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<DIV>Dear Friends</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Greetings. An interesting proposal that will realistically have to overcome
maybe more obstacles then the implementation of the new gTLD’s itself. Obstacles
are there to be overcome, it all depends on the will to overcome them!!! The
article makes a good point, maybe a point that many will support, but how can
this theory be translated into organized political will and pressure which make
that what has been asked for a reality?. The authors have bravely outet
themselves as old ICANN hands, so they will be the first to recognize the real
problem now. ICANN is good in talking, but here the question is, what is after
the talk, what is the next step?. Maybe an organized multi-sector coalition and
pressure group of the willing? </DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Yours</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Klaus</DIV>
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=gakuru@GMAIL.COM
href="mailto:gakuru@GMAIL.COM">Alex Gakuru</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, November 28, 2012 10:24 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=NCSG-DISCUSS@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
href="mailto:NCSG-DISCUSS@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU">NCSG-DISCUSS@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: The 100 million raised from sale of web domains should
be used to wire africa</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">Thanks
Robin,<BR><BR>Gakuru @M-Pesa land:-)<BR><BR>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>On Thu, Nov 29, 2012 at 12:16 AM, Robin Gross <SPAN
dir=ltr><<A href="mailto:robin@ipjustice.org"
target=_blank>robin@ipjustice.org</A>></SPAN> wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex"
class=gmail_quote>
<DIV style="WORD-WRAP: break-word">
<DIV>Interesting proposal....</DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px; MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; FONT: 12px helvetica"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT style="FONT: 12px helvetica; COLOR: #002fd7"
color=#002fd7 size=3 face=Helvetica><A
href="http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/11/icann_s_gtld_auction_proceeds_should_be_used_to_bring_mesh_technologies.html"
target=_blank><U>http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/11/icann_s_gtld_auction_proceeds_should_be_used_to_bring_mesh_technologies.html</U></A></FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>ICANN Make a Difference</DIV>
<DIV>The 100 million raised from sale of web domains should be used to wire
africa</DIV>
<DIV>by Sascha Meinrath & Elliot Noss</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is little known,
but it wields a tremendous amount of power: It controls all of the Web’s
top-level domains (those letters after the “dot,” like .com and .org).
Currently, ICANN is in the midst of creating hundreds (and possibly thousands)
of new, generic top-level domains (gTLDs) that span a host of different ideas,
from .web to .cars to .anything_else_you_can_imagine. These new gTLDs have the
potential to dramatically affect the future of Internet browsing, and they’re
already stirring up some serious discussion. (Saudi A<SPAN
style="WHITE-SPACE: pre-wrap"> </SPAN>rabia, for one, doesn’t want .gay,
.bible, or other dozens of other proposed domains to be approved.) But the
auction process to distribute them also has the potential for even greater
impact than currently envisioned.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>ICANN’s new generic top-level domain process has been dragging on for
years—basically since the organization’s inception in 1998. But this year, it
is finally coming to fruition, and as early as April 2013 we are likely to see
the first group of new gTLDS—in essence, ICANN will empower specific legal
entities to control how to use and sell these domain names. This process means
significant amounts of money may start rolling in soon: It already costs
$185,000 to apply for a gTLD, but when there are multiple bidders for the same
string—like .web or .app—they will be put up for auction.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>For instance, the .web gTLD is widely desired by a number of different
organizations, as it is the most likely contender to possibly challenge the
king of all gTLDs: .com. There are currently eight applicants for .web,
including Google, German Internet giant 1&1, and incumbent registry
operator Afilias (which manages .org and .info) among other bidders. We expect
that the bidding for .web alone is likely to be in excess of $5 million and
could potentially reach $10 million or more. For the .app gTLD, there are 11
applicants—and we may see a titanic bidding war between Google and Amazon.
There are hundreds more contended strings that are likely to go to auction and
raise tens of millions of additional dollars—even $100 million isn’t out of
the question.</DIV>
<DIV>Advertisement</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>All told, there are more than 1,900 applications for roughly 1,000 unique
strings in this first wave. The $185,000 application fee is intended to fund
the ICANN process, but the proceeds from contention auctions are considered
“excess funds” that are not already earmarked to cover costs. The challenge
will be to use these proceeds in a way that best benefits the public interest
and the global Internet. In talking with key stakeholders over the last couple
of years, everyone agrees that allocating these funds will be a challenge and
likely to be fraught with politics.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We've been involved in the ICANN process since its inception, and believe
that these proceeds can and should be used to do something game-changing and
truly visionary: build and maintain free wireless Internet infrastructure for
huge swaths of the continent of Africa or an equally disconnected,
high-poverty area of the planet. This is an audacious idea that many might
originally dismiss as impractical—but that's because their thinking is stuck
inside the box. We know that it can be done—and how. Providing free wireless
Internet infrastructure for the continent of Africa would be a dream come
true—the kind of outcome that would help bridge the digital divide and garner
huge socioeconomic benefits for decades to come.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>But would $100 million actually be enough to build useful, sustainable
infrastructure? It would, if its creators use many of the newer “mesh”
technologies that are now coming online. African's Internet penetration
currently hovers around 15 percent—less than half the world average. And
roughly half of African countries have single-digit broadband penetration
rates. The digital divide looms large, in no small part because many Africans
simply cannot afford current broadband prices.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>To help solve this problem, we can use what are called mesh technologies,
which are significantly cheaper than the systems we use in the developed
world. More importantly, they can easily interconnect and extend existing
infrastructure in remarkably cost-effective ways. Instead of connecting people
through a central hub or tower, mesh architectures resemble more of a spider
web, in which data can flow through a large number of routes to reach their
destination. Because there's no single point of failure within a mesh network
and because of the redundancy of pathways within these systems, they're often
more resilient—harder for human intervention or natural disaster to take down
as well as more difficult to surveille and censor.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Projects like CommotionWireless.net and OpenGarden.net have developed
game-changing technologies that allow existing cellphones to connect with each
other directly, for free. They can also share bandwidth from one cellphone
throughout an entire network of devices, allowing people who don't have
Internet connectivity to browse the Web or send email via someone else's
connection. Now what's needed is a bold, widespread implementation of these
technologies. There's no reason Africa shouldn’t take advantage of new
technologies and new business models to provide a modest amount of
connectivity each month for anyone who wants it.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In essence, what we're proposing is the widespread unlocking of existing
technologies, the creation of hybrid networks that take advantage of recent
advances in ad-hoc wireless networking, and the digital enfranchisement of the
billions of people who cannot afford to participate in current business
models. Providing basic connectivity is not expensive—more importantly,
unlocking devices and allowing peer-to-peer connectivity costs absolutely
nothing.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>A $100 million intervention would enable a wide-ranging proof-of-concept
of today's cutting-edge mesh wireless technologies. It would demonstrate the
viability of new hybrid networking architectures that opportunistically used
for-fee services when necessary and offload to free alternatives whenever
possible. It would enable us to try out numerous innovative business models.
And most importantly, it would point the way forward—helping solve the problem
of how to grant access to the Internet's vast resources to the substantial
majority of humanity who are not meaningfully online.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>With the gTLD auctions now pending, ICANN has a once-in-a-generation
opportunity to change the digital destinies of billions of people. With
ICANN's help, we can realize a world where Africa rivals any country on the
planet when it comes to online connectivity. And where African citizens can
take it for granted that meaningful (online) civic participation is
universally available. We've already seen how even modest resources like the
mobile micropayment system M-Pesa have helped spur a new generation of
entrepreneurship—imagine what's possible when free connectivity is available
to all.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12px">
<DIV><BR><BR></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>IP JUSTICE</DIV>
<DIV>Robin Gross, Executive Director</DIV>
<DIV>1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117 USA</DIV>
<DIV>p: +1-415-553-6261 f: +1-415-462-6451</DIV>
<DIV>w: <A href="http://www.ipjustice.org"
target=_blank>http://www.ipjustice.org</A> e: <A
href="mailto:robin@ipjustice.org"
target=_blank>robin@ipjustice.org</A></DIV><BR></SPAN><BR></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
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