[kictanet] Day 1 0f 10:-Internet Governance Discussions, Introductory Theme

[waudo siganga]

Hi Michuki, All - Sorry to take you back but unfortunately it is not
easy for me to keep track of the discussion in the daily "real-time"
format. I have just seen your two contributions sent within hours of
each other yesterday and was just wondering whether there is some
contradiction. Firstly you indicated your apparent disagreement with the
situation where is more emphasis on "management" rather than "technical
development" when getting involved with IG. Then you highlight the DoS
in Georgia. To me the example of Georgia (and Somalia, Iran, etc) is
clear testimony that IG is more of "Management and control" issue than a
technical phenomenom. In fact, it builds down to control of the Root
Zone File (http://www.internic.net/zones/named.root) which we were
informed in an informational mail from Alice a couple of weeks ago the
USDoC is unwilling to cede control of to ICANN in the ongoing JPA (see
www.icann.org). The easiest way to run DoS against another state is to
disable the ccTLD record from the root zone file. That means that if
your country is relying on the internet for commerce and other
activities you better not disagree with the country that is controlling
the Root Zone File. This is why countries such as S. Arabia, Brazil,
India, China, etc were very vocal in the IG debates. They view their
current position as unmananged risk and would thus prefer critical
resources like the RZF managed by a neutral organization where they have
a voice, such as ITU, or even ICANN. Right now things are quiet because
of the IGF experiment, but then, IGF only has another 30 months or so.

My suggestion here is that Kenya, and other African Governments need to
take strong positions on this Root Zone File issue rather than being
complacent since the "Internet is working OK anyway". In Georgia they
were probably asking "If it aint broke, why fix it", before the DoS. I
hope the Kenya Government will send a delegation to Hydraband armed with
positions on IG issues including control of the Root Zone File.

Waudo
On Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:02:47 +0300, "Michuki Mwangi"
<michuki at swiftkenya.com> said:
> 
> 
> mwende njiraini wrote:
> > Brian, you have pointed out issues that we need to consider at a national
> > level with the increased use of the internet;
> > What are the stakeholders initiatives are there in the area of promoting
> > cyber-security and trust?   For example is the Computer Security Incident
> > Response Team (CSIRT-KENYA: http://www.csirt.or.ke/) active?   Do the
> > provisions of the Draft ICT bill 2008 (Part IV – Electronic Transactions and
> > Cybercrime) adequately address your concerns?
> > 
> 
> Just to add on to this - this past weekend, Georgia Government websites 
> were hit with Denial of Service attacks (DOS) and claims are that it was 
>   done prior to the armed attack over the weekend.
> 
> So while reviewing our policies we need to take into consideration that 
> the Internet is a potential battleground with equally devastating
> effects.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Michuki.
> 
> 
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