Hi Milton


 These are good questions, Grace. ****
>
> There are many economic and business reasons why one would expect far
> fewer per capita applications from developing economies than from
> well-developed, richer ones:
>
****
>
> **-          **Distribution of domain name technology business expertise,
> which is concentrated in developed West
>

the concentration  of "domain name expertise" in the "west" doesn't mean
that we should keep the statu quo, we need that knowledge transfer for
technology aspect, for the business expertise maybe that is something
overrated.

> ****
>
> **-          **Costs of application. We are talking about a 3-6 year time
> line from the point of conception to point of entry into the root. Even
> with JAS subsidies, putting together a staff and proposal to go through all
> this s***t is not cheap. Even applying for JAS subsidies takes time and
> knowledge. JAS program came very late in the day.
>

to clarify something, JAS didn't focus only  on the application fee, we
worked in different aspect going from technical to legal consulting etc and
working in long-term and sustainable manner to setup registry with
assistance and help of 3rd parties and that is why we had proposal like RSP
mentioned several times by Avri.
yes there was delay in implementation, I wont say that was intentional . If
you recall , JAS started in April 2009 after Nairobi ICANN meeting and
faced enough difficulties in GNSO council to move forward till the
publication of final report in september 2011 and I won't talk about
procedural episodes about charter etc.

We can state that application fee and even AGB represent artificial
economic, technical , legal maybe even trade barriers set by ICANN, isn't
it against fostering competition and against free market e.g. incumbents
are benefiting the program( although they didn't expect big players like
google and amazon) and I know how much you abhor such situation

> ****
>
> **-          **Demand. Let's face it, the sale of domain names is a
> fairly rarified and non-fundamental service. Most users in developing
> economies have more basic forms of demand and more limited budgets, like
> basic connectivity, computers/handsets, local content, etc. A cool domain
> name is something you look for AFTER a hundred other things are taken for
> granted.
>

developing economies are diverse and that is why we call some emerging with
growing and vibrant economy and some having difficulties to guarantee basic
services .
 it is not question of cool domain name, that is wrong assumption. the
purpose of setting up a local domain name industry is to help fostering
Internet and web in africa for example: with more registrars , users will
have more easy and cheaper access, the former will probably develop hosting
and other services then implantation of more data centers and cloud
services, more websites and web services adapted to the local market, then
more localized content. and with such new industry, more investment in
connectivity will be done with spread of IPv6. yes it is optimistic
scenario  but realistic. don't stuck to the string, just think beyond ;)
and Google is not investing a lot of money in Africa and MENA
for philanthropic reasons.
I anticipate that you will argue that is not within ICANN mandate but
ensuring competition and access to domain names is. and then we can build
upon it.

>  ****
>
> **-          **Dominance of the Internet economy, esp. DNS economy, by
> government/ccTLD operators in many developing countries****
>
> **
>
the liberalization of ccTLD is moving slowly, they missed many
opportunities and didn't fulfill their roles with over-regulation, lack of
expertise and strategy . but for example projects like .africa is supported
by AfTLD, the association of ccTLDs operators in Africa.
and about the dominance, having new gTLDs in developing regions could break
it and pushing ccTLDs operators to improve their services.

> **
>
> I know I will be viewed as a Grinch, but I think we let our expectations
> get way out of whack here regarding the expected number of new gTLD
> applications from poor or developing countries. The idea that we should
> flagellate ourselves or ICANN for doing something wrong just doesn't fly
> with me. Even if some program had artificially inflated the number of
> applications in order to make things "look better" we would have quickly
> seen many of those applications go under. ****
>
> **
>
we are not flagellate ourselves but more assessing and evaluating the new
gTLD program and to highlights the opportunities missed. also the goal is
to ensure fairness, competition and avoid monopolies in a real free-market
driven program, not artificial inflation.


Rafik

**
>
> *From:* NCSG-Discuss [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of
> *Grace Mutung'u (Bomu)
> *Sent:* Friday, July 06, 2012 9:18 AM
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* Re: [NCSG-Discuss] gTLD for developing regions was Re: []
> knitters needle****
>
> ** **
>
> I am following a discussion on the same at a local IGF (Kenya IGF).
> Forgive my questions because sometimes ICAAN is complicated but I would
> like to understand:
> a) did anyone apply for the "aided" application that is supposed to be
> cheaper?
> b) if yes, were these from developing countries?
> c) if these "aided "applications were few, just like those from developing
> countries, really, why is this so?
> d) and thinking aloud, did these applications even achieve the initial
> intention? is there an alternative to this system or have we(developing
> countries) been left behind in the next revolution?
>  thanks!
>
> ****
>
> 2012/7/6 klaus.stoll <[log in to unmask]>****
>
> Dear Friends
>
> Greetings. I am very happy that the topic of registrars from developing
> countries has come up as it is indeed very important. Here are my current
> five cents worth.
>
> First of all it is not just a numbers game, it is not important how many
> registrars from a developing region, but their overall quality of them and
> who they in fact represent. Secondly, we need to look what is going wrong
> inside our ICANN box that seems to keep registrars from developing regions
> out. So what I means we need to look inward and outward at the same time on
> this topic.
>
> Secondly we need to look for opportunities to change the situation and I
> think given the scope and mandate of ICANN I think here we need to look
> also outside the ICANN plate to get the situation resolved.
>
> As ED of GKPF and as a NPOC member I want to be practical and offer our
> existing infrastructure and contacts towards this cause, in particular as
> this is a clear win/win situation for all involved as this allows us to
> serve our members better.
>
> 1. Talking about members: GKPF has a number of African region members and
> I am happy to use our contacts to get the message through and get things
> going, but it would be up to us all what the message is and what the action
> would be. (BTW, GKPF has also good contacts to other developing regions
> which can be used.
>
> 2. GKPF is involved with the Annual Innovation Africa Digital Summit which
> reaches all of Africa and on a particular governmental and industry level.
> (Last year the .Africa Applicants made a big splash at the meeting in
> Addis). I am more hen happy to get talks going with the organizers to see
> what can and should be done, but again, first we need a plan.
>
> 3. GKPF is the chair of the Program and Content Committee of the upcoming
> Computer Online Protection Conference Africa 2013 ,(together with ITU).
> There might be some synergies that could be exploited.
>
> 4. WSIS. The WSIS preparation for the WSIS Forum in 2013 is just starting
> and GKPF hopes to play a large role in it. I think the WSIS process is one
> of the ways to get things done.
>
> These are my first initial thoughts. I hope that you accept my challenge
> and that we can start working on concrete things with concrete results in
> and outside and through the ICANN box.
>
> I also want to let you know that I was extremely saddened by some of the
> comments made about GKPF at Prague as a organization non existent and
> irrelevant. Yes, GKP took a 2 year “time out” to reinvent itself as GKPF
> and has come out of the process the better and stronger and as I said it is
> very sad to hear people holding it against us that we did the not popular
> but the right thing.
>
> In the hope that you found the above helpful.
>
> Yours
>
> Klaus ****
>
>  ****
>
> *From:* Rafik Dammak <[log in to unmask]> ****
>
> *Sent:* Thursday, July 05, 2012 2:52 AM****
>
> *To:* [log in to unmask] ****
>
> *Subject:* Re: gTLD for developing regions was Re: [] knitters needle****
>
>  ****
>
> Hi Avri, ** **
>
>  ****
>
>
> The one on RAA is critical as this is s till under discussion.  Perhaps
> you can develop that theme into a comment that NCSG/[NCUC, NPOC] can
> endorse.****
>
>   ****
>
> Thank you Avri, I like NCSG way to volunteer each other  ;), I think that
> is better if I start to draft something and share with NCSGers. I am not
> sure about the format, and should we include it in a letter/comment to
> detail NCSG position regarding RAA, something to coordinate with efforts
> started by Wendy.****
>
>  ****
>
>
> Some of the other topics are long term, but perhaps we can figure out ways
> to work on them over the longer term, so at the right time we are ready to
> contribute well developed proposals.****
>
>   ****
>
> indeed, long-term work,a kind of strategic planning we have to think about
> and also to allow enough time to outreach the different SG of the community.
> ****
>
> I am not yet thinking about cross-community working group :)****
>
>  ****
>
>
> I think helping local populations create RSPs and Rrs in developing
> regions is one of the key means of raising the capacity of developing
> regions and one of the ways to insure there are qualified applicants ready
> to take on the challenge of applying for new registries without needing to
> chain themselves to incumbent RSPs and Rrs (ie yet another variant of
> cyber-colonialism).****
>
>   ****
>
> I guess that is close to what you proposed for JAS, something that we can
> develop and improve, ****
>
>  ****
>
> Rafik****
>
>  ****
>
>
> avri****
>
>
>
> On 4 Jul 2012, at 11:14, Rafik Dammak wrote:
>
> > Hi Avri,
> >
> > while we can continue the work about new gTLD program, we should also
> cover another topic which is about having more registrars from developing
> countries to serve users there. we had such discussion when we presented
> the JAS 2nd milestone report last year and we had same comments  again
> during ICANN meeting in prague. there are some particularities and issues
> like payments methods (yes credit card is not something common), pricing
> etc which limit the access to domains to registrants especially individuals
> from developing countries. new gTLD could fix some problems with more
> community-based registries and benefiting the more relaxed vertical
> integration rules, but ICANN missed such opportunity.
> >
> > I am also wondering if the new RAA with new provisions creates de facto
> new economic and technical barriers to new entrants from developing regions
> and only benefits to incumbents (what about competition and anti-trust?)
> while possible provisions like validation and verification won't encourage
> those incumbents registrars to operate in Africa for example. For RAA
> negotiations, that can be another point to work on it in addition to our
> concerns about privacy, FoE and anonymity.  All these are good to question
> the public interest task for ICANN and its role to encourage real
> competition and diversity for the benefit of registrants like
> non-commercial with more operators serving their communities.
> > I guess that we need on work on that,
> > and still work to be done for support applicant for second round if
> there is,
> >
> > Best,
> >
> > Rafik Dammak
> > @rafik
> > "fight for the users"
> >
> >
> >
> > 2012/7/4 Avri Doria <[log in to unmask]>
> > Hi,
> >
> > This is something worth working on.
> >
> > While I was very much against working according to categories in this
> round, it was largely because I thought the categories were something
> emergent.  I don't think we all could have agreed on the set categories
> before.  But now we can. Or at least can come close.
> >
> > I think that the developing region applications are obviously a category
> that was not sufficiently included.
> >
> > As we start to think and plan for the next round, I think we
> could/should consider limiting it to categories, i.a. such as developing
> regions.  I beleive remediating failures in diversity etc should be one of
> the primary goals of the next round.  I expect that this may be a
> controversial perspective, perhaps even within NCSG, so it is going to take
> some discussion on:
> >
> > - whether a next round should be constrained across some but not all
> categories
> > - if so, which categories
> >
> > It might be good to start figuring out if we, as NCSG collectively, or
> [NCUC, NPOC] separately, have viewpoints on such issues.
> >
> > avri
> >
> > PS: I love the way threads wander and morph in a living list.
> >
> > On 4 Jul 2012, at 09:15, Adam Peake wrote:
> >
> > > On Wed, Jul 4, 2012 at 4:17 PM, Alex Gakuru <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > >> Is Africa, really, part of ICANN? the 'reveal' showed that 99.99 per
> cent of
> > >> new gTLDs were from outside Africa which only managed to submit a
> palty 0.88
> > >> per cent of the 1930 applications. As developed economies IP industry
> and
> > >> brand owners entrench themselves deeper on ICANN, we're wondering,
> what's
> > >> wrong with this model for Africa?
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> > > Alex, not just Africa, developing countries/region generally. Also
> > > equal lack of applicants from Latin America and Caribbean, and
> > > majority of Asia Pacific.
> > > <http://gtldresult.icann.org/application-result/applicationstatus>
> > >
> > > Plenty of applications from the Asia Pacific when taken across the
> > > whole region, but only from the developed markets (China and India in
> > > the ICT sector can be classed as developed.)
> > >
> > > Failure of outreach, or just a reflection of economics. NCSG should
> > > talk with the GAC about this.  GAC's quite animated, complained to the
> > > board.
> > >
> > > Adam
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >> On Wed, Jul 4, 2012 at 9:34 AM, Alain Berranger <
> [log in to unmask]>
> > >> wrote:
> > >>>
> > >>> Hi Avri,
> > >>>
> > >>> It is clear to me too that NCUC/pre NPOC NCSG is a community of some
> kind
> > >>> - I just don't quite grasp its essence yet, but what is sure is that
> I don't
> > >>> yet feel part of it.
> > >>>
> > >>> Looking back to Prague, at no times were any of the 5 NPOC members
> there
> > >>> made to feel full members of that community. For instance, at your
> own dot
> > >>> gay event at the sky bar, all NCUC members present were invited, but
> not a
> > >>> single NPOC member was invited. When NCSG EC had informal
> gatherings, never
> > >>> once were NPOC members included. That said, NPOC members there did
> not lack
> > >>> social interaction with other Constituencies.
> > >>>
> > >>> Yes Avri, you and I agree on the need for an NCUC email list for the
> NCUC
> > >>> community.. Keeping NCSG list for building the new NCSG community
> made out
> > >>> of both NCUC and NPOC members.
> > >>>
> > >>> Alain
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> On Tuesday, July 3, 2012, Avri Doria wrote:
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Hi,
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Sorry to hear that.
> > >>>> It is part of what makes us a community instead of just a SG.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Would have enjoyed hearing your voice as well.
> > >>>> Though I guess I just did.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> BTW:  I still think we need an announce list of the news and only
> the
> > >>>> news for those members whole don't like all the touchy feely group,
> aka
> > >>>> unprofessional, participation.  I would like the NCSG EC to
> reconsider its
> > >>>> decision from last year not to create such a list.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> avri
> > >>>>
> > >>>> On 3 Jul 2012, at 11:13, Michael Carson wrote:
> > >>>>
> > >>>>> Hello,
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> Whoever is in charge of adding/removing email addresses to this
> > >>>>> listserv, I am requesting that my email address be removed.
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> This sort of exchange is fruitless, a waste of time and
> unprofessional.
> > >>>>> This is not the first time I have received these types of email
> exchanges.
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> Again, please remove my email address.
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> Regards,
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> Michael Carson
> > >>>>> YMCA of the USA
> > >>>>>
> >****
>
>   ****
>
>
>
>
> --
> Grace L.N. Mutung'u (Bomu)
> Kenya
> Skype: gracebomu
> Twitter: GraceMutung'u (Bomu)****
>