Izumi,
The big question is this: Has the ALAC been
manipulated? Does the Internet Users Society - Niue
actually represent the interests of the island's users
or is it merely a "front" for a pornographic empire?
Did any of you during your period of "due diligence"
read the following article?
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacbeat/stories/s1151774.htm
NIUE: Government accuses Dot NU operators of
"manipulation"
The US based company responsible for running Niue's
internet domain suffix .nu, has been accused by the
government of manipulating the country. In recent
weeks Niue has found itself in the news after a global
survey of websites alleged it had become a centre for
the internet porn industry. The report alleged the .nu
suffix was used by 2.9 million internet porn pages.
But Niue is pointing the finger at a US company
managing the .nu domain name.
Presenter/Interviewer: Huey Fern Tay
Speakers: Justin Kamupala, Private Secretary to the
Premier of Niue
KAMUPALA: "Well currently the company called Internet
Users Society Niue holds management rights to the
domain name, and the government has been trying to
wrest the management of the domain name back to the
government. It has been doing this for over the past
four years now, and has been unsuccessful so far."
TAY: Why has it been so difficult to regain ownership
of dot n-u domain?
KAMUPALA: "Well I believe well of course there were
commercial interests involved, there's also the issue
of whether there is in fact ownership by Niue of the
dot n-u, this is an issue which has been raised in the
GAC of ICAN, so in a sense it's not seen as property
as it were. It's difficult for us to try to wrest that
particular ownership back, that's why we're looking
into this issue with whether the management of it has
been basically on the benefit from the particular
country that it's for. In our opinion it hasn't been."
TAY: Well recently there was a study done by a
computer security company in the US and well according
to the survey done by that company it revealed that
dot n-u domain hosted some three million pornographic
websites. But the president of dot n-u domain Mr Bill
Semich, he has refuted those findings saying that dot
n-u domain only has 100-thousand sites registered. Do
you believe there are only 100-thousand?
KAMUPALA: "Unfortunately we don't have any idea how
many sites dot n-u is actually hosting."
TAY: But does the Niue government feel that dot n-u
domain is not being totally transparent about their
figures, about registration figures?
KAMUPALA: "That is possibly the case. They have
published some information in some magazine articles,
which indicates that there is a possibility of the
revenue that they derived from this is about eight
million dollars US, however nothing concrete has ever
been given to the government in regard to this."
TAY: Well what has led the Niue government to believe
that they are being short-changed?
KAMUPALA: "Well the government believes that we are
entitled to 20 per cent of the revenue, which is
derived from the use of the dot n-u. Unfortunately
this has not eventuated."
TAY: Several prominent church leaders and government
officials around the Pacific have signed a petition in
the past supporting the Niue government's efforts to
regain ownership of the internet domain name dot n-u,
and in that petition they described the arrangement
between Niue government and the dot n-u domain limited
as a 'manipulation'. Do you believe that Niue has been
manipulated?
KAMUPALA: "Yes I believe so, we were. In fact the
government was very naive at the time when the
particular persons who offered this to manage it for
us made a proposition to the government. So
unfortunately at the time we didn't have anyone in a
particular position who was adequately advised I
suppose."
--- Izumi AIZU <aizu@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> I quite agree with what Roberto wrote below.
>
> One thing we are facing is that there are few real
> user group/user community
> in most parts of the world who are interested in
> ICANN related activities.
>
> Therefore, unless other constituencies such as
> ccTLDs agree to support
> AtLarge - user participation - to ICANN process,
> solo effort by existing
> ALAC/ALS may not be as effective as we want.
>
> However, there should be a clear line between user
> participation
> and ccTLD registry interests. I have no ready-made
> answer how
> to make that clear, but I am aware of the
> challenges.
>
> I hope this answer to Danny's legitimate question,
> at least partially.
>
> izumi
>
>
>
> At 14:11 05/11/27 +0000, Roberto Gaetano wrote:
> >I assume we can move this to the public list.
> >[ga omitted, as I am subscribed with a different
> address, but feel free to
> >forward]
> >
> >The point is not only the size of the ccTLD, but
> the way it operates in
> >the community. Most ccTLDs are not only a Registry,
> but include other
> >functions: obviously this is more common for small
> ccTLDs, but not limited
> >to them. Typical case is the Eastern European
> ccTLDs, most of which run by
> >academic institutions, most of which with strong
> links to the user community.
> >This subject came out in several meetings ALAC had
> with the ccTLDs, and
> >we agreed that there is a synergy in working
> together. This was, for
> >instance, the main reason for my trip to Erevan for
> the CENTR meeting last year.
> >
> >Therefore, more than an occasional coincidence, I
> would say a stratecic
> >approach. Of course, when we consider applications
> for ALS, we have to
> >evaluate whether the applicant is just a registry
> manager, and reject the
> >application, or fostering activity in the local
> internet community, and in
> >that case accept the application.
> >
> >Regards,
> >Roberto GAETANO
> >ALAC
> >ICANN BoD Liaison
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >>From: Vittorio Bertola <vb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >>To: Danny Younger <dannyyounger@xxxxxxxxx>
> >>CC: ga@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, committee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >>Subject: [alac-admin] Re: [ga] More ALAC Follies
> >>Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 23:35:01 +0100
> >>
> >>Danny Younger ha scritto:
> >>>I see that the ALAC has accepted yet another
> ccTLD
> >>>manager as an At-Large Structure -- the Internet
> Users
> >>>Society Niue. Their application states: "The
> Society
> >>>is the cctld manager of .nu and is funded by .NU
> >>>Domain Ltd the marketing arm of IUS-N".
> >>>
> >>>Earlier, the ALAC had approved the application
> for the
> >>>Sudan Internet Society which is the ccTLD manager
> for
> >>>the .sd domain.
> >>>
> >>>Sorry, but I'm afraid I no longer understand the
> >>>definition of "at-large"... perhaps someone on
> the
> >>>ALAC can clear up my confusion...
> >>>
> >>>It seems to me that logic would dictate that a
> ccTLD
> >>>manager would choose to affiliate himself with
> the
> >>>ccNSO, and that noncommercial organizations would
> >>>choose to join the NCUC.
> >>
> >>The State of Niue has 2'156 inhabitants in total.
> It seems natural to me
> >>that those few who constitute the local Internet
> community also run the ccTLD.
> >>I think that in countries where the Internet is
> still at its embryonic
> >>state of development it is very hard to draw a
> line between "the users
> >>community" and "the technical community". It would
> have been much
> >>different if we had received an application from,
> say, the ccTLD manager
> >>for Italy :-)
> >>--
> >>vb. [Vittorio Bertola - v.bertola [a]
> bertola.eu.org]<-----
> >>http://bertola.eu.org/ <- Prima o poi...
> >
>
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