[kictanet] PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON LICENSING AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR DOT KE DOMAIN NAME REGISTRY SERVICE

[Kivuva]

The documents listed on the CCK website
http://www.cck.go.ke/links/consultations/current.html are not specific on
how CCK intends to transform KENIC, although Wambua and Dr. Macharia tried
giving some explanation that KENIC will remain as it is currently. The
current position is "KENIC is a not-for-profit entity".

It would be great if CCK shared the framework document that advised them on
the direction they chose for KENIC. Grace Githaiga too has requested on the
framework document to be made public. The report from the consultant that
CCK hired should be shared with the public.

Dr. Jimmy Macharia on his official response has stated that "KENIC is the
best suited entity to continue managing and operating the top Level .ke
ccTLD registry. That statement is subject to many interpretations and needs
more clarity.

If we all had a common utilitarian interest for the Domain industry in
Kenya and for the end user, the direction for KENIC would have been very
clear and agreeable to all. And that sincere interest is to ensure KENIC
remains a NOT FOR PROFIT organization. CCK is soliciting views from the
pubic yet they have already made up their mind on the final outcome. That
defeats the whole purpose of public consultations. KENIC needs to be a
Public Interest Registry owned by the community and not a commercial entity
just like Nominet UK. The prices need to be made as low as possible to
maintain the registry, and at the same time allow registrars to flourish
and compete. The numbers that KENIC is operating at now are enough for it
to operate independently yet serve the interests of our Internet Community.


The document Review follows below: http://www.cck.go.ke/links/consultations/

http://www.cck.go.ke/links/consultations/published_responses/ccTLD_Consulation_Paper_on_Licensing_Framework.pdf

The Licensing Framework
page6
The Commission hereby submits the draft licensing framework for dot KE
Domain Name Registry Services for public review and comment s. The
licensing framework consists of the following documents:
i. Draft application form for the dot KE Domain Name Registry Services;
ii. Draft license conditions for Dot KE Domain Name Registry Services; and
iii. Draft procedures and guidelines for the provision of Dot KE Domain
Name Registry Services

comment
===
According to the documents posted online, the commission wants us to debate
on the application form, and license conditions for the new commercial
registry bidder, instead of the community debating on the new entity's
legal structure and the players in that structure. The documents provided
for public consultation do not address key legal issues, the reason why the
community totally ignored them.


(Page 3)
The licensing framework for Dot KE Domain Name Registry and the proposed
structure of a delegated regulation model will ensure that the Commission
plays a regulatory oversight role as envisaged in the Act and Regulations
while at the same time transferring the management of the Dot KE Domain
Name Registry to a commercial entity.

>From the document, the word "commercial entity" has been used, and may mean
several things, it's evident that there is some form of bidding and
auctioning that will be going on, yet the interests of the community can
only be realised through a Nont-for-Profit Public Interest Registry.


Price of .ke set to go up.
======
(page5)
4.3.
Applicable Fees
The dot KE Domain Name Registry services fall under the Application Service
Provider (ASP) licence category. The licence shall therefore be for a
period of 15 years and shall attract a licence application fee of Kshs.
5,000.00, an initial operating licence fee of Kshs. 100,000.00 and an
annual operating fee equivalent to 0.4% of annual gross turnover or Kshs.
80,000, whichever is higher. The Registrars shall be issued with an
authorization upon fulfilment of the above requirements and payment of a
 registration fee of Kshs 10,000.
Check page2, part D of the Applciation form
http://www.cck.go.ke/links/consultations/published_responses/Draft_Application_Form_For_Country_Code_Top_Level_Domain_xccTLDx.pdf

comment
=========
The ASP mentioned above is taking over a proven business, whose annual
revenue is over ksh50,000,000.00 for a license fee of Ksh115,000 and 0.4%
of profits. Consider that .co.ke is 90% of all the 30,000 domains
registered, the ASP will be buying a Ksh 50,000,000.00 investment at 0.002%
of the cost? I might be wrong with my calculations, but as you can see, it
does not make a lot of sense to turn a public body and sell it for a song
to a private commercial entity.
The price of a .ke is already too high for many Kenyans, at a registrar
price of Ksh2320 (USD27), many end users opt for gTLDs (.com, .net, e.t.c).
There is a whole ecosystem of young entrepreneurs who have settled as .ke
registrars and instead of shaking them off from the tree, we should work
hard to ensure .ke prices are lower than they currently are. Credit for
KENIC for running promotions regularly that give good discounts to end
users.

-------------
Annex1, page 8
http://www.cck.go.ke/links/consultations/published_responses/Draft_Application_Form_For_Country_Code_Top_Level_Domain_xccTLDx.pdf

Note that companies wishing to be considered for a licence in the
communications sector must allot a minimum of 20% of their total shares to
individual Kenyan citizens within three (3) year s from the date of
issuance of the licence/s

comment
======
What was the reason of re-delegating the .ke from Randy Bush if we are
going to auction it again to foreigners? Is there any other country outside
sub-sahara Africa where their ccTLD has been delegated to foreigners?
China? US? UK? Japan? South Africa? Brazil? Let us not sell our resources
to foreigners since we can manage them ourselves. We must be more
protective of our assets least we become the laughing stock.


-----------
Page11
3. Letter of licence offer
If the application is approved, you will be informed in writing (letter of
offer) and may also be contacted via phone/email. The letter of offer is
valid for a period of 6 months from the date it's written and states the
amount of money to be paid before a licence is issued. Please note that the
upfront operational fees in the offer letter are prorated on monthly bases.
This may therefore differ depending on the date you wish to make the
payment. You may therefore wish to get in touch with our office to be
advised on the correct operating fees before making the payment

comment
===
Are the fees to be paid decided in advance? Is it an auction?

--------
8.Dot KE ccTLD subdomains Registration Fees
Given that the Dot KE Domain Name Registry is a technical monopoly, and is
intended for the good of Kenyans, fees must be reasonably low and
competitive. The Commission shall approve the cost of Dot KE Domain Name
Registry services.
http://www.cck.go.ke/links/consultations/published_responses/Draft_Procedure_and_Guidelines_for_provision_of_ccTLD_registry_services.pdfpage
6 and 7

comment
=====
Since the investors will have to recoup their capital expenses, the
regulator should have initiated price controls to cushion the consumer. The
registrar price should be fixed to say Ksh1000 maximum per domain, and
allow the intermediary registrars to put a small markup to cover their
operating expense. Leaving the price open is subject to massive abuse. And
price control is nothing new in the Kenyan market. Read oil, electricity,
e.t.c.


Way Forward
===========
1. We should all note that .ke is a public resource
2. This resource has been with us for several years.
3. The resource should not be auctioned to the highest bidder.
4. .ke should be transferred to a not-for-profit community owned body to
manage it. The proceeds of the profits can be used to build our ICT
knowledge economy through donations to schools, sponsoring local
initiatives, e.t.c. This model has been very successful. Indeed it should
be noted that .za of South Africa took the commercial route only for them
to turn around and now the resource is back in public hands. The South
African ZADNA is a not-for-profit company that manages and regulates the
.za namespace. ZACR (Uniforum) on the other hand is a non-profit
organisation that exists for the good of the South African Internet. They
plough surplus funds raised beyond covering operating expenses back into
the greater Internet community.


Lets be vigilant and ensure that as a community, we have the final word on
the direction of where this critical internet resource will head.
-- 
______________________
Mwendwa Kivuva, Nairobi, Kenya
twitter.com/lordmwesh

______________________
Mwendwa Kivuva, Nairobi, Kenya.
twitter.com/lordmwesh
google ID | Skype ID: lordmwesh


On 22 January 2014 05:10, Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke> wrote:

> Grace
>
> Thanks. Anyone from KeNIC?
>
>
> 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 21, 2014, at 11:44 PM, Grace Githaiga <ggithaiga at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> @ Ali
> Wambua has kinda answered both questions. However, KENIC is still silent
> on providing the consultancy findings as promised. It would be useful if
> the report was forthcoming as it would probably answer most of the queries
> and render stakeholders with no queries on the proposed licencing and
> regulatory framework for .ke.
>
>
> ------------------------------
> From: Wambua at cck.go.ke
> Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 05:35:02 +0000
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON LICENSING AND REGULATORY
> FRAMEWORK FOR DOT KE DOMAIN NAME REGISTRY SERVICE
> CC: CPA at cck.go.ke; kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> To: ggithaiga at hotmail.com
>
>  Thanks Ali for initiating discussion on this subject.   CCK would like
> to respond as follows to some of the queries raised last week on this
> subject:
>
>
>
>
>
> *1.  During last year's KeNIC AGM the board promised to share with us the
> consultancy findings that would come up with this framework towards
> commercializing the registry services beyond KeNIC. We are still awaiting
> that paper and I feel that the paper is integral to this discussion as it
> would provide good background information that informed the reason behind
> CCK taking a certain regulatory framework as opposed to another - I'm
> referring here to the fact that there are several directions this could go
> for example The South African Model as opposed to the UK Model or the
> Australian one. I guess we can delve deeper during the discussion.*
>
>
>
> KENIC is best placed to respond this query
>
> *2. The documents are silent about the fate of KeNIC (unless I missed it).
> What will happen to it? Who will be the recipient of the assets?  How are
> they going to be shared seeing that it is a PPP where CCK is not the only
> stakeholder.*
>
>
> The proposed licensing framework does not in any way suggest the
> dissolution of KENIC. In fact, the framework envisages an arrangement where
> KENIC remains as-is (a multi-stakeholder private public partnership) but
> with Government represented by another entity (Kenya ICT Authority) other
> than CCK (CCK will relinquish its positions in the KENIC Board and assume a
> regulatory oversight role). As such, the issue of sharing of assets, etc.,
> does not arise.
>
>
>
> *3. Has the CCK formally informed ICANN/IANA of the intention for
> Re-Delegation? This is a major process and we must line up our ducks
> properly so that we are not caught flat footed. The stakeholders MUST also
> be told how this process would work to ensure mitigation of risks.*
>
>
>
> There will be no need for re-delegation given the explanation above.
>
>
>
>
>
> *Christopher Wambua*
>
> *Manager - Communications*
>
> *Consumer and Public Affairs Department*
>
> *Communications Commission of Kenya*
>
> *P.O. Box 14448 NAIROBI 00800*
>
> *Tel: +254 20 4242209*
>
> *info at cck.go.ke <info at cck.go.ke>*
>
> *www.cck.go.ke <http://www.cck.go.ke>*
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* kictanet [
> mailto:kictanet-bounces+wambua=cck.go.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke<kictanet-bounces+wambua=cck.go.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke>]
> *On Behalf Of *Ali Hussein
> *Sent:* Monday, January 20, 2014 12:27 AM
> *To:* Wambua, Christopher
> *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> *Subject:* [kictanet] PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON LICENSING AND REGULATORY
> FRAMEWORK FOR DOT KE DOMAIN NAME REGISTRY SERVICE
>
>
>
> Dear listers
>
>
>
> We kick off the discussions today with 2 questions.
>
>
>
> 1. What do you think informed CCK's move towards a change in the way the
> .ke ccTLD is managed and do you think enough consultations (in the spirit
> of MultiStakeholderism) took place to arrive at this?
>
>
>
> 2. How in your opinion should any of the funds (after liquidation of
> KeNIC) be used? This question should also answer the question of surplus
> funds derived from the sale of .ke ccTLD domains?
>
>
>
> I suggest we take two days to discuss these questions in depth.
>
>
>
> We shall proceed to the next set of questions on Wednesday.
>
> 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
>
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> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
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> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
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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,
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> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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