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UCC
not Individuals must own .ug domain
To Hon. John Nasasira
UCC Executive Director
Member Parliament
Uganda National Council of Science and Technology Director
Good as it may be, reading in the Daily Monitor
Tuesday April 11, 2006 about the article “what if govt owned the .ug
domain?” I was surprised at Mr. Charles Musisi’s answers as to why he solely
is still the custodian of .ug domain.
About 1997/98, I wrote an article about the same,
when it was alleged that .ug domain was now an exclusive property of some
few Uganda and American individuals. Since then nothing has happened to
change the status quo!
The result has been a slow down in the internet
expansion and proliferation into the country. Reasons partly being user fees
paid in dollars are terribly exorbitant for the majority Ugandans.
We have a full Ministry of Communication and an
independent arm to over see the use of the industry namely Uganda
Communications Commission.
Well as UCC has an obligation to show
accountability, as to how it uses the money it collects from Uganda
communication users, other entities as reported in the article don’t have
such obligation! We know, UCC is not an angel and has own shortfalls but
matter of accountability and internet expansion concerns us a great
deal.
What is Mr. Charles Musisi’s Computer Frontiers
International Ltd. Contribution to the development of the internet in
Uganda? We are not claiming
that Mr. Charles Musisi has not done a wonderful job! Indeed he has done a
lot but where are the limits in his stance to own .ug domain register?
Rightly so, Mr. Charles Musisi’s exposure to us
that he is just a trustee to guarantee domain space stability reliability,
in a spirit of community service falls short of explaining what will happen
if he was not there to watch over .ug domain!
It will be a great idea to know how the trusteeship
works!
All of us who were involved in the promotion of the
internet we did it for a reason and in the spirit of community service.
However Mr. Charles Musisi’s claims are contradictory to the exorbitant fees
levied on just acquiring the domain. If I may ask, how is Mr.Charles Musisi
using the money he earns on .ug domain registration?
Non-profit making organisation have to pay in
dollars i.e. schools, hospitals, churches and other government entities. 10
years on, all internet service providers are still collecting money in
dollars as if Ugandan earn their salaries in dollars.
It is flabbergasting that UCC has failed to set the
standards in this regard and abolish the dollar service providers.
Repulsive to say the least and for us, the time has
come to go back to the drawing boards and restart a ground network to attack
such an establishment which sole intention is to reap off Ugandans. Uganda
currency is the shilling!
It is a shame moreover, that Mr. Charles Musisi is
proud of being a custodian of only 4000 clients who entrusted him as he
says, of their data. Uganda has 25 million people bye the way. Nt less than
15 districts are connected or more than 2 % of all schools in Uganda. Who are the 4000 clients to Mr.
Charles Musisi’s Computer Frontiers International Ltd.?
Besides being a guarantee of a domain names, Mr.
Charles Musisi should state it clearly that over 80% generated in this
country is kept on different servers outside Uganda and is not with Mr.
Charles Musisi.
On a question, “what is the performance of your
trade in terms of new client getting more .ug accounts”, Mr. Charles Musisi
is non committal but claims the New Vision and the Daily Monitor then
google, Microsoft are our customers. This is a lot of hogwash. Even without
a .ug domain couldn’t Ugandan access Google, microsft, Toshiba, Fugistu
etc?
Uganda in the world and on the African continent
was among the first countries to use the internet in more than one exclusive
ways.
Please Mr. Charles Musisi we are talking about
Uganda and Uganda internet users! It is them who are our sole concern.
Uganda was among the first countries to have its
entire government establishment on the internet. The trend went as far as
having some of Uganda newsprint and radio stations on the internet. The
entire Western Europe, a bastion of technological innovation had no more
that 5 governments on the internet. We did a survey on the above.
Uganda was the second country to have its newsprint
on the internet second to South Africa. I wonder how Mr. Charles Musisi can
be proud of the New Vision and the Daily Monitor are on the internet well as
the country has more than 20 news papers and 100 FM radio stations that
could not access the internet.
Today, all European countries are online and in
Uganda the trend is just going backwards thanks for dollar service
providers.
The efforts made into the past to put state
institutions and non-state entities on the internet was not Mr. Charles
Musisi’s efforts. We do know who did what, when and where.
In our wisdom we think and believe that many things
should change and change immediately. Otherwise the parliament and other
state institutions are within our reach and will use them to bring about a
necessary change, if private individuals negate our humble pleas to
them.
I hope we’ll not go to the extent of asking the
government to set up a commission of inquiry into this entire field to
establish the facts and cause action to rectify the problem.
Bwanika.
What if govt owned the .ug domain?
Interview Mr Charles Musisi, the
Managing Director of Computer Frontiers International Ltd, one of the
pioneers of the Internet in Uganda, is the designated administrator of
Uganda\'s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) .ug. Recently the Uganda
Communications Commission raised concern over administration of the domain
but Musisi tells Esther Nakkazi how he would not relinquish it to the
regulator. Excerpts:
Why did you register .ug and when
did you do it?
We were the pioneers of the Internet in Uganda
and the region. Having been a pioneer I was a crusader, promoting the use
of the Internet and communication generally.
Creating the .ug name space was part of an effort
to generate more Internet use in the country. The .ug name space was
created in 1995.
What did the registration then entail and what
were the requirements?
I was part of the global network of pioneers
known to each other in an informal way through a network of IT
experts.
We applied first to Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority (IANA), filled in a form but we were required to demonstrate
that we were competent and can access the Internet, which entailed having
access to electronic mail everyday. They needed a permanent administrative
and technical contact.
So you did not pay any money?
No, not at all. The Internet was created, based
and managed by the Private Sector. It involved creativity, flexibility and
most importantly a spirit of community service that is why it was created
for community service.
Do you not own the domain name space .ug?
No I do not own it. I am just a trustee basically
supposed to serve the interests of the local Internet community in
Uganda.
The trustee is supposed to demonstrate that the
domain space was available, stable, reliable and not restricted in use. I
had an officially designated company Uganda Online now a subsidiary of CFI
under which it was registered.
There are concerns of pricing and affordability,
UCC saying that if they were the administrators of the domain space, we
could grow our Internet users by far?
Our prices are affordable and we are doing a good
job. We charge $30 per year for domain registration but encourage
registrants to pay upfront for two years.
The renewals are $30, $55, $80, $100, $120 for
the consecutive years. Registration for educational purposes under the
ac.ug and sc.ug 2nd Level sub-domain categories is at a discounted rate of
$12.5 per year or $25 for two years plus VAT.
AFFORDABLE PRICES: Mr Musisi. Photo by
Esther Nakazzi So, if UCC
tells you to relinquish the .ug domain to them for administration would
you accept?
Am doing a good job and I have 4,000 very happy
stakeholders who have entrusted this name space to me a trustee. They must
have a say to the person I pass it on to and why. When you register, you
have a contract with us.
I cannot make the decision the real stakeholders
are the 4,000 who have entrusted me with their data.
What if you were forced to do so under state
interest and even offered some money like it has been done in some
countries?
I would have to agree with the stakeholders to
give them the database.
In any case of re-delegation and for any decision
I would make, I would be mindful of the community (the 4,000 real
stakeholders). Over the last 10 years, I have taken their data, stored it
and managed it adequately.
If UCC wants to take over, they would be doing so
in an area outside their mandate, theirs is a regulatory function. In fact
governments are discouraged from Internet domain direct operational
matters. However, they have a right to meddle into policy matters. Where
the operation is not problematic at best they would create policy but not
to overtake it.
What makes you better administrators compared to
UCC?
Our company is a more entrepreneurial management;
decisions are made instantly for the benefit of the customer.
The company is not heavily weighed down body, it
is lean, operational, focused and we strive to resolve issues that are
brought to our knowledge instantly.
We are very efficient. We have made space
available. It takes less than three hours from the time you register to
get your domain. It will soon get to 15 minutes to get it on the global
Internet.
That is what we consider to be our global role.
Even if paying is a requirement you do not pay until 30 days after when
you have demonstrated that you can use it.
What is the performance of your trade in terms of
new client getting more .ug accounts?
First of all our customers include global brands
like google (
www.google.co.ug),
Microsoft, Toshiba, Fugistu and others.
But the problem is that business has not taken on
the Internet here in Uganda, you could also blame it on literacy
levels.
Someone could have the money but cannot use the
Internet. Business people should also know that they would have an
advantage using the .ug address.
---------------------------------
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Bwanika
________
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