The 100 million raised from sale of web domains should be used to wire africa

[Alex Gakuru]

Thanks Robin,

Gakuru @M-Pesa land:-)

On Thu, Nov 29, 2012 at 12:16 AM, Robin Gross <robin at ipjustice.org> wrote:

> Interesting proposal....
>
> *
> http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/11/icann_s_gtld_auction_proceeds_should_be_used_to_bring_mesh_technologies.html
> *<http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/11/icann_s_gtld_auction_proceeds_should_be_used_to_bring_mesh_technologies.html>
>
> ICANN Make a Difference
> The 100 million raised from sale of web domains should be used to wire
> africa
> by Sascha Meinrath & Elliot Noss
>
> 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 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
> Advertisement
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> IP JUSTICE
> Robin Gross, Executive Director
> 1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA  94117  USA
> p: +1-415-553-6261    f: +1-415-462-6451
> w: http://www.ipjustice.org     e: robin at ipjustice.org
>
>
>
>
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