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14 March 2012 

Press Contact:
Thomas Kamanzi, Newsletter Editor
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"Governments have a role in gTLDs but...",

warns Sophia Bekele in March 2012
Main Story with CIO East Africa


DCA Press Release
CIO East Africa
 
CIO EAST AFRICA is the 
leading magazine for the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry in East Africa, published by African eDevelopment Resource Centre in conjunction with the International Data Group (IDG), a world-renowned publisher of legendary brands.

http://www.cio.co.ke/

 
March 09, 2012: Sophia Bekele has been in the news if not for promoting Dot Connect Africa's bid for the Dot Africa geographical gTLD then in a controversial statement about the same. For the last 3 years she has been clear about one thing, Dot Connect Africa (DCA) is better positioned to manage the Dot Africa domain and they will put in a strong bid for the same.  CIO East Africa caught up with Sophia when on holiday in Kenya and here are the excerpts.

 . 
"Everyone should have a role in the process, and the boundaries that have been setup should be respected by everybody, with no exceptions or preferential treatment for governments and intergovernmental bodies."  
 

CIO. There has been a lot of controversy around the Dot Africa gTLD: have the issues been settled?

  

Sophia Bekele_CIO Magazin
SB: In our mind there was no controversy initially since everyone agrees on the desirability of Dot Africa. 

However, certain issues have arisen regarding the model of its operation and ownership.  DCA has clearly made its case, and proposed an inclusive, transparent and competitive model that serves diverse needs and purposes, while others have circumscribed their Dot Africa proposal to serve the needs of a narrowly defined community.  Therefore at the end of the day, it depends on who has the more sustainable proposal that conforms to the mission and purpose of the new gTLD program.  This is what we hope would settle it eventually. 

 

ICANN is the final authority and arbitrator in this process and DCA has left is hopes in the transparent and accountable global process led by ICANN.  Even so, we remain highly encouraged by the fact that ICANN did not include the Dot Africa name in the List of Top-Level Reserved Names.  We made a strong and convincing case that anything to do with Dot Africa should be conducted within the framework of the new gTLD program.  Thus to answer your question, any controversy was deliberately contrived by those who do not subscribe to an open, competitive and transparent Dot Africa gTLD process.

 

  "At the end, it will not be an individual or corporate victory by DCA, but the collective success of the larger pan-African constituency and peoples who understand the compelling imperative to defend Africa from monopolists, special interests and disinformation campaigns on a well intentioned initiative."

 

CIO: You have been accused of being a "lone ranger" in the quest to establish Dot Africa, what's your take on this?

 

SB: Sometimes it is good to be alone ranger in a "pioneering sense,'" but in the case of Dot Africa, we have repeatedly explained, and been vindicated time and again, and asked that we should be allowed to continue with our initiative. Our independent global campaign and promotional work is well known.  We did that as a "lone ranger" at huge financial and technical and administrative effort.  It is all about believing in an independent vision. 

 

Therefore, the amorphous African Internet community who have been working with each other for a long time seem convinced that if they withdraw their support and sabotage our support from government and prospective partners, which we have documented and reported all the evidence of their doing so, hope that ICANN will not support our application, but we have absolute faith in due process as governed by the new gTLD program framework.  We are talking about a clan of about 300 people or less, who have no influence on the larger African Internet block of 1 billion and who mostly were not known until DCA came into the picture based on a vigorous global campaign and promotional activities that was widely acclaimed and generally commended.  At the end of the day, we believe that DCA will win based on the rightfulness of our cause and adherence to due process, since a transparent program will not ignore the critical issues at stake.

 So, at the end, it will not be an individual or corporate victory by DCA, but the collective success of the larger pan-African constituency and peoples who understand the compelling imperative to defend Africa from monopolists, special interests and disinformation campaigns on a well intentioned initiative.  Such sabotage can happen to anyone, the question is does one have the strength to survive and win through it?

 

Again I would like to clarify that DCA is not a "lone ranger" as contrived by our detractors.  We believe that the vision that drives our initiative should remain independent in order to ensure its unconditional success. From the amorphous community point of view that run a different organization based on "community support", of course they do not see or appreciate the amount of work that DCA has accomplished, except that we should be large in membership and conform to, and be restricted by the wishes and desires of a narrowly defined "African Internet community". 

   

 "The problem is that this power to endorse is often interpreted and extended to include overall sovereignty over the new gTLD.   We believe this should not be the case since it is monopolistic and anti-competitive coupled with problems of lack of transparency and accountability."  

 

CIO: In your opinion, what should be government's role in the governance and management of the Internet in general and domain names specifically?

 

SB :Governments have a role to play, especially regarding the establishment of an enabling and supportive environment for ICT initiatives to thrive.  However, there is a role for everybody, and global Internet governance is currently based on a multi-stakeholder modeled by ICANN. Governments already have their two-code country-level top-level domains (cc TLDs), but they also have a role to endorse geographical gTLDs.  The problem is that this power to endorse is often interpreted and extended to include overall sovereignty over the new gTLD.  We believe this should not be the case since it is monopolistic and anti-competitive coupled with problems of lack of transparency and accountability.  In the multi-stakeholder model, governments can always act through the GAC (Governmental Advisory Council) of ICANN, and also be expected to conform to the due process led by ICANN.  Everyone should have a role in the process, and the boundaries that have been setup should be respected by everybody, with no exceptions or preferential treatment for governments and intergovernmental bodies.  For example, governmental political power should not be used to restrict the role and active involvement of private sector actors.  We believe that this is the only approach to attain a sustainable, open, stable and secure Internet for everyone.

 

   "In the multi-stakeholder model, governments can always act through the GAC (Governmental Advisory Council) of ICANN, and also be expected to conform to the due process led by ICANN." 

 

 

DCA Press Releasehttp://prlog.org/11817467


Related article: 
-Internet War: The scramble for .africa domain as January deadline looms
-DCA Defends its Opposition to the Experts Meeting Agenda of the DotAfrica Task Force

 

-Say "NO" to the African Union RFP for the Operation of DotAfrica (30/IED/11)

-DCA opposes inclusion of ".africa" gTLD strings in a list of reserved names

-DCA REJOINDER:  "There was no unanimity to give special legislative protection to benefit the AU

-DCA at ICANN-42 Dakar Public Forum & DCA's Executive Briefing Note with ICANN Leadership

-DCA Commentary:  DCA Statement at the AfriICANN Meeting on .africa at Dakar

-DCA Exclusive Commentary: DCA Official Response to the Dakar African Ministerial Table 

-Say "NO" to the Masquerade 'African Agenda' for Dakar and the Illegal Cabal Supporting It!

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 Enterprise Technology magazine, Kampala, names Sophia Bekele, the "Ethiopian Champion of .africa" more...

 

. BizCommunity covers DCA's "yes2dotafrica" campaign: "Dot Africa campaign to brand continent" more...


. Radio Netherlands Worldwide:
A Dotafrica Generation soon to be born: more... 

 

. Sophia Bekele DCA founder and former ICANN gNSO policy advisor was noted by The Economist, Sept 15, 2010, as "leading the dotafrica initiative":  Can "Africa" get a make-over? more...

  

. Brains behind .africa, Diplomat East Africa more...  

 

. DCA is endorsed by African Union (AU), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and the Internationalized Domain Resolution Union (IDRU)   

DCA in the News more.


About DotConnectAfrica:

DCA is a not-for-profit, non-partisan org incorporated in Mauritius Africa & will sponsor, establish & operate a TLD registry with global recognition & regional significance dedicated to the needs of Pan-African &African community. DCA Reg.ID.CT8710DCA90