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

[McTim]

Will there, realistically, be 100 Million left over after litigation?

-- 
Cheers,

McTim
"A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route
indicates how we get there."  Jon Postel

On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 5:24 PM, klaus.stoll <klaus.stoll at chasquinet.org>wrote:

>   Dear Friends
>  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?
>  Yours
>  Klaus
>
>  *From:* Alex Gakuru <gakuru at GMAIL.COM>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 28, 2012 10:24 PM
> *To:* NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> *Subject:* Re: The 100 million raised from sale of web domains should be
> used to wire africa
>
> 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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