent communications), D(University of Maryland), E(NASA Ames Research Centre), F(ISC), G(US DOD NIC), H(US army res. Lab), I(Netnod), J(Verisign), K(RIPE), L(ICANN), M(WIDE project)

Without the root servers, the internet would simply come to a standstill. Hosting root servers in a country has wide varying implications for the local users. It implies a level of autonomy in DNS resolution can occur within the country even when the international cables are damaged and helps keep internet communications local, thus lowering the costs while improving performance and reliability for local users.

The move to establish an L root server in Dakar will ensure DNS queries in the country and the West African subregion are resolved much faster and generally, more root server copies ensure the overall security and stability of the internet. This is a privilege that's currently enjoyed only by a few countries in Africa.

Top level domain names are hosted in specific countries depending on the location of their root servers. This ensures that the TLD is always resolvable at all times. We will soon update you on the TLDs that will hosted on Senegal's L-root server. We hope that in just a year's time, dotafrica(.africa) will be one of the TLDs on the L-root server in Dakar!

Map Courtesy: Packet Clearing House

Africa, Latin America and the Carribean are some of the most underserved regions in terms of distribution of root server copies. In Africa, root servers copies are situated in South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt and now Senegal as the map above clearly shows.

ICANN 42 Dakar: Being a part of the registry of human knowledge

2011-11-05T17:22:00.000-07:00

"Internet is the most perfect democracy. Because in front of the computer Senegalese, Japanese, and American, they go to the same speed as the speed of light." President Abdoulaye Wade, Senegal

DCA had a challenging but excting task outlining our vision for DotAfrica during the historic ICANN meeting in Dakar the past week. Dakar inevitably was the capital of the internet in the last week of October and our team was impressed by the great interest in the dotafrica initiative in Senegal.

The meeting in Dakar was opened by Senegalese President, Abdoulaye Wade, a champion of the information society in Senegal and a Pan Africanist who believes Africa should take a more prominent role in policy debates at the high table at ICANN. The president engaged the internet community more deeply on the issues of DNS security, rights protections, inclusion of the developing world in policy making , the issue of dotafrica and the need for Africa to play a role during this new gTLD application round.

The theme of the speech, you can read it here, was not just one of the standard speeches drafted for heads of states, but a conversation, a dialogue on the stakes in the internet and how Africa can be a part of this "perfect democracy". It was a reflection on Africa's place in this "trillion dollar marketplace". In the president's words, "our continent is not at the heart of strategic operations of the Internet".

President Wade at ICANN meeting in Dakar Opening Ceremony

Warm welcome in the "land of the Teranga"
After a warm reception, in the true fashion of the Senegalese Teranga, we embarked on the task at hand. How do you sell domain names to Africa; not existing domain names, but future domain names? We were in the task of selling a future possibility that will give the African continent a unified identity on the cyberspace. So the first task was putting our vision in a clear language. .africa domain names will be the new ".com for Africa".

The interest was huge, many visitors to the DotConnectAfrica booth were interested in knowing where they can register .africa domains; could we suggest some registrars? How much would they cost? This is where African internet stakeholders and ICANN's new gTLD communication campaign should be focused on. While DCA has done consistent outreach to our community and region on dotafrica and the new gTLD program, there is still a very discernible gap in knowledge and awareness of the new gTLD program in Africa and there is need for more stakeholders in Africa and the diaspora to join us in the "heavy lifting". There's need for an outreach campaign targeted at the developing world and in a language that we can understand, particularly in Africa. The new gTLD program is still a very "developed world phenomenon".

Once again, there's fear that Africa might be excluded from a revolutionary change in the internet and the DNS. But having proposed the dotafrica Top Level Domain six years ago, one of the oldest new gTLD initiatives in this application round, and having campaigned across the continent and seen the enthusiasm of Africa for a continental domain name in Dakar and elsewhere in Africa, at DCA we are 100% certain that Africa will include itself come January next year! It's time for .africa

Inaugural .nxt Conference Reveals the Next Internet Revolution: 9 -10 February 2011: SAN FRANCISCO, Ca

2010-11-16T19:48:00.000-08:00

.........and DCA will be there!

dot-nxt, a new conference in downtown San Francisco, will bring the world’s internet experts together to foster and promote the next Internet revolution - the proliferation of new Internet extensions, or “gTLDs”.
The .nxt conference (http://dot-nxt.com) will be held at the Hyatt Regency on 9-10 February 2011 and is hosted by the San Francisco Bay chapter of the Internet Society (ISOC), a non-profit organization that provides leadership in Internet related standards, education, and policy.
.nxt will examine all aspects of this new piece of Internet infrastructure from applying for a gTLD and running the necessary technical systems to finding investors, marketing and differentiating the new extension.

5-10 December: ICANN 39- DotAfrica soon to meet Latin America!

2010-11-01T18:51:00.000-07:00

Cartegena Colombia -the Athens of America:

DotAfrica will join ICANN 39 & .CO.Internet S.A.S, the Registry Operator for the .CO top-level domain, who is host to ICANN 40 in Cartagena de Indias, a city which transfers us back to history where the, Cartagena's colonial walled city and fortress were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today, Cartagena is the fifth largest urban area in Colombia, and a centre of economic activity in the Caribbean region. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartagena,_Colombia

Check our press rooms, blogs, and flickr for DotAfrica on-site activities.

13-23 September 2010: DCA goes to Washington

2010-09-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

13-23 September 2010: DCA goes to Washington

DotConnectAfrica , handpicked as part of the African Business Champion delegation meet with Obama administration to discuss US investment in Africa. DCA met with Senior leadership of US Businesses and Policy

makers in a week’s long activities and events in Washington DC during the annual Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) week.

The African Business Champion's forum concluded with a generous reception Embassy of Angola, in Washington, D.C.

Finally, DCA was invited on Saturday September 18, 2010 to the 40th Annual Legislative Phoenix Awards Dinner hosted by the CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION (CBCF) at the Washington Convention Center.

The forum was graced by a key note remark from President Obama, with his wife Michelle in attendance.

Link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFIK8ZU8koA

Film industry loved us (smile) http://filmifi.com/gossip/DotAfrica-Goes-To-Washington-3891141.html

7 -8 Sept 2010:Launch of the ".Africa" East Africa Campaign

2010-09-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

7-8 Sept 2010: Launch of the ".Africa" East Africa Campaign:

The campaign for DotAfrica started by DCA making a keynote address to the panel and audience gathered during the launch of the East Africa ".africa" campaign at the AITEC ICT summit held in Nairobi, Kenya.

DCA spoke on way-forward on the contribution of the ".africa" name to an ICT enabled environment.

Followed by a dotAfrica panel discussion composed of DCA, its advisors providing their views and others invited to make comparative and express their views of dotafrica.

During the day, DotAfrica booth signed up nearly 200 visitors to the Yes campaign.
Finally, the forum at AITEC ended by DCA hosting the famous local Sarakazi dancers and the famous local singer, radio personality Patricia Wangechi Kihorolast, also composer of the "It is time for dotafrica" song, co-edited by DCA. (Right). Press release

http://prlog.org/10916169:

26 Aug 2010 – ".Africa" at IGF 2010 Kampala, Uganda

2010-08-27T01:12:00.000-07:00

Kampala, Uganda: The 3rd EA-IGF, 2010 was held in Kampala, Uganda from 11th - 13th August, 2010. Hosted by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), I-Network Uganda, Collaboration on International ICT policy for East and Southern (CIPESA), and Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET).

Sophia clarified is how the ".africa" TLD should not be seen as a competition to ccTLDs, rather, Bekele said "we will cross market and increase the visibiliy of every ccTLD that wants to work with us. The .africa name should raise the profiles of all ccTLDs and regional block ings such as EAC or COMESA".

Sophia Bekele Interview with Monitor News, Kampala (Left)

Noting the audience's reactions to the popularity of the ".africa" name and talking to the press, Bekele said, "I quote Victor Hugo; no army is so powerful to stop an idea whose time has come. The ".africa" TLD is here to stay. I said the same when I championed IDNs at ICANN, which turned to be a success.

DCA was a supporter and sponsor of EAIGF Kampala forum. A sincere vote of thanks to the organizers and participants.

".Africa" presentation link: http://eaigf.or.ke/files/eaigf2010/dotafrica_presentation.pdf

Press coverage of Kampala:
http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=7C756947-1A64-6A71-CE373250A7BA4A5F
http://www.newsciencejournalism.net/index.php?/news_articles/view/is_dot_eac_domain_needed/

29 July 2010 -Nairobi Kenya - DCA calls for support for ".africa" at Kenya IGF

2010-08-27T01:06:00.000-07:00

Nairobi, Kenya, 29th July 2010: DCA participated in the 2010 Kenya internet governance forum which was hosted under the theme "advancing the internet governance debate in kenya. More info on Kenya IGF.

Calling for support, Bekele spoke on ".Africa" and the need for people to recognize its benefits and opportunities and not to parallel its treatment and consideration with commercial generic Top Level domains such as .bank or .food, as ".Africa" falls under a “geographic domain" requiring for eg. endorsements from governments." She also said, “Our model of governance follows the Kenya Network Information Centre KNIC multi-stakeholder model. The technical community needs to raise their concerns and issues openly and transparently based on merits of the project”

Commenting on the role of IGF forum and of ICANN, Mr. Barry Ryan, an advisor to DotConnectAfrica and the CEO of Fintech International, said: “ICANN has emphasized on a strict separation on its governance model for various areas such as registry registrants, DNS, IP versus the IGF forum which seem to take a more generalized approach, which should not be confused with the well focused areas of ICANN” .

Photo by People Magazine:

Ms. Sophia Bekele, Mr. Barry Ryan, Dr. Ndemo Bitange

The conference attracted government representatives, including James Rege, the chair of the Parliamnetary committee on energy, communications and information and Dr Bitange Ndemo, the PS ministry of information and communication. There were also stakeholders in the ICT community in the country. DCA press release link

4-13 July 2010 - The ".africa" name re-branding Africa at the World Cup

2010-08-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

Johannesburg, SouthAfrica: DCA was a key Delegate with POLITICAL AND BUSINESS LEADERS THAT MET TO ACCELERATE AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT on July 4-13.

As part of the Inagural African Leadership Retreat in CapeTown and Johannesburg, DCA was invited to present the '.Africa' project and partake a panel discussion that was set to REBRAND the African continent Trevor Manuel, (RIGHT) currently
serving in the Cabinet of South Africa as Minister in the Presidency in charge of the National Planning Commission. officially opened the ALR on July 5th at the Twelve Apostles Hotel in Cape T own (BELOW).

Sophia Bekele said, "We are now in South Africa the country that is hosting the World Cup and doing an excellent job of branding Africa. It is the right time to be here" at the Johannesburg leg.

ALRStrategic Commitee Advisors.

Sophia Bekele with Dr. Mamphele

Ramphele, (RIGHT) Chairperson of Goldfields, former Managing Director of the World Bank and an Icon of South Africa.

DotAfrica Vuvuzula at World cup (LEFT), with Ebenezer Essoka,CEO of Standard Charter, South Africa.

The Semi Finals in Capetown (Right)

Founder and organizer of African Leadership Retreat (ALR) , Mr.

Mamadu Toure with Director Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Geoferry Rothschild, Director Govt & International Affiars, Chair of ALR (LEFT).

The dotafrica campaign journey (RIGHT)!

Presentations and speeches click here

20-25 June 2010-DotAfrica in Brussels - ICANN 38

2010-06-19T06:52:00.000-07:00

Hosted by ".eu", it will be all about "European Identity" at the ICANN conference in Brussels

DotConnectAfrica is an official sponsor to ICANN 38th . ".Africa" the first African Top Level Domian Name to be sponsored at ICANN International event!.

Left: Sophia with the ICANN Board at gala dinner
Right: Dr. Subbiah, Board Advisor to DCA discussing dotAfrica's work.

ICANN Brussels was a success for DCA, please visit our press room for report.

1-4 June 2010, DotAfrica in Tripoli, Libya

2010-06-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

Tripoli, Libya: As the Mediterranean city of Tripoli held its First International Electronic Conference, the Executive Director, was invited to present her views on how PPPs, and how it could assist in the implementation of e-government projects, noting her company's various experiences, including the ".africa" initiative.
Link to conference: http://www.ficeg.org.ly/en/ind ex.php? ".

Left: Ms. Sophia Bekele interviewed by one of the country's leading newspapers, Daily Libyan Newspaper- Aljamahiria http://www.aljamahiria.com/,
For full interview link http://www.scribd.com/doc/34588014/Sophia-Bekele-interview-with-Libya-press Alijamahiria#fullscreen:on

24-28 May 2010 - DotAfrica at Abidjan, Cote d' ivoire

2010-06-14T21:37:00.000-07:00

Cote d' ivoire, Abidjan: Jeff Konande interviewed the Executive Director of DotAfrica, one of the premium talk shows in the continent Capital Talk, K24 at the capital city of Abidjan, and asked about the new initiative she was promoting at the ADB conference - the ".africa" domain.
A link to the above interview is featured at newTLD.tv. http://www.newtlds.tv/

DCA was invited delegate for the African Development Bank's annual meeting along with other VIPs, who are there to shape the continent's economic agenda. Far Left: Dr. Ping, Chair of AU & Dr. Mo Ibrahim; Middle:Mr. Gabriel Negatu, ADB Executive; Right: Carl & Son of Goodworks USA; Photo's by DCA.

10-14 May 2010 - DotAfrica in Lagos - the city that never sleeps

2010-05-18T23:39:00.000-07:00

DotConnectAfrica unveiled its new logo during a presentation at the AITEC conference in Lagos, Nigeria.

Domain '.africa' to be discussed in the AITEC West Conference.(click) Right with Sean Moroney, organizer

"We will succeed in Uniting Africa", said Executive Director, Sophia Bekele below during her presentation. ".Africa is more that an internet initiative, it is branding africa in a common theme. Lagos is very PanAfrican and we confirmed their support." Press Release

Conference to discuss .africa domain space (click)

The Eko Hotel which was host to both AITEC event as well as Miss Nigeria, turned out an explosive combination of glamour event in the city that never sleeps -Lagos!

7 May 2010 San Francisco USA - INETSF 2010

2010-04-07T23:11:00.000-07:00

Theme: Internet trust, challenges and the next 10 years http://www.sfbayisoc.org/INETSF2010

In the current Internet model we are faced with growing challenges of trust. The San Francisco INET will bring together experts from Internet policy, standards, private sector and user community. The goal of this conference is not to find ways to focus on problems with the current Internet trust model but what we want the model to be in the next ten years.

The meeting is free and open to all, but pre-registration is required by April 23rd 2010. Speakers include: Peter Dengate Thrush, ICANN Chairman, Jim Fenton Cisco, Daniel T Dreymann, CEO Goodmail Systems, Dave Lewis, Online Trust Alliance, Zaid Ali President/Chairman SF-Bay ISOC and much more..

11/May/2010: SF-INET a success: Organizers and volunteers included DCA representatives. Articles: political prespective; email & trust perspective

7-12 March 2010: ".Africa" at ICANN's 37 Public Meeting, Nairobi Kenya

2010-03-10T00:15:00.000-08:00

http://nbo.icann.org/

THE VENUE, The Kenyatta International Conference Centre Harambee Avenue, NAIROBI

The making of ".Africa" in Nairobi!

1- Setting up banners was only one of the campaign that DCA had for .africa at ICANN.... Left

2- CEO of ICANN Rob Beckstrom took a visit to DotConnectAfrica's partner offices at AmBank House, Nairobi, Kenya. Right

3- Supporters of DCA: Team ".Africa" over 40 local supporters were present at ICANN

Nairobi to support DCA's efforts! below left

4-DCA Exec Director with Katim Tourey, African member of ICANN Board, exhibiting the new ".africa" poster. below right

In Summary, Nairobi held a very successful ICANN meeting for ".africa". DCA's governance model and efforts to date got support not only from the ICANN technical community, but the largesr stakeholder to include government, business & technical community of Kenya. DCA Press Release link

Video links from NewTlds.tv DCA's campaign at the 1% club in Niarobi

7 March 2010 Nairobi: International Women's Day - DCA's Director featured on Carol Mandi's show

2010-03-09T08:32:00.000-08:00

A forum "talking about Glass Celling, Myth or Reality", on NTV.

Njeri Rionge, a Board Director at DotConnectAfrica featured, as one of Nairobi's power independent women, on the very popular Carol Mandi's show, Sunday, on NTV of Nairobi discussing the role of women and the topic of glass ceiling, in recognition of International Women's day!

Njeri responded "It is important that the Challenges will be there. Every single women have to decide their path. If there is a superficial glass ceiling, you need to look somewhere to look for your opportunities". She added, "you need to be mentored", Njeri said responding to the audience's Q on how to overcome the glass ceiling" It is good to identify with someone you call as a mentor" continued Njeri "You need to have that conversation" which seem to be her motto when she speaks to all of us and at her Exec coaching work at "Ignite consulting".
DCA wishes all women a Happy International Women's day!