Re: [ga] South African .za ccTLD administrator takes drastic action to prevent government takeover

[Jim Ayson <jim@philmusic.com>]

At 11:36 PM 6/14/2002 +0800, Jim Ayson wrote:

>Thanks for the explanation but the news report makes it appear there are 
>only two parties affected, the ccTLD administrator and the South 
>African  government. Where does the South African Internet community fit 
>into all this, what has been their stand so far, pro or anti 
>nationalization? The ccTLD administrator after all is supposed to be a 
>trustee working on behalf of the community . That element seems to have 
>been missing from news coverage of the issue. Has there been any one 
>posting from South Africa about this?

ah, ok. This South African news report just answered my question on 
community representation, it appears Lawrie was in the process of 
transferring domain administration anyway from "one man rule" to an 
Internet user group (Namespace ZA). Also it says he recognizes the 
authority of ICANN in deciding on redelegation procedures. Looks like the 
Reuters piece on Yahoo was a little on the sensationalist side.

see
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/0,1113,2-7_1199167,00.html


Excerpt:

Lawrie and Namespace ZA, an organisation of prominent internet users formed 
to take over the domain name's administration from him, are opposed to the 
Electronic Communications and Transactions Bill approved by the National 
Assembly on Friday.

They claim the bill, which still has to pass through the National Council 
of Provinces and be signed by the president, gives the government too much 
control over the administration.

"I agree totally with the government that one person shouldn't control it," 
Lawrie said.

The problem lay with the degree of government control for which the Bill 
provided, he said.

Lawrie said he might be accused of being a disloyal South African for 
taking the latest step, but he feared the consequences of the takeover by 
the authority stipulated in the Bill.

Widespread support

He said those who passed the Bill clearly did not have the necessary 
understanding and if someone without the necessary knowledge was allowed to 
take over his computer, that might jeopardise the internet in South Africa.

"If they tell me to do wrong things that they don't understand, there might 
be a serious problem."

Lawrie, who insists that he would not do anything himself to collapse the 
internet, nevertheless said he would not hand over the administration to an 
entity with which he was not happy.

This, however, he could only do as long as he had the support of the 
internet community. He believed he had widespread support.

"The domain administrator operates with the trust of the community. He 
doesn't own the domain."

Lawrie said that if it was believed he did not serve the interests of the 
community, those concerned could notify the Internet Corporation for 
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

He would not be able to block any steps taken by ICANN.




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jim ayson / jim@philmusic.com / www.philmusic.com

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