[kictanet] The .ug debate: Is Re-delegation Necessary? Comparison with .ke

Wed Oct 15 10:37:16 EAT 2014

Uganda seems to want to go the .KE way (public ownership), while .KE wants
to go the .UG way (private ownership). Are there any lessons the two
registries can learn from each other?

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/368-blogger-the-ug-debate-is-redelegation
-necessary.aspx

*There has been a lot said about the .ug ccTLD (Country Code Top Level
Domain) management over the years and by the look of things we seem to be
reaching the peak of this debate. *

Legislators have been drawn into the debate and judging from what we hear
them say, there is definitely a lot of misinformation going on. There is
cause for concern when one comes across news headlines like, "A Private
Firm Owns Uganda's Internet Domain Name" and MP Taaka's query that "Is
Uganda safe considering that .UG as a domain name is privately owned?"

For starters, a ccTLD is a two letter domain name extension that
corresponds to a country (.ke - Kenya, .tz - Tanzania, .rw - Rwanda, .uk -
United Kingdom) , territory or geographic location. So, to make things
clear, .ug isn't a domain name as is being insinuated in the discussions
going on in the august house.

In the early 1990s at the start of the globalised internet age, ccTLDs were
issued to various countries and for those that never had the capacity to
manage them, help came from ICANN through various agencies. Uganda was one
of those countries that never had the capacity and Randy Bush
<http://www.internethalloffame.org/inductees/randy-bush> an Internet
Pioneer and founder of the Network Startup Resource Centre (NSRC)
<http://www.nsrc.org> volunteered to carry out the technical management of
the .ug ccTLD. Around the same period, a then youthful and ambitious
Ugandan Engineer, Charles Musisi <http://ug.linkedin.com/in/charlesi3c> had
picked a lot of interest in the nascent internet technologies of the times.
His interest led him to set up the first email service in Uganda (FIDO-NET)
and as well join a group of internet pioneers on the African continent.
This interest and exposure led him to pick interest in the management of
the .ug ccTLD as far back as the mid 1990s. On application, he was assigned
the administrative rights and Randy Bush continued to offer the technical
management support as Charles' company then, Uganda Online (now called
Infinity Computers and Communications Company Ltd - i3C) started developing
local capacity to do the same. Eventually, he was able to wean off Randy
Bush's support and his company took over full technical and administrative
management of the ccTLD. Did he buy the .ug ccTLD as is alleged? NO.

Around the same time, his colleagues in Kenya and Tanzania also undertook
management of their countries' ccTLDs albeit with mixed results. Dr. Shem
Ochuodho was eventually booted out of .ke ccTLD Management having failed to
perform to the expectations of the community which led to the set up of
KENIC <http://www.kenic.or.ke>. It is worth noting that Uganda Online was
able to successfully commercialise the management of the .ug ccTLD and this
is evidenced by the fact that the ccTLD has operated in a stable
environment over the years without seeking any financial aid.

However, like anything, change in the internet landscape will always
necessitate changes in the supporting technologies and services. Currently,
there has been a significant growth in the state's interest in ICT
infrastructure and services provision. This has seen the country undertake
numerous interventions like the roll out of the National Fibre Backbone,
promotion of the Business Process Outsourcing, e-Government implementation
among others. The .ug is also being looked at as one of those services that
are likely to help fill the puzzle of ICT proliferation in Uganda.

The Draft Policy Framework for the management of the .ug ccTLD has as its
major objective, "to formalize management of .ug Country Code Top Level
Domain Name and come up with a management framework that will ensure
transparency and greater accountability towards the Internet community of
Uganda and the rest of the Global Internet Community."

The current status-quo is characterised by:
* Efficient assignment of domain names
* Decent Support for technical issues
* Uniform domain registration costs
* Stable Domain Name System (DNS) services
It is clear that i3C <http://www.i3c.co.ug> is performing well on the
technical front and not much can be said in that regard. However, as a
private company, it has limitations on what can be achieved especially if
one asks the following questions;
1. What governance systems are in place for the .ug ccTLD as a national
resource currently?
2. What policies and procedures are there for the issuance, renewal, and
arbitration of domain related disputes?
3. If policies are present, who designed them and was there community
participation?
4. What strategies are in place to promote the usage of .ug by nationals?
5. What universal access measures are in place to ensure that various
sections of society aren't alienated on the basis of gender, rural/urban
divides, youth, disability among others?
6. What measures are in place to ensure that the Government of Uganda (the
custodian of Uganda's resources on behalf of the people) actively
participates in influencing the direction of the .ug ccTLD?
7. What measures are in place to ensure that civil society can have its
input/feedback into the .ug ccTLD management process?

At the current pace, there are more gaps being created in the overall .ug
management and the earlier they are addressed, the better. A quick look at
the .ke ccTLD, one is able to get updated information on how many domains
that are registered and active, standing at 30,156 domains with a target of
33,800 domains by the close of 2014. Not only is it hard to get accurate
information on the number of domains registered and active at the .ug ccTLD
but the last time I got a whiff, the estimate was 3000 domains and assuming
the numbers have doubled since then, our next door neighbors are definitely
rounding us up five times.

For purposes of cross comparisons, this table reveals a couple of things;

The Government of Uganda through the Ministry of ICT <http://www.ict.go.ug>
has come out to crusade for the formation of the Uganda National
Information Centre (ugNIC) a not for profit company comprising of
representatives from government, Internet Service Providers, Civil Society/
NGOs, consumers, infrastructure providers, academia and the business
community. The ugNIC shall have the mandate to manage the operations of the
.ug.

According to the outlined functions for the ugNIC, it is worth noting that
some issues were left out. It is vital that the company created should also
undertake;
* Marketing of the .ug ccTLD to win national appeal
* Handling domain dispute resolution according to the set out guidelines
and policies

On the basis of this, it should therefore be clear that the following are
mere myths:
1. That Charles Musisi <http://ug.linkedin.com/in/charlesi3c> or his
company i3C <http://www.i3c.co.ug> OWN the .ug ccTLD
2. That the .ug ccTLD was assigned to a private company in bad faith.
3. That Government officials gave away the .ug ccTLD to a private entity.

As an active member of the Internet Space in Uganda, some of the reasons
why I support the proposed changes in the .ug ccTLD administration are;
* Increased public accountability of the .ug resource
* Increased community participation in determining the future of the .ug
resource
* The need to separate the Technical and Administrative management of the .
ug resource. While i3C may have performed well handling the Technical
aspects, it has fallen short on the Administrative front.
* The lack of a well incentivised reseller programme has greatly hindered
the promotion of the .ug ccTLD locally.
* The need for serious promotion and marketing of the .ug ccTLD
* Opportunity for using Government resources to upskill the technical
managers of the .ug ccTLD.
* Having witnessed companies fold, what happens if i3C closed shop out of
the blue? It happened to Enron <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron> (One of
the largest energy companies in the world during the last century). Risking
the .ug ccTLD resource to this level can have a massive impact on the
nation in case such a scenario plays out.

As the Ugandan Internet community, we need to be careful to avoid the
misinformation that is flying around and also ensure that we lend our
support in a manner that will put national benefit at the forefront while
not forgetting the patriotic work people like Engineer Charles Musisi
<http://ug.linkedin.com/in/charlesi3c> have rendered this nation in the
past.

Twitter: @wirejames <https://twitter.com/wirejames>
Email: lunghabo [at] gmail [dot] com
______________________
Mwendwa Kivuva, Nairobi, Kenya
twitter.com/lordmwesh

"There are some men who lift the age they inhabit, till all men walk on
higher ground in that lifetime." - Maxwell Anderson
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