<div>Hello Vika -<br><br><font color="#3366ff">> Interesting & generally acceptable answers to the questionnaire.<br></font> Thank you for your feedback and positive consensus.<br> </div>
<div><font color="#3366ff">> But I would like to ask for clarity on .africa: who is .africa right now?</font><br>I believe, it is a civil society project, so dot.africa in my view is AFRICA.<br><br><font color="#3366ff">
> Are you part of a particular structure appointed to coordinate .africa?</font> <br>I volunteered to create the structure where there was <strong>none</strong>; spent a lot </div>
<div>of time and effort over the past years to developing this structure, the business </div>
<div>and financial case for it, and send it out to few active/interested people </div>
<div>in ICANN working on Africa, recruited resources, and finally after few </div>
<div>roadblocks and frequent flyer miles, got it endorsed by the appropriate </div>
<div>pan-african organizations and its stakeholders in Africa few months ago.</div>
<div>Progress was to be announced soon with other upcoming activities.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I suppose in my view and the organizations that I got the commitment from to </div>
<div>date, looke(d) at it as a serious level of 'coordination' effort. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>I also kindly suggest that you advise with few people in your org who are </div>
<div>in supported of this structure and coordination. </div>
<div><br><font color="#3366ff">> Who owns it?</font><br> <br> It is owned by the African people.</div>
<div><br><font color="#3366ff">> How far is this project?<br></font> <br> It has been proposed for funding with various organizations and is been publicized at </div>
<div>opportuned foras in Africa and overseas, a commitment have been made and it is</div>
<div>very promising!. In my last report to the group here, I have asked more people to </div>
<div>get involved. The sense I got was that everyone would want to have their own </div>
<div>dot.africa-;-) Nonetheless, we are getting good feedback from non-afri-ICANN </div>
<div>personalities and the diaspora is part of it, as they should be.<br> </div>
<div>Allow me to mention hear, that we have addressed and sent a letter to your </div>
<div>.za 'authority ' and its 'appointees' almost 6 months back seeking your</div>
<div> 'expression of interest', but with no reply. If you would like to get involved, </div>
<div>it is NOT by invitation only, I invite you to join and bring your colleagues. </div>
<div>We run an inclusive, muti-stakeholder organization and our support comes </div>
<div>from our practice.</div>
<div><br>I hope this brings you up to date on the activities of dot.africa so far, and </div>
<div>answers some of your questions.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Pls free to discuss further. My skype contact is 'sbekele' </div>
<div>and phone/txt is 925-818-0948.<br> </div>
<div>Best regards<br>Sophia<br><br><br> </div>
<div><span class="gmail_quote">On 22/10/2007, <b class="gmail_sendername">Vika Mpisane</b> <<a href="mailto:vika@zadna.org.za">vika@zadna.org.za</a>> wrote:</span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">
<div lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="blue">
<div>
<p><font face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Hi Sophia,</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Interesting & generally acceptable answers to the questionnaire. But I would like to ask for clarity on .africa: who is .africa right now? Are you part of a particular structure appointed to coordinate .africa? Who owns it? How far is this project?
</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Best regards,</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Vika Mpisane</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">.za Domain Name Authority</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Johannesburg</span></font><font face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">
, South Africa</span></font><font face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<div>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<hr align="center" width="100%" size="2">
</span></font></div>
<p><b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">From:</span></font></b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:africann-bounces@afrinic.net" target="_blank">
africann-bounces@afrinic.net</a> [mailto:<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:africann-bounces@afrinic.net" target="_blank">africann-bounces@afrinic.net</a>] <b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">
On Behalf Of </span></b>Sophia B<br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</span></b> 22 October 2007 06:31 AM<br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</span></b> <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:ccnsosecretariat@icann.org" target="_blank">
ccnsosecretariat@icann.org</a>; <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:africann@afrinic.net" target="_blank">africann@afrinic.net</a><br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Cc:</span></b> AfTLD Discuss;
<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:support.dotafrica@gmail.com" target="_blank">support.dotafrica@gmail.com</a><br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</span></b> Re: [AfrICANN-discuss] Resending letter to ccTLD Managers (.Africa'sposition)
</span></font></p></div>
<div><span class="e" id="q_115c78b174b8ebd2_1">
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </span></font></p>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Dear Mr. Disspain:</span></font></p></div>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </span></font></p></div>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Speaking as a member of an African community, I have respond to your questions below.</span></font></p></div>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </span></font></p></div>
<div>
<p><strong><b><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">1. Do you believe that the local community in your territory has a </span></font></b></strong><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><br><strong>
<b><font face="Times New Roman">pressing need for an IDN ccTLD?</font></b></strong></span></b></p></div>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">re:There is a need in Africa as urgent as anywhere else (percentage of <br>English users is low) but the Internet infrastructure problems are <br>different (lack of Unicode scripts to low connectivity).
</span></font></p></div>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </span></font></p></div>
<div>
<p><strong><b><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">2. If so, is there yet agreement in your territory on the scripts and </span></font></b></strong></p></div>
<div>
<p><strong><b><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">the string within the script(s) for which delegation of an IDN ccTLD </span></font></b></strong><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><br><strong>
<b><font face="Times New Roman">would be sought, and could you indicate which strings and scripts are </font></b></strong><br><strong><b><font face="Times New Roman">of interest?</font></b></strong></span></b></p></div>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">re: From .Africa perspective, no africawide dicussion on this topic <br>has been mooted (but one could imagine at least a couple of languges like <br>
Amharic are ready for it). Probably on an individual country basis from <br>Afriaca, there would be some time needed to coordinate, with the present <br>survey being an early step.</span></font></p></div>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </span></font></p></div>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">3<strong><b><font face="Times New Roman">. Do you believe the delegation of an IDN ccTLD under a fast </font></b></strong><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">
<br><strong><b><font face="Times New Roman">track/interim approach would be of interest to your community?</font></b></strong></span></b></span></font></p></div>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">re: Fast/track delegation would not be a benefit to African community <br>if done without African particpation (as is liklely) - or at the very <br>least selecting and setting aside IDN equivalents of African cctlds
<br>before launching any fast/track script anywhere.<br> </span></font></p></div>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Additionally, <strong><b><u><font face="Times New Roman">by the attached document</font></u></b></strong>, please be advised of the position of .Africa towards this end.
</span></font></p></div>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </span></font></p></div>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Thank you for the opportunity.</span></font></p></div>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Kind regards,</span></font></p></div>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Sophia Bekele</span></font></p></div>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><br><br> </span></font></p></div>
<div>
<p><span><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">On 11/10/2007, <b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Anne-Rachel Inné</span></b> <<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:annerachel@gmail.com" target="_blank">
annerachel@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</span></font></span> </p><pre><font face="Courier New" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Dear All,<br>
<br>
Please respond either to the email of Chris Disspain I gave you yesterday or to this one:</span></font></pre><pre><font face="Courier New" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><br>
<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:ccnsosecretariat@icann.org" target="_blank"></a></span></font></pre><pre><font face="Courier New" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><br>
<br>
Thanks in advance<br>
AR</span></font></pre>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">***********************************************<br>Dear All,<br><br>This letter is from Chris Dispain, Chairman of the ccNSO at ICANN. Please share with any ccTLD managers you know. Thanks.
<br><br><br>Dear ccTLD Manager, <br>I am writing to you, in my capacity as Chairman of the Country Codeames Supporting <br>Organisation (ccNSO), about the introduction of ccTLD Internationalised Domain Names (<span><span name="st">
IDN</span></span> <br><span><span name="st">ccTLDs</span></span>). The input I am requesting from you is very important and your response will be<br>much appreciated.<br>At the end of this email is a Background and References section that provides some
<br>background information and links to various documents.<br>Based on work done by the ccNSO and discussions amongst ccTLD managers in all regions<br>the ccNSO has taken the first step to launching a Policy Development Process to set the
<br>overall policy for <span><span name="st">IDN</span></span> <span><span name="st">ccTLDs</span></span>.<br>At this stage, the ccNSO is also discussing whether or not to recommend that the ICANN<br>Board consider a fast track/interim approach under which some
<span><span name="st">IDN</span></span> <span><span name="st">ccTLDs</span></span> could be<br>delegated while the overall policy is being developed. To help with those discussions we need <br>to find out the level of interest in your territory and that is why I am writing to you.
<br><br>While community feedback has encouraged the ccNSO to explore levels of interest in a fasttrack/<br>interim approach to <span><span name="st">IDN</span></span> <span><span name="st">ccTLDs</span></span> , this is the first of many steps that would have to be
<br>carefully and successfully taken towards that end and it is generally accepted that any<br>implementation would have to be in compliance with current policies and procedures. Some <br>of these that may be relevant are set out in the Background and References section below.
<br><br>I would be grateful if you would answer the following questions:<br>1. Do you believe that the local community in your territory has a pressing need for an <br><span><span name="st">IDN</span></span> ccTLD?<br>2. If so, is there yet agreement in your territory on the scripts and the string within the
<br>script(s) for which delegation of an <span><span name="st">IDN</span></span> ccTLD would be sought, and could you<br>indicate which strings and scripts are of interest?<br>3. Do you believe the delegation of an <span>
<span name="st">IDN</span></span> ccTLD under a fast track/interim approach <br>would be of interest to your community?<br><br>The fast track/interim approach will be discussed by ccTLD managers at the ICANN meeting<br>in Los Angeles. So, it would be most helpful if you could respond by 26 October 2007.
<br><br>Background and References<br>In the Domain Name System, a ccTLD string (like .jp, .uk) has been defined to represent the<br>name of a country, territory or area of geographical interest, and its subdivisions as identified
<br>in ISO 3166-1, and is represented by 2 US-ASCII characters<br>(<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.iso.org/iso/country_codes/iso_3166_code_lists/english_country_names_and_cod" target="_blank">
http://www.iso.org/iso/country_codes/iso_3166_code_lists/english_country_names_and_cod </a><br>e_elements.htm). This method of identification was adopted for use in the Internet through<br>RFC 920, dated October 1984, and reaffirmed through RFC 1591, dated March 1994. All
<br><span><span name="st">ccTLDs</span></span> in use today are taken directly from the ISO 3166-1 list or from the list of <br>exceptionally reserved code elements defined by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency.<br>The implementation of
<span><span name="st">IDN</span></span> <span><span name="st">ccTLDs</span></span> introduces the (apparent) use of characters outside the<br>US-ASCII character set (for example characters in Cyrillic, Chinese, Arabic, and other scripts)
<br>for domain name strings.<br><br>In initial discussions by the ccNSO members, other ccTLD managers and ICANN's<br>Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) a number of policy questions were identified and a<br>"Questions and Issues Paper" was submitted to the ICANN Board of Directors
<br>(<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.icann.org/topics/idn/ccnso-gac-issues-report-on-idn-09jul07.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.icann.org/topics/<span name="st"><span> idn</span>
</span>/ccnso-gac-issues-report-on-<span name="st"><span>idn</span></span>-09jul07.pdf </a>). It became<br>clear that the development of the required policy for <span><span name="st">IDN</span></span> <span><span name="st">
ccTLDs</span></span> to resolve the issues raised <br>was likely to take a minimum of 2 years. It also became clear that such a time frame was a<br>major concern for a number of ccTLD managers who have expressed there is a pressing need
<br>for an <span><span name="st">IDN</span></span> ccTLD in their territory. Because of this, the concept of a fast track/interim <br>approach began to be discussed. In those discussions it was thought that it might be <br>
possible to find a method to allow the introduction of a limited number of <span><span name="st">IDN</span></span> <span><span name="st">ccTLDs</span></span> while<br>the overall policy was being developed. <br><br>Policies and procedures that may be relevant to the delegation of an
<span><span name="st">IDN</span></span> ccTLD under a fast<br>track/interim approach include:<br>the IDNA protocol standards (<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-" target="_blank">
http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-</a><br>11may07.htm);<br>RFC 3454 (<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3454.txt" target="_blank">http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3454.txt
</a>);<br>RFC 3490 (<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3490" target="_blank"> http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3490</a>);<br>RFC 3491 (<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3491.txt" target="_blank">
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3491.txt</a>);<br>RFC 3492 ( <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3492.txt" target="_blank">http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3492.txt </a>);<br>RFC 1591 and associated procedures for delegation of a country code top level domain
<br>(<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc1591.txt" target="_blank"> http://www.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc1591.txt</a>)<br>The GAC principles <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://gac.icann.org/web/home/ccTLD_Principles.rtf" target="_blank">
http://gac.icann.org/web/home/ccTLD_Principles.rtf</a>.<br>Following consideration of the "Questions and Issues Paper", and statements of the GAC and<br>ccTLD managers on a fast track/interim approach the ICANN Board has requested the ccNSO
<br>to explore both an interim and an overall approach to <span><span name="st">IDN</span></span> <span><span name="st">ccTLDs</span></span> associated with the ISO<br>3166-1 two-letter codes and to recommend a course of action to the Board taking the
<br>technical limitations and requirements into consideration <br><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.icann.org/minutes/resolutions-29jun07.htm#m" target="_blank">http://www.icann.org/minutes/resolutions-29jun07.htm#m
</a>.<br>At its meeting on 2 October 2007, the ccNSO Council launched a Policy Development Process <br>(ccPDP) by requesting a PDP Issues Report and appointing an Issues Manager. This ccPDP<br>has been launched to develop an overall approach, which includes finding solutions for the
<br>matters raised in the "Questions and Issues Paper". </span></font></p></div><pre><font face="Courier New" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> </span></font></pre>
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<br><br></blockquote></div><br>