[kictanet] KENIC Board Statement on dot.KE

Mon Feb 3 12:29:00 EAT 2014

someone should post a "whats the problem at KENIC" for dummies ...

I buy .KE domains from http://www.webhostkenya.co.ke/ and it works like a
charm ...

Have never spoken to them ... everything works online

On Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 11:27 AM, Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK) <
hotline at cofek.co.ke> wrote:

> Dear Mr Kivuva,
>
>
>
> Good morning. I have consulted and wish to respond as follows; Save for
> what amounts to your consistent hate-speech against Cofek on diverse
> occasions, we do welcome your criticism in good faith. Our concern was on
> the commercial end of the stick and not the technical side where you are
> certainly an expert without question. We are not as good. But even as an IT
> expert, whenever you fall or will ever fall sick, you don't need a degree
> from medical school to rate medical services as a consumer of those
> services.
>
>
>
> On the issue of KENIC, where the rubber meets the road is not their
> back-end knowledge of the industry - but the pricing and quality of service
> as interpreted by the consumer(s). That it was a mistake for the regulator
> to have engaged in "business" as a shareholder of KENIC was wrong. We
> appreciate that CAK wish to have its unspecified volume of shares
> transferred to KICTA. You probably have seen a separate mail confirming
> that KENIC are housed by CAK (full-financed by the taxpayer) and have not
> been paying rent. Given the public interest, therefore, it is only fair
> that the Kenya National Audit Office will peruse the books of accounts of
> KENIC and make them public before the said transfer from CAK to KICTA.
>
>
>
> We are, therefore, ready to "embarrass" ourselves by demanding and
> ensuring, at all reasonable and lawful costs, that KENIC is made much more
> competitive and that the industry is opened up to other interested parties.
> That is all we were saying.
>
>
>
> Finally, allow me to urge that dissenting opinion is embraced on this
> list. We are ready to learn from each other but let us not dismiss others
> that they "know nothing ..." which generalizations can't be proven
> scientifically. The kind of e-mob-justice is not healthy. As they say, a
> little courtesy won't hurt. Good day!
>
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
>
>
> Japheth Ogutu
>
> www.cofek.co.ke
>
>
>
> *From:* lordmwesh at gmail.com [mailto:lordmwesh at gmail.com] *On Behalf Of *
> Kivuva
> *Sent:* Friday, January 31, 2014 7:32 PM
>
> *To:* Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK)
> *Cc:* Mwendwa Kivuva; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> *Subject:* [***SPAM*** Score/Req: 05.60/5.0] Re: [kictanet] KENIC Board
> Statement on dot.KE
>
>
>
> Clearly COFEK knows nothing about the domain name industry.
>
>
>
> The registry's work is to maintain all administrative data of the domain
> and generates a zone file which contains the addresses of the nameservers
> for each domain. Kenic is a registry for .ke. Other registries are ZADNA
> for .za, Nominet UK for .uk,  PIR for .org and Verisign for .com and .net. A domain
> name registry is a database of all domain names and the associated
> registrant information in the top level domains of the DNS of the internet that
> allow third party entities to request administrative control of a domain
> name. From this explanation, you should understand that any particular
> registry cannot have a competitor managing the same database.
>
>
>
> A domain name registrar is a commercial entity that manages the
> reservation of Internet domain names. A domain name registrar must be
> accredited by a registry (KENIC, Nominet UK, Verisign, PIR e.t.c). There
> are many registrars in Kenya see
> http://kenic.or.ke/index.php/registrars/registrar-list and their work is
> to market the domains to the end users. For .com, org e.t.c we have enom,
> godaddy, 1and1 e.t.c. The registrars do a very important role in the
> ecosystem, this being innovation, marketing, and value added services like
> emails, website hosting, and website development. A registry will be
> overwhelmed doing all this.
>
>
>
> And if you can get time to go over the registrar list at
> http://kenic.or.ke/index.php/registrars/registrar-list you will find that
> you can register a .ke domain online in less than 5 minutes, and pay online.
>
>
>
> I'm not sure what you mean by Yahoo and Gmail are insecure. The last time
> I checked, cofek.co.ke was not signed.
>
>
>
> Please get somebody who understand the workings of DNS and the web
> business in your team before issuing unilateral statements. This way, you
> will avoid embarrassing yourself and your team.
>
>
>
> ______________________
> Mwendwa Kivuva, Nairobi, Kenya.
> twitter.com/lordmwesh
>
> google ID | Skype ID: lordmwesh
>
>
>
> On 31 January 2014 07:05, Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK) <
> hotline at cofek.co.ke> wrote:
>
> Dear Mr Hussein,
>
>
>
> Thank you sir for the insights. Clearly, the answer to your question can
> be found in Wikipedia's definition you have generously availed. What you
> didn't address yourself to, however, is the quality of service levels,
> pricing, among other aspects in the case of a single-seller of an essential
> service. They are certainly uncompetitive and anti-consumer. Ask yourself,
> for instance, *must* KENIC's customers in this day and age pay through a
> registrar who gobbles up some commission adding to the consumers' woes? Can
> those security fears, if real, be addressed in a different way? Why can't
> people pay online for instance:
> http://www.101domain.com/domain_registration_joburg.htm
>
> Fair trade and competition policy may not necessarily be universal but it
> is about making principles of fairness and decency mean something in the
> marketplace especially for the goods/services we buy. Essentially, it
> offers a way for all of us to identify products that meet our values -
> principally so we can make choices that have a positive impact to the world
> around us.
>
> Retaining KENIC as a single-seller where multiple-sellers can compete
> favourably and profitably won't be in the consumer/KENIC's own interest.
> Just imagine, for a second, that a company like Safaricom, Airtel or
> AccessKenya ISP has a Yahoo/Gmail address. Or put this way, which Kenyan
> company or individual wouldn't die for a Dot Ke address for his or her
> business if they can afford? These domains uniquely define "Kenyan-ness"
> and a sense of patriotism - why must they be made expensive and a preserve
> of Ali Hussein (sorry and others) who can afford a "me.ke"? And how can
> they be made cheaper would be the salient question - open up the space to
> other sellers.
>
> Sound macro-economists will tell you, for free, that you don't protect
> KENIC market share by locking competitors out especially knowing that they
> have been there for a while. They possibly are only exploiting less than 5%
> of their market potential. Imagine if all Kenya "emailers" could dump the
> insecure Yahoo/Gmails for a Dot Ke ... that would be big business for KENIC
> and her competitors! As you rightly put it, the captains at KENIC must know
> the market thus : *"**3. In today's hyper competitive world there are few
> monopolies left."*
>
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Japheth Ogutu
>
> www.cofek.co.ke
>
>
>
> *From:* Ali Hussein [mailto:ali at hussein.me.ke]
> *Sent:* Friday, January 31, 2014 5:28 PM
> *To:* Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK)
>
>
> *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
>
> *Subject:* [***SPAM*** Score/Req: 07.40/5.0] Re: [kictanet] KENIC Board
> Statement on dot.KE
>
>
>
> Japheth
>
>
>
> How do you define a monopoly? In my opinion KeNIC is far from a monopoly.
>
>
>
> Let me just refresh ourselves here.
>
>
>
> According to Wikipedia:-
>
>
>
> [ <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly#cite_note-2>Monopolies are
> characterized by a lack of economic competition<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competition> to
> produce the good <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_(economics)> or
> service <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_(economics)> and a lack of
> viable substitute goods <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substitute_good>.[3]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly#cite_note-3> The
> verb "monopolize" refers to the *process* by which a company gains the
> ability to raise prices or exclude competitors. In economics, a monopoly is
> a single seller. In law, a monopoly is a business entity that has
> significant market power, that is, the power to charge high prices.[4]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly#cite_note-Orbach.26Campbell-4> Although
> monopolies may be big businesses, size is not a characteristic of a
> monopoly. A small business may still have the power to raise prices in a
> small industry (or market).[4]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly#cite_note-Orbach.26Campbell-4>
>
>
>
> So to put this in context.
>
>
>
> 1. If I'm unable to buy a .ke does it mean that I will not be able to have
> an email address, access the Internet, have a domain name?
>
>
>
> 2. Kenya Power is a monopoly that basically doesn't have a substitute here
> in Kenya.
>
>
>
> 3. In today's hyper competitive world there are few monopolies left.
>
>
>
> As the consumer watchdog it would auger well for COFEK to deeply
> understand the regulatory and competitive framework that informs the domain
> space in general and the ccTLD space in particular.
>
>
>
> Ali Hussein
>
>
>
> +254 0770 906375 / 0713 601113
>
>
>
> "I fear the day technology will surpass human interaction. The world will
> have a generation of idiots".  ~ Albert Einstein
>
>
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
>
> On Jan 31, 2014, at 1:37 PM, "Consumers Federation of Kenya \(COFEK\)" <
> hotline at cofek.co.ke> wrote:
>
> Dear Sir/Madam,
>
>
>
> Thanks for sharing. On what basis does the Chairman of KENIC claim that
> "KENIC is the *best suited entity* to continue operating and managing
> ...."? Who was this consultant and how was he or she sourced? Was he or she
> paid and if yes by whom? When KENIC says it is the "best" who are the
> lesser ones that were being compared to it? KENIC is a monopoly under Cap
> 504, Competition Act and must be declared as such. It is also
> single-sourced in an opaque manner. KENIC should opened to a regulated
> competition. CAK and Government must get out of KENIC fast and swift in the
> consumer interest.
>
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Japheth
>
>
>
>
>
> Japheth Ogutu
>
> *Program Officer*
>
> Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK)
>
> Meky Place, Block F-45
>
> Ngong Road/Ring Rd Kilimani Junction
>
> P.O Box 28053-00200, City Square, NAIROBI, Kenya
>
> Tel. 254-20-2615496, 2300859 Fax. 254-20-3861719; Cell phones: 0715555550,
> 0770700007
>
> E-mail: hotline at cofek.co.ke
>
> Website: www.cofek.co.ke
>
> Facebook: "Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek)"
>
> Twitter: @ConsumersKenya YouTube: "ConsumersKenya"
>
>
>
> 13th December 2012 -  President Kibaki assents to the Consumer Protection
> Act, 2012 Read it here:
> http://www.cofek.co.ke/Consumers%20Protection%20Act%202012.pdf
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: kictanet [
> mailto:kictanet-bounces+hotline=cofek.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke<kictanet-bounces+hotline=cofek.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke>]
> On Behalf Of Walubengo J
> Sent: Friday, January 31, 2014 12:23 PM
> To: The Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek)
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> Subject: [kictanet] KENIC Board Statement on dot.KE
>
>
>
> Find attached.
>
>
>
> Ofcourse I am just being a messenger here, not necessarily the owner of
> the message since I do not have the privilege to sit on the KENIC board :-)
>
>
>
>
>
> walu.
>
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>
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>
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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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>
> 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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