Press Contact:
Thomas Kamanzi, Newsletter Editor
tkamanzi@dotconnectafrica.org
DotConnectAfrica
DotConnectAfrica
7 Sept 2012
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 Rejoinder to TechCentral SouthAfrica 'Bizarre twist in .africa tale' |
To: The Editor-in-Chief,
Tech Central SouthAfrica
The writer has simply acknowledged that they were unable to reach DCA for comment; therefore, the story does not contain DCA's comments and official opinion on the matter, andwe see the story as unbalanced and deliberately crafted to further the point of view of UniForum ZA Central Registry; with the intention, perhaps, of achieving a jingoistic objective.
We believe that some efforts should have been made on the part of your writer to contact DCA to ensure the interest of balance and objectivity. Many Internet news media and web sites contact DCA all the time seeking one form of clarification or the other whilst also asking DCA to present its own side of the story regarding the DotAfrica issue.
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We therefore wish to use this opportunity to respond to some of the comments contained in your article.
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First, DotConnectAfrica Trust has not
applied for the wrong domain.
We have applied for the 6-charcter ASCII string that references the geographic name 'Africa'. The reveal by ICANN clearly indicates that DCA Trust has submitted an application for a geographic name.
Please refer to the ICANN list for applied-for gTLDs that is publicly available on the ICANN web site. Our organization has already issued the necessary clarifications, and also brought the issue to the immediate attention of ICANN.
We therefore expect ICANN to resolve the matter as soon as possible, as they have unmistakably indicated to DCA that they would in due course.
We believe that any story that purports to indicate that DCA Trust applied for the wrong domain name is a rearguard effort that is being sponsored by our detractors to undermine our application, and convey the impression that only UniForum ZA Central Registry applied for the .Africa domain name.
DotConnectAfrica spent several years undertaking a global campaign at great cost for the DotAfrica (.Africa) domain name, including lobbying efforts directed at the US Department of Commerce National Technology & Information Administration (NTIA) to enable support for the ICANN new gTLD programme, so we know what string name we applied for. UniForum as a late-comer on DotAfrica cannot boast of any track record in this regard.
We shall therefore continue to oppose any such insinuations that DotConnectAfrica Trust did not apply for the 'Africa' geographic name, when the ICANN reveal of applied-for gTLDs clearly indicates that DCA has submitted an application for a geographic name. The ICANN Evaluation will determine which geographic name actually appertains to DCA's application.
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Our second comment relates to the issue of 'community'
and this is what we truly consider
as a
"bizarre twist in .Africa tale "
According to your article, "the ZA Central Registry, also known as UniForum, says it intends to administer the .africa domain on behalf of the African digital community as a whole" and that 'Domain Incite, an industry website, reported in July that the African Union Commission had explicitly endorsed UniForum to "administer and operate" the .africa domain "on behalf of the African community". Again, your writer should have tried to verify whether UniForum actually submitted an application on behalf of the African Community or not. This is quite bizarre against the backdrop that your writer copiously quoted the views of Mr. Neil Dundas in his article. We believe that your writer should have been more diligent.
From what we have gleaned from the published parts of the UniForum new gTLD application for .Africa, it is not a Community TLD application. It is possible according to the statement made in the preceding paragraph that the African Union has indeed provided UniForum with a letter of appointment to apply on behalf of the African Community, but UniForum clearly did not submit an African Community TLD application according to the putative African Union appointment or endorsement.
One only needs to see the published parts of UniForum's application and their answers to Question numbers 19 and 20 to verify that UniForum deliberately failed to acknowledge any Community in their official answers to ICANN. The global Internet public should know this:
In their answer to Question No. 19 ("Is the application for a Community based TLD?"), they unequivocally stated "No".
Mission & Purpose of Proposed TLD
In describing the Mission and Purpose of their proposed gTLD (Question No. 18), UniForum have noted
inter alia
:
"The ZACR and its partners in Africa, representing governments, ccTLD administrators, the technical and user communities, share a collective vision of establishing and running a successful, African-based registry operation for the benefit and pride of Africa."
How could such a bold statement indicating a diverse community partnership be truly reconciled with their blank answer to Question 20 (a)?
Answers to Q 20 (a) to (f) - Blank
(a) Provide the name and full description of the community that the applicant is committing serve; UniForum intentionally left it blank, thus indicating that they have not actually named any community that they claim to be committing to serve in their new gTLD application for .Africa.
Interestingly, UniForum also left their answers to the following important Community TLD-related questions blank:
The question No. 20 (b) - (e) which immediately follows:
(b) Explain the applicant's relationship to the community identified in 20(a).
(c) Provide a description of the community-based purpose of the applied-for gTLD.
(d) Explain the relationship between the applied for gTLD string and the community identified in 20(a).
(e) Provide a complete description of the applicant's intended registration policies in support of the community-based purpose of the applied-for gTLD. Policies and enforcement mechanisms are expected to constitute a coherent set.
(f) Attach any written endorsements for the application from established institutions representative of the community identified in 20(a). An applicant may submit written endorsements by multiple institutions, if relevant to the community.
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