[kictanet] ISP Advertising Standards: Open Letter to CCK

Thu Sep 13 09:46:00 EAT 2012

Collins, Listers,

I think it's important to have standards.

With regard to enforceability, allow me to quote some relevant provisions
of the law:

The Constitution provides for Consumer Protection under Art. 46:

*46. (1) Consumers have the right—*

*(a) to goods and services of reasonable quality;
*
*(b) to the information necessary for them to gain full benefit from goods
and services;
*
*(c) to the protection of their health, safety, and economic interests; and
*
*(d) to compensation for loss or injury arising from defects in goods or
services.
*
*(2) Parliament shall enact legislation to provide for consumer protection
and for fair, honest and decent advertising.
*
*(3) This Article applies to goods and services offered by public entities
or private persons*

NB: The Consumer Protection Bill, which is to be enacted pursuant to Art 46
(2), is yet to be passed by Parliament.

In addition, we already have regulations under the Kenya Information and
Communication Act,  i.e. Kenya Information and Communication (Consumer
Protection) Regulations 2010, which is already in force.

Allow me to quote:

*"3. Rights and obligations of customers.*

*(1) A customer shall have the right to—

(a) receive clear and complete information about rates, terms and
conditions for available and proposed products and services;

(b) be charged only for the products and services they subscribe to;

(c) where possible, select a service provider and service of the customer’s
choice;

(d) personal privacy and protection against unauthorized use of personal
information;

(e) accurate and understandable bills for products and services authorised
by the customer, and to fair prompt redress in the event of a dispute in
the provision of the products and services;

(f) protection from unfair trade practices, including false and misleading
advertising and anti-competitive behaviour by licensees; and

(g) equal opportunity for access to the same type and quality of service as
other customers in the same area at substantially the same tariff limiting
variations to available or appropriate technologies required to serve
specific customers."*

And Rule 23:

*"23. Offences and penalties.
(1) A licensee who—

(a) fails to perform the measurement, reporting and record keeping tasks
within the required time;

(b) fails to reach a target for any of the parameters stipulated under
these Regulations;

(c) fails to submit, during a time specified by the Commission, information
requested by the Commission pursuant to these Regulations;

(d) submits or publishes false or misleading information about the quality
of its services;

(e) obstructs or prevents an inspection or investigation carried out by the
Commission pursuant to these Regulations;

(f) engages in any act or omission whose effect would be to defeat the
purposes of these Regulations, commits an offence.

(3) A person who commits an offence under these Regulations shall, where no
specific penalty is provided for, is liable on conviction to a fine not
exceeding three hundred thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a term
not exceeding three years or both."*

As you can see from the foregoing, there are sufficient provisions in the
law to regulate licensee conduct with regard to advertising. If these were
followed and implemented to the letter by all persons, then we'd have more
transparency especially with regard to advertising.

What would perhaps problematic is the level of disclosure, i.e. what would
constitute complete information within the meaning of the law?

Here, I think that either standards or further guidelines would be
important, to provide clear criteria or guidelines for the class,
elements or type of information that would need to be disclosed to meet the
threshold of the provisions so quoted. I think the industry needs to sit
down and agree on this bearing in mind the industry best practices and the
practicability of implementing the same in the Kenyan context.

Victor

Sent from my Windows 8 PC <http://windows.microsoft.com/consumer-preview>

 *From:* Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke>
*Sent:* 11 September 2012 21:06:26
*To:* vkapiyo at gmail.com
*CC:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
*Subject:* Re: [kictanet] ISP Advertising Standards: Open Letter to CCK

Collins

Good idea. We could also appeal to APA (Advertising Practitioners
Association) as this also borders on culpability from an advertising agency
 perspective.

Ali Hussein

+254 773/713 601113

Sent from my iPhone®

On Sep 11, 2012, at 8:52 PM, Areba Collins [ @BrainiacKE ® ]<
arebacollins at gmail.com> wrote:

Hello listers,
Im following this from a discussion in the other list from one Kelvin, his
assertions were:

I think we need to as a group write a couple of recommendations for the CCK
> to rein in ISPs especially how they advertise. This could cover aspects
> such as :-
>
>
>    - Proper disclosure to customers on speeds i.e should Orange advertise
>    21mbps and get away with it
>    - Outline whether its shared
>    - Provide figures for the FUP
>    - Disclose whether or not inernet is unlimited
>
> There are some things you wouldnt get away with the FCC in the US .
>
> What are your thoughts ?
>
> Kevin
>
>
I need to hear what CCK has to say about this, I would very much preffer
ISP companies to give full disclosure of what they are selling , using a
standardized nomenclature. Could someone please advise if this is
enforceable?

Regards,

-- 
*“The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of
great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of
corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of
protecting corporate power against democracy”*

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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for
people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.

KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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