DotConnectAfrica Update: 
United States Court Has Granted an Interim Relief for DCA Trust  on .Africa gTLD
 

Press Release
 
DotConnectAfrica Logo March. 05, 2016 Nairobi, Kenya:  A UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA - WESTERN DIVISION ruling has granted an Interim Relief for DotConnectAfrica by issuing a decision  [PDF Case No: CV 16-00862 RGK (JCx)]below that ICANN should hold off from delegating the .AFRICA top-level domain (TLD) for ZA Central Registry (ZACR). 

The Court ruled: (March 4, 2016)
(IN CHAMBERS) Plaintiff's Ex Parte Application for TRO (DE [20]) by Judge R. Gary Klausner: The Court grants Plaintiff's Ex Parte Application for TRO. Defendant is enjoined from issuing the .Africa gTLD until the Court decides Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction, scheduled for hearing on April 4, 2016. (ah) 

Upon review of the parties' arguments, the Court finds serious questions going to the merits. Plaintiff has demonstrated that once the gTLD is issued, it will be unable to obtain those rights elsewhere. Moreover, the injury it will suffer cannot be compensated through monetary damages. In opposition, Defendant states in conclusory fashion only that the African governments and the ICANN community will suffer prejudice if the delegation of the gTLD is delayed.  

This will allow the Court time to consider arguments from DotConnectAfrica Trust (DCA Trust) and ICANN regarding the .AFRICA TLD.
   
This interim relief was granted after DCA Trust submitted its first Amended Notice on 26 February 2016.  Documents related to the litigation are available at ICANN site https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/dca-v-icann-2016-01-26-en  
    
On March 03, 2016, the ICANN Board has issued an emergency resolution  authorizing the ICANN CEO to resume the delegation for .Africa: "to prepare to move forward toward delegation of .AFRICA with the party that has signed a Registry Agreement to operate .AFRICA".  "....Resolved (2016.03.03.01), the Board authorizes the President and CEO, or his designee(s), to proceed with the delegation of .AFRICA to be operated by ZACR pursuant to the Registry Agreement that ZACR has entered with ICANN."

On June 10th, in a landmark decision, an Independent Review Process (IRP), at the International Center for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) ruled that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has violated its Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation following an expert determination of an IRP suit that was filed by DotConnectAfrica Trust in October 2013 to challenge an ICANN Board decision at the American Arbitration Association (AAA), New York, USA. The IRP Panel ruled that ICANN violated is Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation. The IRP is the accountability review processes set out in the ICANN Bylaws.  Documents related to the IRP are available at http://www.icann.org/en/news/irp/dca-v-icann 

DotConnectAfrica Trust is represented in this legal proceeding by Brown, Neri & Smith LLP, 11766 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1670 Los Angeles, CA 90025.
 
Press Release: prlog.org 12539064
 
About DotConnectAfrica 
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. 
 
DotConnectAfrica through its affiliate DCA Registry Services Ltd.intends to channel surplus resources gained from the .Africa registry operation to sponsor foundations that will cater to various charitable projects including the already launched miss.africa and generation.africa, as well as capacity building for African ccTLDs, with the general objective of improving the African Internet and business landscape.
Press Contact: Thomas Kamanzi, Newsletter Editor tkamanzi@dotconnectafrica.org
DCARegistry Services Ltd: http://dotconnectafrica.org/DCAregistry