Tag Archives: Kenya

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

Renewal Prices For .KE Third Level Domains Slashed In Bid To Boost Demand

KeNIC has slashed the registry renewal fee for third level .ke domain names until 31 March in a bid to boost registrations and reduce the numbers of non-renewals according to a report in Techweez.

The Kenya National Information Centre (KeNIC) found high renewal prices were the key reason for high numbers of domain deletions through a domain deletion survey in April 2019. As a result, registrants should see the renewal price of .ke domains reduced by around half.

During the 3 month promotion for Kenya’s country code top-level domain that began on 1 January, registrants will renew their domain name registrations at half the usual price offered to them by domain registrars.

According to one registrar, Africa Registry, to register a .co.ke domain name for the first time is around $35, while the renewal fee is $113. Another, EuroDNS charges close to $149 for initial registrations.

According to the Techweez report, KeNIC says the period will also be a time to examine the market response to the price cut. The outcome will also help in formulating a new pricing model, among other strategic decisions in order to appeal to issues that were raised last year and this time round.

“It is our hope that we shall work together towards the growth of the .ke domain registrations and achieve higher customer retention rate,” says KeNIC in a statement.

The reduction is also only available for 3rd level domains, not the second level .ke, and is only available through all KeNIC licensed registrars.

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

KENIC To Begin Rolling Out Second Level .KE Domain Names in July

Kenya Network Information Centre Kenic logoThe Kenyan ccTLD operator KENIC will begin rolling out second level .ke domain names from 23 July, the registry operator announced Thursday through Facebook and Twitter, and they will be available along with the existing third level domains.

While no specific dates have been announced other than the launch date, KENIC have published policies [pdf] for the second level domains. They’ll begin with a Sunrise period that will run for 90 days for trademark holders whose trademarks have been registered under the Trade Marks ACT (CAP 506) Laws of Kenya, presumably from 23 July.

Following the Sunrise period will be a 30-day Landrush. At the end of the Landrush Period, any domain names with only one applicant will be allocated while for those with more than one applicant will proceed to an auction conducted by the registry between the competing applicants and awarded to the highest bidder.

Between Sunrise and Landrush and following the Landrush periods will be a 30-day cooling off period where the registry will assess whether the applications meet the eligibility criteria for the respective phases.

And then approximately 150 days after the launch of second level domain names, in mid-late December, General Availability will commence. While some of the third level domains require “supporting documents”, it appears .ke and .co.ke do not have any requirements for the registrant to be located in Kenya.

Pricing has not yet been published and will be published on the KENIC website.

There are currently 58,270 .ke domain names registered, with around 2,500 being added each month. The vast majority of the .ke domain names are registered under .co.ke, which has 55,150 registrations.

ICANN and Governance

ICANN Holds the First Capacity Building Workshop for African GAC Members

[news release] ICANN in cooperation with the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Under-served Regions Working Group is pleased to announce the first capacity building workshop for the Africa Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) members in Nairobi, Kenya.

ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee logoThe workshop, themed “Harnessing the Potential of the Africa GAC Members for better Participation in ICANN” will be held from 23-24 January 2017 with the support of the Communication Authority and the Government of Kenya.

This is the first regional workshop organized by ICANN’s recently established Nairobi Engagement Office. From ICANN, Göran Marby, ICANN President & CEO, Thomas Schneider, GAC Chair will both be present with executives, the regional ICANN team and community members. The keynote address and Official Opening will be done by Joseph Mucheru, Cabinet Secretary Ministry of ICT – Republic of Kenya.

The workshop will focus on raising awareness and assist in building capacity of the African GAC representatives and governments on how best to effectively participate and contribute to policy making at ICANN. It will also introduce critical active relevant policy topics, working groups including relevant GAC and cross-community working groups that require the immediate attention and participation of GAC members. The workshop will seek feedback from the African GAC representatives on how to better help them improve their regional footprint as well as at ICANN.

The workshop will cover a range of topics that will include:

  • Understanding the ICANN Ecosystem
  • Policy development process at ICANN
  • ICANN Africa Strategy – an Overview
  • New gTLDs and the Role of GAC:
  • Understanding ccTLD Re-delegation

ICANN looks towards creating a stronger association with the community in Africa, including governments in the region, to help increase awareness and participation in ICANN’s work and the Internet policy processes under ICANN’s remit.

The full agenda can be found here [PDF, 440 KB].

The event will be livestreamed. The link will be uploaded soon.

——-The End—-

About ICANN:

ICANN’s mission is to help ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address into your computer or other device – a name or a number. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation and a community with participants from all over the world.

For more information, please visit: https://www.icann.org/

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2017-01-13-en

ICANN and Governance

ICANN and CA Collaborate on an African Law Enforcement Capacity Building Workshop in Kenya

ICANN logo[news release] ICANN and the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) are pleased to announce their collaboration on a law enforcement agencies capacity building workshop this month from 25th-26th January, 2017.

The workshop is hosted by the Communication Authority of Kenya, the GAC Public Safety Working Group (PSWG), with support from ICANN’s Global Stakeholder Engagement (GSE) , Security, Stability and Resiliency (SSR) and Compliance teams.

The workshop aims to raise awareness and build capacity in the African law enforcement community on how to participate in ICANN and engage effectively in the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and ICANN policy making. It will also focus on capacity building within the Law Enforcement Agencies and review the Domain Name System (DNS) and its impact on public safety.

A range of topics will be covered:

  • Introduction to ICANN’s mission and multistakeholder bottom-up policy development model
  • Introduction to the GAC: role, organisation and membership
  • Introduction to the Public Safety Working Group (PSWG): mandate and work plan
  • Definition of Abuse of the DNS that can be addressed through ICANN’s processes and contracts
  • Mitigation of DNS Abuse: the role and obligations of contracted parties
  • Mitigation of DNS Abuse: the role and tools of ICANN’s Security Stability and Resiliency Team
  • How Law Enforcement agencies should engage with ICANN

The African Law Enforcement Capacity Building Workshop will provide an opportunity to share experiences with around 15 African Heads of Cybercrime units, members of the Public Safety working group as well as other representatives from governments and industry.

The full agenda can be found here [PDF, 330 KB].

——-The End—-

About ICANN:

ICANN’s mission is to help ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address into your computer or other device – a name or a number. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation and a community with participants from all over the world.

For more information, please visit: https://www.icann.org/

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2-2017-01-13-en

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

ccTLD Updates: .NO Reaches 700,000, .KE Cuts Fees and New .FI Registry/Registrar Model

Norid UNINETT logoThe Norwegian ccTLD, .no, reached the 700,000 registrations milestone in late June with individuals adding significantly to the number of registrations since they were allowed to register domains in the ccTLD in June 2014.

But today the total number of registrations has dipped backed below the milestone and number 6999,876 of which 408,793 are DNSSEC secured.

Since June 2014 the number of .no domain names registered by individuals has reached 50,000.

Kenya Network Information Centre Kenic logoThe Kenya Network Information Centre (Kenic) has reduced the price charged to registrars for .ke domains to Sh650 ($6.40) per domain from Sh1,000 ($9.85); with a recommended retail selling price set at Sh1,000, according to a report in the Kenyan Business Daily.

There are also “plans to make it compulsory for new companies seeking registration to have a website as part of efforts to get at least half of local enterprises” to use the Kenyan ccTLD.

Kenic “also plans to make it possible to register for the domain name at any Huduma Centre countrywide.” Huduma Centres provide Kenyans access to various Public Services and information from One Stop Shop citizen service centres.

Ficora is transitioning to a new registry-registrar model and as part of the plans to implement the change .fi will undergo maintenance operations between 16:15 on 2 September and 10:00 on 5 September.

FICORA dot FI logoThe current domain name system and all related user IDs will cease to exist on Friday, 2 September at 16.15. This means that domain names cannot be modified between Friday, 2 September 2016 at 16.15 and Monday, 5 September 2016 at 10.00. Which also means it will not be possible to renew or change registrant information during this period. The new system which will only be for registrars will open at 10:00 on 5 September.

Other changes that will occur as a result of the new system will be that the registration of certain domain names currently banned by law will become available. Domain names that will become available include:

  • generic or country code top level domains
  • abbreviations of enterprise, foundation or association forms
  • expressions that are insulting or incite into criminal activity.

These restrictions are abandoned in the Information Society Code and the banned domain names will be released for registration on Wednesday, 7 September 2016 at 10.00. The release takes place on Wednesday in order to provide registrars a chance to check their account balance and deposit enough money to their account for the registrations.

Other changes for registrars include:

  • Those who have registered as registrars in the new system act as account administrators and can create new user IDs for other users within their organisation.
  • Users log in to the system by entering a user ID, password and one-time password that is sent via text message to the number provided by the user.
  • Domain name registration fees are charged to the deposit account which registrars may top up through their online bank, either via credit card or bank transfer. Users may set a balance alert which means that the system sends a message when the account balance falls below a chosen limit.
  • It is easy to keep a domain name holder’s details up to date since contact details are automatically updated to all of the holder’s domain names.
  • it is possible to set domain names to automatically renew once a year.
Domain Name Registry, ICANN and Governance, New gTLDs

The Third Africa DNS Forum to Take Place in Nairobi, Kenya

Africa Top Level Domain Association logoThis is the third Africa DNS forum following on the successful forums in Durban, South Africa (2013), and Abuja, Nigeria (2014).

The forum is organized in partnership with ICANN, The Internet Society (ISOC) and the Africa Top Level Domain Organization (AFTLD) and will be hosted this year by the Kenya Network Information Center (KENIC), from 6-8 July 2015, under the theme:

When: 6-8 July 2015

Where: Sarova Panafric Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya

“The Future of Africa’s Domain Name Industry:
Opportunities and Challenges”

Purpose: The Africa DNS Forum brings together ccTLD registries, registrars, and stakeholders from Africa and around the world to share, learn, interact and discuss ways of how the African Domain Name Space can be improved, by sharing experiences and best practices in the domain name industry at a global level, and of the emerging business opportunities. The Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology of Kenya (MICT) have endorsed this year’s event.

Who should attend: Registries, registrars, registrants, ccTLDs, new gTLD applicants, service providers, brand owners, and legal firms

More information

Register now to secure your place

More details are available from the event site: dnsforum.or.ke/index.php/home

For more information, please email: info@dnsforum.or.ke

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2015-06-08-en

Cybersecurity

Kenya Says It Will Block .XXX

The Kenyan government has announced it will block access to the recently approved .XXX Top Level Domain with the Communications Secretary Bitange Ndemo saying Kenya will block .XXX websites from being accessible in the country.In his speech, Ndemo said .XXX would make it much easier for Kenya’s children to access pornography and that while the government has said it will not censor the internet, according to Kenya’s laws, pornography is not allowed in the country.The comments by Ndemo were made, ironically, at the 20th anniversary celebrations of World Press Freedom Day.”Some countries have that freedom but parents have the responsibility of stopping their children from accessing these sites,” Ndemo said. “Most parents in Kenya are not Internet savvy unlike their children so such material would not be controlled.”The talk by is available on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdGJY7hCVcs.

ICANN and Governance, Opinion

Milton Mueller finds ICANN’s Nairobi Board resolutions “painful to read”

Milton Mueller gave the ICANN board an A for effort following the fairly large number of resolutions it passed in its meeting last Friday, but an F for substance.

Mueller gave his reasons on a number of issues including:

  • “the Board [choosing] to ignore its independent review panel and refused to rectify what was officially determined to be unfair and discriminatory treatment” on the .XXX application
  • issuing “a needlessly biased and poorly worded resolution that was an attempt to clarify things but probably did the opposite” on vertical integration
  • “bending over backwards to accommodate trademark interests at the expense of market diversity, as most of the resolutions passed refer to various aspects of how to protect trademark owners from the horrifying prospect of letting people register names under new TLDs”
  • “in response to complaints that it had set the fee bar for new gTLDs too high, the Board issued a vague instruction to its Advisory Committees and Supporting Organizations ‘develop a sustainable approach to providing support to applicants requiring assistance in applying for and operating new gTLDs.'”

To read the posting by Milton Mueller in full on the Internet Governance Project blog, see:
blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2010/3/12/4478733.html

ICANN and Governance

ICANN Nairobi Meeting Gets Board Approval

In its latest meeting on the issue, the ICANN board decided on Friday that they will proceed with plans to hold their 37th meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, after considering all the security issues that have been raised in recent weeks.

As part of its considerations, the ICANN board was advised that there will be enhanced security measures during the meeting. However for those not attending the board has vowed to have enhanced remote participation tools.

ICANN also asked all those who are currently registered to cancel their registration if they were unable to attend last Tuesday (15th). Between Tuesday and Thursday there had been 72 cancellations and 23 new registrations. Overall registrations as of Thursday were 738.

ICANN staff will be actively monitoring the security situation in Nairobi up to and through the meeting. While ICANN will not be posting regular updates between now and the meeting, any significant new news will be promptly posted on the ICANN Nairobi meeting website at nbo.icann.org.