The .ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA) has published the draft .za registry and registrar licensing regulations. The draft provide details on the requirements to be met by registries and registrars to be licensed by the Authority, the steps to be taken when applying for the renewal of the license, and how to address contraventions of the license conditions.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the European Commission has asked EURid, the .eu registry, to continue monitoring new .eu domain name registrations using their APEWS – Advanced Prevention and Early Warning System – platform for Covid-related keywords until 31 December 2021. The initial measures for these checks were set in early April 2020 in order to protect end-users from possible misuse of domain names.
ICANN is seeking speakers for their next (virtual) for their pre-ICANN72 ccTLD News Sessions on 6 and 7 October. ccTLDs with a best practice, project solution or case study to share with the broader community or even a market development, or perhaps legal or operational news that is engaging, relevant and informative to other ccTLDs from across the world are requested to put their hands up and nominate themselves.
South Africa’s ccTLD registry ZACR (ZA Central Registry) has announced the introduction of a Registry Lock as a means of better protecting registrants from domain name theft. And ZADNA announced last week they will be increasing the registry fee for .za domain names on 1 April 2021.
South Africaâs ccTLD manager the .ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA) has terminated their CEO Vika Mpisane effective 16 July 2019, according to a report in the South African MyBroadband, and follows a lengthy disciplinary process which began in January.
âMotlatjo Ralefatane, the chairperson of ZADNAâs board, announced Mpisaneâs axing in a letter sent to members of the organisation dated 17 July,â reports MyBroadband.
Mpisane was originally suspended in May after industry sources informed MyBroadband that an acting CEO had been at ZADNAâs helm since December with no official notification from the organisation.
âRalefatane explained that ZADNA had been locked in a disciplinary hearing with Mpisane for months, as he was constantly delaying the process,â according to the report.
âMr Vika Mpisane was suspended for serious hybrid acts of misconduct including mismanagement of ZADNA funds and others,â Ralefatane told MyBroadband at the time. Ralefatane said that Mpisane was suspended on 5 December 2018.
MyBroadband asked Mpisane whether he would fight the outcome of the disciplinary hearing and his termination, but he did not respond to requests for comment. He has also not responded to any of MyBroadbandâs multiple requests for comment on this matter since May.
At the time of writing, Mpisane was still listed on the ZADNA website as being the organisation’s CEO. According to Mpisane’s bio on ZADNA’s website he’s served in the Board of Directors (Excom) of Africa Top Level Domains (AfTLD) – the association of African ccTLDs since 2006. Since 2009 he’s served as the AfTLDâs President/Chairman, and has (since 2010) provided leadership of AfTLDâs positioning & involvement in the dotAfrica project. He was elected into the council of the ICANN country code Names Supporting Organisation (ccNSO) in 2009 and continues as the ccNSO councillor until 2015. In the council, he is involved in its ccNSO Meetings Program Working Group (WG) and Finance WG.
The .ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA) has issued an invitation for the South African domain name and internet community as well as the general public to comment on review of the wholesale fee that applies to co.za, net.za, org.za and web.za.
The Wholesale Fee, the annual per domain name fee that a Registrar pays to the second level domain Registry Operator was last reviewed in November 2014 and the review resulted in a âonce-offâ increase of the EPP Wholesale Fee from R35.00 VAT exclusive to R45.00 VAT exclusive. At the request of the Registrar community back in 2014, the R45.00 EPP Wholesale Fee remains in effect until 2019. Alongside the EPP Wholesale Fee change in 2014, the Co.za Legacy Wholesale Fee increased gradually since 2015 from R90.00 to R120.00 today and R130.00 next year.
ZADNA notes that this review of the Wholesale Fee must not be construed to be an indication or commitment by ZADNA to change the fee upwards or downwards. Instead, the fee review is intended to better inform ZADNA if there should be any changes to the current EPP and co.za Legacy Wholesale Fees and if so, what those changes should be. There are several worthy arguments in support of, and against, whatever options ZADNA may determine as an outcome of the fee review process.
ZADNA have published an options paper here [pdf]. The deadline for submissions is Monday, 15 October 2018. Submissions should be sent to submissions@zadna.org.za.
It was announced last December, but the launch of the platform whereby South African companies can register their company name and a corresponding .za domain name at the same time is finally here.
Through the initiative, South African companies can register their domain names at cost price through the Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission (CIPC) in an initiative between the government agency and the .ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA) who collaborated to the develop system.
The partnership is intended to make it easier and more convenient for users of the CIPC platform to register .ZA domain names that match their company names. The cost of domain registration on this platform is only R51.75 (US$4.15), this being the current cost price charged to ZACRâs accredited registrars. CIPC has been accredited as a non-commercial .ZA registrar to enable the initiative.
The Domain Name Registration Platform was launched by Telecommunications and Postal Services Deputy Minister, Ms Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams on 24 April.
âThe partnership between CIPC and the ZADNA is in line with the National Integrated ICT White Paper Policy that alludes to SMME development and support. This collaboration will enable SMMEâs to be able to have a domain name and website at the onset of company registration thereby supporting SMMEâs development,â said Ndabeni-Abrahams prior to the launch.
The .za Domain Name Authority (.ZADNA) has released plans to introduce second level domain names for the South African ccTLD with comments due by 16 April.
The public comment period is open to zaDNA members, za Registry Operators, .za Registrars, South African Internet Community and the South African Public who are invited to submit their comments, feedback and proposals regarding the feasibility of Second Level Registrations in .ZA and the best possible ways of implementing Second Level Registrations. Currently in South Africaâs country code top level domain registrations are only allowed at the third level in second level domains (SLDs) such as ac.za, co.za, gov.za, org.za and net.za.
zaDNA notes that in view of the growing trend wherein most top level domains (TLDs) now offer SLRs, they have for the last few years been inundated with requests for SLRs in .ZA.
Some of the leading .ZA registrars, in particular, have also been vocal in their view that SLRs will enable .ZA to stay competitive against other TLDs, especially ICANN ânewâ generic top level domains (gTLDs) that offer SLRs.
.zaDNA has taken sufficient time to assess the landscape regarding SLRs and has noted that several country code top level domains (ccTLDs) that traditionally offered third level registrations have now shifted towards accepting SLRs. Some of these ccTLDs include .co (Colombia), .uk, .nz and .ke. In addition, .au (Australia) is also on the verge of introducing SLRs.
zaDNA is of the view that SLRs will help improve registration options in .ZA and are likely to be more attractive than the current third level registrations as SLRs will allow for shorter domain names and URLs. At the least, SLRs are likely to offer sustainable alternatives to the current third level registration model.
In their 35 page Discussion Document, zaDNA explain the pros and cons of SLRs and the implementation options as well as a discussion as to whether foreigners should be allowed to register SLRs.
The Discussion Document is available for download here [pdf].
[news release] Building on the success of the first workshop held in Nairobi, Kenya in January 2017, ICANN and Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Under Served Regions and Public Safety Working Groups are pleased to announce their collaboration with the ZA Domain Name Authority (.ZADNA) on the second law enforcement agencies capacity development workshop this month from 23rd-24th June 2017 taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa. With cyber security issues becoming a growing concern for Africa it is important that African Law Enforcement and consumer protection Agencies are involved in various Internet governance processes.The underlying theme of this series of workshops is to harness the potential of African governments for participation in the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) policy processes.
The workshop aims to continue to raise awareness amongst the joining African law enforcement community, particularly from our host country South Africa, on how to participate in ICANN and engage effectively in the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and ICANN policy making. Â A roundtable with ICANN community and industry will focus on collaboration around security, stability and resiliency of the Internet and a half day will be devoted to the Africa Convention on Cybersecurity and Data Protection.
A range of topics will be covered:
Potential implications of European Data Protection legislation (GPDR) and African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection
The African Law Enforcement Capacity Building Workshop will provide an opportunity to share experiences on issues of DNS abuse, security, stability and resiliency with the South African Police Services, African Heads of Cybercrime units, Regional Economic Communities, the African Union as well as other representatives from governments and industry.
It will also provide an opportunity to share experiences, best practices, and lessons learnt with other agencies from a wide range of countries during the ICANN, GAC, PSWG sessions taking place the following week at ICANN‘s 59th public meeting in Johannesburg from 27th -29th June 2017.
The workshop is supported by the Government Engagement Department at ICANN in collaboration with ICANN‘s Global Stakeholder Engagement (GSE), Security, Stability and Resiliency (SSR), Multistakeholder Strategy and Strategic Initiatives (MSSI) and Compliance teams, as well as the ZADNA.
The full agenda can be found here [PDF, 436 KB].
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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 â 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: icann.org
This ICANN news release was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2017-06-19-en
At a recent conference in South Africa, there was a push among registrars for allowing second level registrations of .za domain names.
Currently registrations under .za are at the third level, for example .co.za. But at the recent iWeek conference ZA Domains’ Jade Benson said he thought the country was ready for the introduction of second level domains for the South African ccTLD, according to a Business Live report.
The South African interest in second level registrations follows their introduction in .uk and .nz in 2015 and their approval to be introduced in .au following a consultation.
According to Business Live, Domain Name Authority (Zadna) CEO Vika Mpisane said a shift to second level registrations wouldnât happen without the registryâs blessing.
âMpisane cited a survey that Zadna conducted in 2010, which showed that people were satisfied with the use of .co.za. The respondents were not keen on an additional domain name such as .za. Mpisane says Zadna would run another survey to determine whether an additional domain name was necessary.believes there is no need to run another survey, because there is enough support for the introduction of .za.â
But Benson doesnât see the need for another survey and the domain industry believes the survey is out of date. “The sooner it is implemented the better,” Benson said.
“Variety is the spice of life, and typically consumers who cannot find their desired .co.za domain would look to international registrars to purchase a .com or similar,” says Benson. “.za domains would provide them with an alternative opportunity to find their desired domain name and ensure that small business and consumers are supporting local businesses.”
Lucky Masilela, the CEO of ZACR, a non-profit organisation, says the price of new domain names needs to be addressed to make it affordable to switch to or add the .za.
“For us itâs not about making money,” he says. “We are positioning it for future use and giving people more choice.”
Shorter extensions may find more favour. Wayne Diamond from domains.co.za says that from a brand-building perspective, the .za has “fantastic potential”.
“We need to stay relevant and need to make future-proof decisions and [introducing .za] follows on what other countries have done,” he says.
In South Africa there has also been the introduction of three city gTLDs – .capetown with 4,780 registrations, .joburg (3,620) and .durban (2,590). There are some in the South African domain industry such as Benson who believe they have been a failure.
ZACR has struggled to achieve a higher number of sales for new domains, mostly because of a “monopoly within the market and exorbitant pricing”, said Benson according to the report. However Masilela said as there are fewer registrars who sell the gTLDs compared to the .co.za, this has limited their potential.
The full Business Live report is available at:
http://www.businesslive.co.za/fm/digital/2016-10-03-the-raging-za-debate/