<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div>All Internet/Tech related organizations operating in Africa should sign a manifesto explicitly opposing Internet Shutdowns In Africa. These include:-</div><div><br></div><div>1. Afrinic</div><div>2. All National Tech/Telco Associations </div><div>3. AfTlD and related organizations </div><div>4. Any other related organizations. </div><div><br>It is clear to me that even if the above organizations do not have the power or powers to deny offending governments critical internet resources the clear message will go a long way in galvanizing the African people in defeating the non sense of Internet shut downs.</div><div> <br><div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.294118); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.231373);"><b>Ali Hussein</b></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.294118); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.231373);"><b>Principal</b></span></div><div><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Hussein & Associates</b></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">+254 0713 601113 </div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Twitter: @AliHKassim</span></p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font></font></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Skype: abu-jomo</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">LinkedIn: <a href="http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim" target="_blank">http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim</a></span></p><font><br></font></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." ~ Aristotle</span></div><div><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.294118); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.231373);"><br></span></div>Sent from my iPad</div></div><div><br>On 15 Apr 2017, at 7:37 PM, Willy MANGA <<a href="mailto:mangawilly@gmail.com">mangawilly@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><span>Hi ,</span><br><span>(speaking in my own capacity)</span><br><span></span><br><span>Le 13/04/2017 à 10:21, Seun Ojedeji a écrit :</span><br><blockquote type="cite"><span><Taking this to the community list, where it belongs></span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>Dear Community,</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>[...]</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>One other thing that comes to mind is whether AFRINIC can be pro-active</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>instead of re-active i.e they are made aware of the planned act and issue</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>strong statement against it hoping that it will get to the ears of relevant</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>authorities and get them to reconsider. This may also be effective if the</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>relationship between AFRINIC and the AU (and regional bodies like ECOWAS,</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>EAC, COMESA etc) is strengthened as that can serve as a channel of</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>communication to the respective governments.</span><br></blockquote><span></span><br><span>From my personal understanding whatever is the motivation behind the</span><br><span>shutdown, some states act like that because they see the Internet as</span><br><span>something very strange and dangerous because they do not have the *full*</span><br><span>control.</span><br><span>I use to compare it to people who have not followed any life-saving</span><br><span>class. When there is fire, they are afraid and run about instead of</span><br><span>following safety instructions.</span><br><span></span><br><span>Many don't know at all (or they are realizing a little bit) what the</span><br><span>Internet is. It's usual to see people who compare Internet to some</span><br><span>social networks for instance.</span><br><span>Many people don't know that social networks is a fraction of the web</span><br><span>which itself is a fraction of the Internet. (You should thank some big</span><br><span>players for their marketing here; they did it best unfortunately)</span><br><span></span><br><span>Internet does/should not belong to any entity,individual. Here is the</span><br><span>biggest issue for any state. They look for ways to gain more and more</span><br><span>control. Those who do not master the keys of their national</span><br><span>infrastructure cut all or a part of the services. Those who master all</span><br><span>their infrastructure capture traffic,analyse it and decide on how to</span><br><span>proceed with that data. In Africa we are generally on the first case.</span><br><span>Whatever the case, this issue should be addressed to ICANN in my humble</span><br><span>opinion. AFRINIC can discuss it within ASO.</span><br><span></span><br><span>Moreover on a continental level, in addition to what Seun has suggested</span><br><span>above in order to help them better understand what is this «beast», I</span><br><span>think they need more capacity building training at different levels</span><br><span>(technical,administrative,..) and on various topics. We all know that</span><br><span>these trainings exist but they should continue.</span><br><span>I read that their participation within AfGWG was low; we should help our</span><br><span>States understand that they have to really participate, give their</span><br><span>opinions and discuss. Their low participation contribute a little bit to</span><br><span>the situation where you see a proposal emerge within the community on</span><br><span>whether or not AFRINIC should take some actions when an internet</span><br><span>shutdown occurs.</span><br><span></span><br><span>At last, I'm not convinced that international pressure will always be</span><br><span>the better solution (or even the solution). Most of us here are citizen</span><br><span>of a country in Africa. Those who participate here are very aware of the</span><br><span>importance of the Internet. We should push forward debate (and actions)</span><br><span>in our respective country on these issue. It's not easy at all, trust me</span><br><span>(speaking for my country) but that should be the way forward. We have to</span><br><span>be responsible at all our different levels and help our national</span><br><span>ecosystem grow because we cannot evolve if we do not study/contribute to</span><br><span>RFC, deploy root servers system, build IXP, use IPv6, sign our zones,</span><br><span>... If we do not understand and contribute on all that matters we will</span><br><span>always run about when we'll have the feeling that «the danger» comes</span><br><span>from the Internet.</span><br><span></span><br><span>The solutions should come *at first* from the citizen, entities of each</span><br><span>country.</span><br><span></span><br><span></span><br><span>-- </span><br><span>Willy Manga</span><br><span>freenode: ongolaBoy</span><br><span>Ubuntu Cameroonian Loco Team</span><br><span><a href="https://launchpad.net/~manga-willy">https://launchpad.net/~manga-willy</a></span><br><span></span><br></div></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><div><span>_______________________________________________</span><br><span>Community-Discuss mailing list</span><br><span><a href="mailto:Community-Discuss@afrinic.net">Community-Discuss@afrinic.net</a></span><br><span><a href="https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/community-discuss">https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/community-discuss</a></span><br></div></blockquote></body></html>