Dot Com Dot Na Fiasco (Namibian Domain Registry - Na-Nic & Dr Eberhard Lisse)

Barely six months after the new communications law took effect, there are problems with the overall management of Namibian domain names on the Internet.

 

Namibia Information Technologies Namibia (NamIT) is on the warpath after the present Chief Registrar of all main and sub domain name with .na, Namibia Network Information Centre (NA-NIC) for the alleged flouting of rules empowering administrators yesterday morning summarily four subdomains of NamIT suspended.

 

Mr. Thorsten Hübner, from NamIT, is considering civil and, according to him, even criminal action against NIC-NA and its often controversial CEO, Dr. Eberhard Lisse.

 

Since yesterday afternoon, more than 1000 people with e-mail addresses with the suffix .mail.na and more than 600 customer sites with the suffixes .of.na, .ws.na. and .mobi.na, have been offline for a second day.

 

Hübner argues that while a wide variety of parties - including service providers that play the role of middlemen – can be administrators, NA-NIC has a problem with the authorization for NamIT's administrators. Hübner, however, claims that Lisse does not follow the cutt-off agreement and he has double standards.

 

NamIT said he was the victim of a constitutional administrative injustice. According to Hübner, the case ,if necessary, will be taken all the way to the international regulator ICANN and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

 

Everything is not about prices, he said.

 

NIC-NA currently sells .com.na addresss to Namibians for about  N$ 600 and .na addresses for approximately N$ 4 000. For foreigners a .com.na costs approximately N$ 5 000 and a .na as much as N$ 50 000. NamIT currently provides services for N$ 450 to N$ 3 600.

 

Due to price and other factors, very few institutions, businesses and individuals in the country, after about 16 years of Internet access, use .na addresses.

 

NA-NIC answered to NamIT's complaints with a real letter that the company is contractually obligated to confidentiality when it comes to relationships with customers. "We honor the commitment," is emphasized.

 

According to NA-NIC the close corporation has for many years managed one of the most advanced registration system in mainland strictly according to international best practices.

 

"When errors (about the names of registrants and administrators) come to light, registrars are requested to adhere to the rules."

 

On the question of whether the intervention actually the result of a price war, the answer was that NA-NIC not involved in or aware of any sub-registrars price scales.

 

According to NA-NIC he is doing his best to encourage registrars to sell local domain names and maintain good relationships with all vendors.

 

NA-NIC did not want to answer the Republikein's question on whether Dr. Lisse illegally registered .na under his name at the  Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Members of Na-Nic cc :

Dr. Eberhard Lisse (MD) [http://www.lisse.na/] [ http://icannwiki.com/index.php?title=Eberhard_Lisse ]

Dr. Ben Fuller (PhD)  http://www.fuller.na ]

Mr. Detlef Lang  [ http:// www.lang.na ]

Na-Nic cc [ http://www.na-nic.com.na ]

http://www.namhost.com/blog/dot-com-dot-na-fiasco

http://www.republikein.com.na/politiek-en-nasionale/nuwe-stryd-ontplof-oor-dot-com-dot-na.136748.php

Dot Com Dot Na Fiasco (Namibian Domain Registry - Na-Nic & Dr Eberhard Lisse)

Barely six months after the new communications law took effect, there are problems with the overall management of Namibian domain names on the Internet.

 

Namibia Information Technologies Namibia (NamIT) is on the warpath after the present Chief Registrar of all main and sub domain name with .na, Namibia Network Information Centre (NA-NIC) for the alleged flouting of rules empowering administrators yesterday morning summarily four subdomains of NamIT suspended.

 

Mr. Thorsten Hübner, from NamIT, is considering civil and, according to him, even criminal action against NIC-NA and its often controversial CEO, Dr. Eberhard Lisse.

 

Since yesterday afternoon, more than 1000 people with e-mail addresses with the suffix .mail.na and more than 600 customer sites with the suffixes .of.na, .ws.na. and .mobi.na, have been offline for a second day.

 

Hübner argues that while a wide variety of parties - including service providers that play the role of middlemen – can be administrators, NA-NIC has a problem with the authorization for NamIT's administrators. Hübner, however, claims that Lisse does not follow the cutt-off agreement and he has double standards.

 

NamIT said he was the victim of a constitutional administrative injustice. According to Hübner, the case ,if necessary, will be taken all the way to the international regulator ICANN and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

 

Everything is not about prices, he said.

 

NIC-NA currently sells .com.na addresss to Namibians for about  N$ 600 and .na addresses for approximately N$ 4 000. For foreigners a .com.na costs approximately N$ 5 000 and a .na as much as N$ 50 000. NamIT currently provides services for N$ 450 to N$ 3 600.

 

Due to price and other factors, very few institutions, businesses and individuals in the country, after about 16 years of Internet access, use .na addresses.

 

NA-NIC answered to NamIT's complaints with a real letter that the company is contractually obligated to confidentiality when it comes to relationships with customers. "We honor the commitment," is emphasized.

 

According to NA-NIC the close corporation has for many years managed one of the most advanced registration system in mainland strictly according to international best practices.

 

"When errors (about the names of registrants and administrators) come to light, registrars are requested to adhere to the rules."

 

On the question of whether the intervention actually the result of a price war, the answer was that NA-NIC not involved in or aware of any sub-registrars price scales.

 

According to NA-NIC he is doing his best to encourage registrars to sell local domain names and maintain good relationships with all vendors.

 

NA-NIC did not want to answer the Republikein's question on whether Dr. Lisse illegally registered .na under his name at the  Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Members of Na-Nic cc :

Dr. Eberhard Lisse (MD) [http://www.lisse.na/] [ http://icannwiki.com/index.php?title=Eberhard_Lisse ]

Dr. Ben Fuller (PhD)  http://www.fuller.na ]

Mr. Detlef Lang  [ http:// www.lang.na ]

Na-Nic cc [ http://www.na-nic.com.na ]

http://www.namhost.com/blog/dot-com-dot-na-fiasco

http://www.republikein.com.na/politiek-en-nasionale/nuwe-stryd-ontplof-oor-dot-com-dot-na.136748.php

Dot Com Dot Na Fiasco (Namibian Domain Registry - Na-Nic & Dr Eberhard Lisse)

Barely six months after the new communications law took effect, there are problems with the overall management of Namibian domain names on the Internet.

 

Namibia Information Technologies Namibia (NamIT) is on the warpath after the present Chief Registrar of all main and sub domain name with .na, Namibia Network Information Centre (NA-NIC) for the alleged flouting of rules empowering administrators yesterday morning summarily four subdomains of NamIT suspended.

 

Mr. Thorsten Hübner, from NamIT, is considering civil and, according to him, even criminal action against NIC-NA and its often controversial CEO, Dr. Eberhard Lisse.

 

Since yesterday afternoon, more than 1000 people with e-mail addresses with the suffix .mail.na and more than 600 customer sites with the suffixes .of.na, .ws.na. and .mobi.na, have been offline for a second day.

 

Hübner argues that while a wide variety of parties - including service providers that play the role of middlemen – can be administrators, NA-NIC has a problem with the authorization for NamIT's administrators. Hübner, however, claims that Lisse does not follow the cutt-off agreement and he has double standards.

 

NamIT said he was the victim of a constitutional administrative injustice. According to Hübner, the case ,if necessary, will be taken all the way to the international regulator ICANN and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

 

Everything is not about prices, he said.

 

NIC-NA currently sells .com.na addresss to Namibians for about  N$ 600 and .na addresses for approximately N$ 4 000. For foreigners a .com.na costs approximately N$ 5 000 and a .na as much as N$ 50 000. NamIT currently provides services for N$ 450 to N$ 3 600.

 

Due to price and other factors, very few institutions, businesses and individuals in the country, after about 16 years of Internet access, use .na addresses.

 

NA-NIC answered to NamIT's complaints with a real letter that the company is contractually obligated to confidentiality when it comes to relationships with customers. "We honor the commitment," is emphasized.

 

According to NA-NIC the close corporation has for many years managed one of the most advanced registration system in mainland strictly according to international best practices.

 

"When errors (about the names of registrants and administrators) come to light, registrars are requested to adhere to the rules."

 

On the question of whether the intervention actually the result of a price war, the answer was that NA-NIC not involved in or aware of any sub-registrars price scales.

 

According to NA-NIC he is doing his best to encourage registrars to sell local domain names and maintain good relationships with all vendors.

 

NA-NIC did not want to answer the Republikein's question on whether Dr. Lisse illegally registered .na under his name at the  Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Members of Na-Nic cc :

Dr. Eberhard Lisse (MD) [http://www.lisse.na/] [ http://icannwiki.com/index.php?title=Eberhard_Lisse ]

Dr. Ben Fuller (PhD)  http://www.fuller.na ]

Mr. Detlef Lang  [ http:// www.lang.na ]

Na-Nic cc [ http://www.na-nic.com.na ]

http://www.namhost.com/blog/dot-com-dot-na-fiasco

http://www.republikein.com.na/politiek-en-nasionale/nuwe-stryd-ontplof-oor-dot-com-dot-na.136748.php

The Ridiculously Expensive African ccTLD Domain Names

This weekend, i was having a look at the unexplored ccTLD markets in Africa. There are 95+ million .com domain names so virtually every great name is taken so why not venture into the virgin world of ccTLDs, I told myself.
To my utter shock, I saw prices that seemed straight out of a dream, so I pinched myself twice and had another look. They were real!

Picture this: registering a .ke for Kenya will cost you $45 per year ;registering a .cd for the DRC will cost you $65 per year, registering a .et for Ethiopia will cost you $200 per year (the price has fallen significantly from $380 two years ago) and the crowning glory of all expensive ccTLD domain names in Africa must be the .ao for Angola that will cost you a whopping $300 per year but if you register it for two years, they might have mercy and give you a good $10 discount! And if you thought your woes were over, think again. It will take anywhere from 30 days to 10 weeks in some countries like Angola for the domain name to be activated. Registering a domain name in these African countries is like applying for a license to establish a multinational company!

But there are a few shining spots. South Africa, whose .za costs roughly $20 has registered a respectable 647,405 .za domain names according to my last count.

Now compare these with .com, .net, .co at $11 which generous discounts might bring down to $7.50, .info which goes for roughly $2 on GoDaddy etc and activation within hours. In Ethiopia the cost of one domain is roughly equivalent to 20 dotcoms. As a domainer, what would be my justification for buying a $200 domain name that is not that valuable anyway, only expensive? I would like to support African ccTLDs but let them get their act together; maybe governments should subsidize these registries to lower the cost in order to stimulate mass adoption? The African ccTLDs need a magical marketing plan to win their people back from .com,.nets and .cos with their current rates. Most young people, who are the internet entrepreneurs and have the ideas do not have that much cash to throw away; why not offer them special offers?

When someone has developed a domain for 1 year, they are unlikely to let it go and am sure if these ccTLD registries offered $2 domains for 1 year and then the following year they increase the cost a bit, they might net as much as million domain names registered; there are lots of techies in the scene; give them a lifeline and they will shine.

The ccTLDs should look into the not so distant future with clear eyes; there are over 500 generic Top Level domain names coming to the internet in the following year and some of them like .free will be free!. It's the equivalent of a Tsunami on the internet and those ccTLDs that do not adapt will be swept aside.

Moses Kemibaro, a Kenyan techpreneur who is also the Chairman of the KENIC Marketing Committee, gave a presentation 11 months ago in which he implied that .ke are not too expensive at $45. $45 when I can get a domain name for $2? The African ccTLDs don't get it, do they? By pricing the domain names in this way, they have kept them beyond the reach of the small businesses, upcoming entrepreneurs and their citizens. The African domain names are for an exclusive select few. How do you foster innovation when people cannot access the tools of innovation? They are actually contributing to the digital divide! And it worries me to death that a consortium of these under-performing ccTLDs under the umbrella of AFTLD is planning to apply for the new .africa(DotAfrica) TLD; what will a DotAfrica domain name cost? $1000?
 
The Namibian Registry that manages ".na" ccTLD (Na-Nic cc) has 2 pricing structures in place, National and non National.. Prices for ".na" (national 500USD) (non-national USD 5000.00)

Google Panda Update: Google Confirms New One

 

While Google did not say a specific day, one webmaster reported that her site was hit on Wednesday, September 28th. That was Dani Horowtiz, who runs Daniweb, a Panda victim we’ve discussed several times before, as the site had managed a 110% Panda recovery before getting hit this week. 

Search Engine Land is reporting that while Google “declined to share any specifics” about what kinds of pages were being targeted, unnamed sources said the update rolled out on Tuesday. The blog is calling this version 2.3. 

Some webmasters thought maybe a Panda update had rolled out earlier this month. Search Engine Land editor Barry Schwartz asked if Panda 2.5 had hit (personally, I’m not bothering much trying to keep track of the numbers). The answer turned out to be no, as Google told him there was no update taking place. According to Search Engine Land now, this latest update is actually the first true Panda update in about 10 weeks. 

Since then, Google announced that it is testing algorithmic changes for scraper sites (blog scrapers in particular). The company also released a video giving an inside look at how Google handles search algorithm tweaks:

We’re only at the end of September, so go ahead and expect plenty more algo changes before the New Year. Hopefully Panda won’t screw over too many e-commerce sites for the holidays. Google has been pretty good about taking it easy around the holidays since the infamous Florida update, though. 

Comment :

The monoply of Google as a search engine is hurting the democratic nature of the World Wide Web. Its constant tweaking of its searches makes ‘search’ a joke for information on the web. For a few months the Google honcho’s considers certain content of some websites as ‘high-quality sites to Google users’ and within a few weeks the same websites are dumped for some others and this continues and traffic on these sites keep going up and down like roller coaster. This year alone there have been 7 major updates – 

Panda Update 1.0: Feb. 24, 2011

Panda Update 2.0: April 11, 2011 (about 7 week gap)

Panda Update 2.1: May 10, 2011 (about 4 week gap)

Panda Update 2.2: June 16, 2011 (about 5 week gap)

Panda Update 2.3: July 23, 2011 (about 5 week gap)

Panda Update 2.4: August 12, 2011 (about 3 week gap)

Panda Update 2.5: September 28, 2011 (about 7 week gap)

how can the so called ‘quality content change’ so rapidly.

This Google immaturity is a huge opportunity for search engines like Yahoo or Bing or some others to take advantage of this constant Google experimentation with searches to provide the World Wide Web with a more stable and matured search platform.