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DotConnectAfrica -December 2011 Newsletter
A Year in Review- 2011!
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Season's Greetings 
2011 End of Year Message at Christmas-from the Yes2DotAfrica Campaign!
Message from the Founder/Executive Director
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As Executive Director of DotConnectAfrica (DCA) and spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica Campaign, it gives me great pleasure to send this end of year message at Christmas to our entire Pan-African constituency and global community of global supporters and well-wishers all over the world.
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Sophia Bekele in Dakar Senegal
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2011 was indeed a very interesting and unforgettable year. It had its share of natural disasters, environmental pollution, humanitarian emergencies, civil strife, armed conflict, economic crises, and some positive developments too.
For Africa, 2011 started with civil strife and revolution in North Africa that saw the overthrow of three Heads of States in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Political turmoil and armed conflict has resulted in societies in transition as the old order of dictatorship has given way to a promising democratic future.
Internet-based social media has been credited as an enabling tool in this process of social change as protestors took advantage of Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and other social networks on the Internet to mobilize themselves, report on the revolution and communicate with a global audience.
Japan witnessed a devastating earthquake and Tsunami which also caused severe damages to the Fukushima nuclear plant thereby causing radiation leakage and contamination.
Europe witnessed a deterioration of its sovereign debt problem and further crises in the Euro-zone as several countries sought to be bailed out of the financial and economic mess they found themselves. The credit rating of many countries had to be downgraded.
The need for greater financial accountability in an increasingly globalized world where ordinary people now have a stronger voice (in this age of social media) to express their grievances has spurned various protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street, Occupy London and Occupy Frankfurt.
Economic anxieties and debt have caused demonstrators to take to the streets to express their frustrations and ask for more accountability on the part of international and high-street banks which most people blame for their economic woes.
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These have had such a great resounding impact on a global scale that Time Magazine named the Protester as its 2011 Person of the Year. link here
Africa with its 'usual problems' seemed to be the most stable place in the world during 2011.
For
those of us concerned with global Internet governance, June brought with it, the great news of the ICANN Board's approval at Singapore of the expansion of the Internet through the adoption of a comprehensive programme to radically transform the Internet Domain Name system (DNS) and introduce new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs), thus paving the way for the introduction and use of new names strings beyond the current ubiquitous DotCom, DotNet, DotEdu, DotInt, and other two-code country-level codes such as DotET, DotKe, DotZa, DotUK, DotFr, to mention but a few.
DCA was at Singapore to lend its strong support to ICANN and use the same opportunity to further promote the Yes2DotAfrica campaign and launch the Miss.Africa programme for female youth digital self-awareness and empowerment. Following the approval of the new gTLD programme at Singapore, the next challenge was how to promote it to the wider global public.
From Singapore in South East Asia, DotConnectAfrica took its promotional message to Germany in Europe where it joined ICANN leaders and other global players to participate in the Munich Conference on New gTLDs organized by United Domains, and used the platform to share its experience on how to successfully 'build a community around your TLD'. DCA's presentation was well-received in Germany and helped to enrich the debate even as many were edified.
Next was Dakar, the capital of Senegal
in Africa which hosted the 42nd ICANN International Meeting. At Dakar, DCA continued to show its
strong support and faith in the ICANN-led process and was a silver-level sponsor of the ICANN International Gathering. DCA organized a superb dotafrica exhibition that was
visited by the President and Head of State of the Republic of Senegal, H.E. Monsieur Abdoulaye Wade and other important governmental dignitaries including H.E Monsieur Moustapha Guirassy, Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology
of the Republic of Senegal. Dakar presented DCA an opportunity to establish strong links and outreach to its growing Francophone constituency.
Major arguments during the year focused mainly on the sustainability of the multi-stakeholder model, the role of governments, and whether a new Internet governance architecture should be introduced to replace the current system. Against the backdrop that there are many people who have wrongly advocated
for the restriction of the role of the private sector in Internet Governance, and see political sovereignty and Internet governance as one and the same, DCA believes that the present system should be maintained and consolidated and that more support should be given to ICANN to ensure a stable and secure global Internet that gives everyone a voice in its governance. ICANN should be allowed to deliver the new gTLD programme successfully without any interference from those who think the programme should be delayed or scrapped altogether.
DCA on its part continued to lead and shape the debate regarding DotAfrica, and through the leadership that it has shown in promoting and campaigning for the initiative globally, to consolidate its position as a leading front-runner to apply for the DotAfrica gTLD and win the mandate for the DotAfrica registry from ICANN.
During 2011 DCA made a strong case before ICANN leaders and executives, and successfully fought off an unwelcome plan to include DotAfrica in the List of Top-Level Reserved Names in order to make the string (and similar names in other languages) unavailable for any other applicant besides the African Union that sought special legislative protection regarding DotAfrica for its sole benefit. This would have frustrated the plans of genuine DotAfrica applicants such as DCA, and also the vision shared by many who want an inclusive and participatory DotAfrica serving the diverse needs and interests expected of a geographical Top-Level Domain and not something circumscribed for the benefit of a narrowly-defined Community. DC
A wishes to reiterate its belief that the mandate for DotAfrica should only be obtained through the globally-accepted ICANN new gTLD programme, and not through any separate process that would allow for the negotiation and delegation of DotAfrica outside the auspices and transparent oversight of the ICANN programme that enables any genuine prospective applicant to bid competitively.
In preparation for the new applications round that commences in early January 2012, DCA concluded an important Memorandum of Understanding with its international registry partner, and finalized arrangements for the hosting of a high-speed computer network with modern servers to support the registry infrastructure for DotAfrica. DCA therefore intends to make significant financial and corporate investments in order to establish an African-based registry to host the DotAfrica gTLD located on the ground in Africa for the benefit of Africans. This will assist in terms of employment generation and technology transfer, utilization and building of capacity and technical acumen, and retention of scarce foreign exchange within the continent.
stock of the major highlights of our activities during 2011, overall, we are pleased with the accomplishments of the Yes2DotAfrica Campaign.
We are thankful to all our supporters - for the hope they have provided to enable us sustain our global promotional efforts, their constant encouragement and the strength we drew from that, even as we underscore the need for their continuous support in this last mile of our long journey, for the realization of the DotAfrica vision.
We ask that you continue to pray for DCA, DotAfrica and Africa during this Christmas period and beyond.
Once again, we wish you the very best compliments of the season.
On behalf of DCA and myself, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2012 in advance, for Africa and the world!.
Sophia Bekele
Founder/Executive Director
DotConnectAfrica
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DCA: Bekele speaks at World Affairs Council Freedom of Information as a Human Right
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Dot ConnectAfrica Executive Director Ms Sophia Bekele was invited to the Golden Gate University to speak on the "Freedom of Information as a Human Right- The Role Government".
Ms Bekele shared her experience traveling in the North African region of Tunis, Tripoli and Cairo during the Arab Spring and uprisings where the governments cut off internet access. Read More
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AFRICA DNS NEWS
Egypt Shuts down the Internet
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Spring and a highlight of the year was the shutting down of the internet in Egypt. So what really happened in Egypt when the country experienced an internet blackout?
According to Renensys blog, "Approximately 3,500 individual BGP routes were withdrawn, leaving no valid paths by which the rest of the world could continue to exchange Internet traffic with Egypt's service providers."
This action led to the inaccessibility of the main domain name system (DNS) server of the Egyptian ccTLD (.eg).In essence, Egypt was completely cut off from the rest of the world. Read More
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Africa gets fifth ICANN Accredited Registrar
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Genious Communications of Morocco received an ICANN Accreditation thus becoming Africa's fifth ICANN Accredited Registrar.
The Moroccan company was founded by 25 year old Hamza Aboulfeth six years ago and is the only ICANN Accredited Registrar in the Maghreb region.
We hope to add .africa to their growing list of TLDs! A big congratulation from the DotConnectAfrica team to Hamza, the Genious Communications team and all their resellers!
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.LY Registry Website Hacked
Libya's
.LY
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Registry website was not spared during the just concluded conflict. The website was hacked and defaced by groups Sympathetic to the opposition National Transitional Council
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.XXX is launched: The Internet now has a "Red light district"
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This year saw the approval by ICANN Board of the .XXX domain during the ICANN meeting in Sn Francisco and the subsequent launch of the .XXX Sunrise and Landrush.
.XXX has now entered the General Availability whereby anyone can register .XXX domais on a first come first served basis. The internet now has a red light district. Read More
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Five things you should know about domain names
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Read More
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NOMINATE YOUR AVATARS!
The invitation for Expression of Interest (EOI) is currently open and DCA is now accepting letters of EOI to participate on boards, committees and subcommittees for the 2012-2013 term.
Please nominate a qualified person for our consideration to participate in this noble undertaking.
Physical attendance is not required for all meetings. DCA fully embraces the internet economy and performance is measured by deliverable.
Therefore, we apply knowledge networking, where the minimum requirement is proficiency in the the use of on-line collaborative tools and social media, i.e access to internet, skype, IM, txt, tweets, blogs, facebook and we know you will always have your digi-cam with you not to miss the live shows!
DCA is also accepting EOI for various of its activities for ".africa", sponsors & co-sponsors. Consider volunteering or sponsoring and make a difference in the work of DCA!
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Africa7 TV
Zara DERIBE in a Conversation with Sophia Bekele on
Women-In-Charge, DotConnectAfrica and more...
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NEW! |
See you all in 2012!
2011 has been an eventful year in our Yes2dotAfrica campaign but with your support it has been worth the while.
We have reached newer constituencies, regions and language groups and wherever we have been, Africa has shown us that it is ready for a new gTLD registry. It's ready for its namespace in the internet. In 2012, we will be submitting our application to ICANN for the delegation of the .africa Top Level Domain.
It will be a long journey but like we have done in the past, we will be counting on Africa for strength and support to deliver this "baby" to the African Continent.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thomas Kamanzi
Editorial Advisor/ press.africa
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DECEMBER ANNOUNCEMENT
In January 2012, DCA will formally apply to ICANN for the delegation of the dotafrica gTLD. Building on our past successes and tribalfashion.africa representing your interests, we therefore ask you all to join us in this final lap towards realizing our common vision of a unified internet
 | tribalfashion.africa
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presence for Africa through a dotafrica Top level Domain name.
We have simplified your participation in ONE BOX! Simply click here and join our "Yes2dotAfrica" campaign, by following us on ".africa" social media, or filling out the petition, and/or simply sending us email for partnerships and proposals, and see how we can build this great Pan-African Nation we all dream about!
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DCA OPEN Letter to US Department of Commerce
January 2011 started wit DCA sending an open letter to the NTIA making a preliminary case for the .africa gTLD
The letter to Washington included the recent public statement made by DCA to the ICANN public forum in Cartegena Colombia.., making a case for .africa to ICANN.
DCA has also spent much of its activities in the month of September 2010 lobbying in Washington for the same. Read more
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2011 Yes2dotAfrica inaugural at Tripoli Libya Tripoli may not be the place to be in the past few months, but it was before the Middle-East revolution.
The historic Diaspora conference was aimed to create the necessary dialog amongst global African Diaspora who are interested to contribute to their home lands.
Over 600 guests were invited and attended the conference including dignitaries, business and non-profit leaders, parliamentarians, authors and other professionals from around the world. The meeting was addressed by various leaders from Africa and Europe, including His Excellency Dr. Jean Ping, chairman of the the African Union Commission.
DCA brought to this conference a delegation of generation.africa from various Leadership Forums who also expressed support for the Diaspora meeting. Read more
Bekele said to the audience "we are here to announce the start of the "yes2dotafrica" campaign and after this, we will continue to travel across Africa and seek support from African governments, the community and build our generation.africa".
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Yes2dotAfrica Campaign in Mauritius 
DCA spent a week in Mauritius campaigning for the dotAfrica Top Level Domain amongst the various constituencies in the Indian Ocean Island. Read More
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Yes2DotAfrica Campaign in ICANN40 in San Francisco
DCA and its delegation from Africa and the US was in Silicon Valley and observed as ICANN made a successful progress with the GAC- Government Advisory Group and hard issues on the table. Read More
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| The Main Stream International Media & Others Continue to be interested and cover our work ... | |
Nations Media -
The East African -Generation Africa
UK Upper Reach
Kass national radio
SF- start-up success
Enterprise Technology
Domaining and Domainers
Agency Senegal
Africa 7
Voice of America
The EastAfrican
CNN- Inside Africa
see above media coverages and much much more in DCA in the global News...
DCA in Foreign Language News...
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DCA attended the 41st ICANN meeting in Singapore and witnessed as the ICANN Board approved new gTLDs program to open the internet addressing system to the "limitless possibilities of the human imagination." and setting the new TLDs program in motion Read More
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DCA more than a .africa gTLD campaign!  Apart from its vigorous promotional campaign to communicate the objectives and benefits of the DotAfrica new gTLD, DCA has also been very active as a major intellectual contributor in topical issues of contemporary Internet governance in Africa and globally.
DCA has prepared many exclusive commentaries, executive briefings, updates and analyses, on substantive African DNS and related Internet Domain policy activities, including the new gTLD programme, that are of concern to its Pan African constituency and global audience with the objective of enriching the discourse whilst informing its followers and supporters, so as to raise awareness,
through our Pan-African social media networks.
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Yes2dotafrica Campaign Continues to Promote Africa's Common Interest at International fora!
The Successful Yes2DotAfrica
Campaign invited to Munich Forum on newgTLDs
DCA's participated in the Munich Conference on new Top Level Domains in Germany and Ms. Bekelehow to successfully 'build a community around your TLD'. was a panelist on Read More
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Generation.africa provided input at the IGF, Nairobi
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Samuel & Gideon
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The 6th Internet Governance Forum with the theme "Internet as a catalyst for change: was held in Nairobi with an emphatic call for the support of the open, inclusive and transparent multi-stakeholder model and dialogue that has guided the governance of internet.
Generation.africa representing DCA, voiced strong opinion on youth and dotafrica. Read More
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Yes2dotAfrica Campaign triumphed in Senegal!
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An ICANN with an African Taste:
Dakar the Capital of the Internet as ICANN hosts first meeting in Francophone African country
 DCA Engaged with ICANN Leaders and Executives at the Dakar Public Forum. Read More
 DCA was one of the principal participants and silver-level sponsor of the ICANN 42 meeting in Dakar, Senegal and was involved in various activities that took place throughout the week-long meeting in Dakar. Read More
In Dakar, once again, our generation.africa participants , miss.afrique Adam Tall and Khadidiatou Dion (see ICANN Wiki respectively) from Senegal got the chance to learn about domains, the larger new gTLD program and other pertinent issues at the centre of Internet governance and policy deliberations. DCA hopes to sponsor more young women leaders in the future to attend conferences and help shape the future of the Internet in Africa Read More |
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