IANA | Letter from Sammy Kyungu to Stuart Lynn

Letter from Sammy Kyungu to Stuart Lynn
18 October 2002

18^th October 2002

Dr. M. Stuart Lynn
President and Chief Executive Officer
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
Marina del Rey, CA 90292

Dear Stuart,

I am writing to you on behalf of the Kenyan government concerning the .ke country code top level domain. In addition to reiterating that we designate KENIC Limited "as the appropriate entity to hold the delegation of authority by the ICANN for administrative authority of the .ke country code top level domain (ccTLD)," this letter is to provide ICANN with additional details regarding that designation.

The Kenyan government's recognition of KENIC Limited is subject to it operating within the provisions of its organization constitution (please see attached) and to the fulfillment by KENIC Limited of the conditions outlined in KENIC's Memorandum & Articles of Association, Letter dated 21^st June, 2002 from Communications Commission of Kenya to the Ministry of Transport & Communications confirming KENIC as the appropriate entity to administer the .ke ccTLD and further requesting the Ministry of Transport & Communications to subsequently endorse KENIC to ICANN as the appropriate delegee of the .ke ccTLD; Letter dated 5 August, 2002 from the Ministry of Transport and Communications to Stuart Lynn, CEO ICANN, re: Re-Delegation of .ke Country Code Top Level Domain, which seek to reflect the following:

Given that the Internet naming system is a public resource and the exercise of a top level domain (TLD) delegation must be in the public interest, KENIC Limited recognizes that the management and administration of the .ke ccTLD are subject to the ultimate authority of the Communications Commission of Kenya;
KENIC Limited agrees to comply with ICANN developed policies, and to ensure payment of its contribution to ICANN’s cost of operation.
Should there be a redelegation of the .ke ccTLD, KENIC Limited agrees to cooperate and comply with the requirements of the Communications Commission of Kenya and/or ICANN in order to facilitate the transfer and redelegation of authority for the .ke ccTLD from KENIC Limited to another party.

The Kenyan government through Communications Commission of Kenya commits to fulfill its role as envisioned in the "Principles for the Delegation and Administration of Country Code Top Level Domains" adopted by the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) on 23 February 2000. As you know, Communications Commission of Kenya has been the Kenyan participant in the GAC since 2001 and supports the GAC as the appropriate vehicle for governments to participate in the ICANN process. In particular, the Kenyan government participated in the development of the GAC Principles, and has endorsed them as sound best practices for the delegation and administration of ccTLDs.

Under clause 8.1 of the GAC Principles, the Kenyan government designates KENIC Limited as the delegee of the .ke ccTLD and requests that ICANN enter into the three-way communication-based regime, as envisioned by the GAC Principles, to provide a framework of accountability for the management of the .ke ccTLD.

The designated point of contact within the Kenyan government is:

Dr. Juma Oketch
Director
Government Information Technology Services
P.O Box 30007
NAIROBI
Kenya
Telephone: +254 2 338111
Facsimile: +254 2 213588
Email: juma@treasury.go.ke

The point of contact for the proposed delegee is:

Mr. Michael Katundu
Interim Chief Executive Officer
Kenya Network Information Centre (KENIC)
P.O Box 14448
NAIROBI
Kenya
Telephone: +254 2 4349111
Facsimile: +254 2 4348200/4348204
Email: katundu@cck.go.ke
katundu@kenic.or.ke
info@kenic.or.ke

In matters concerning the .ke top-level domain the Kenyan government, as noted above, will require that KENIC Limited manage the .ke top-level domain according to the interest of the Kenyan public and particularly its Internet community. Within this framework, the relevant communications between the Kenyan government and KENIC Limited consist of:

Letter dated 21st June, 2002 from Communications Commission of Kenya to the Ministry of Transport & Communications confirming KENIC as the appropriate entity to administer the .ke ccTLD and further requesting the Ministry of Transport & Communications to subsequently endorse KENIC to ICANN as the appropriate delegee of the .ke ccTLD;
Letter dated 5 August, 2002 from the Ministry of Transport and Communications to Stuart Lynn, CEO ICANN, re: Re-Delegation of .ke Country Code Top Level Domain;
KENIC's Memorandum & Articles of Association

We believe the above-mentioned communications embodies the terms and conditions set out in clause 9 of the GAC Principles. This is reflected in Attachment A. The Kenyan Government designation of KENIC is subject to KENIC's formal endorsement and continued adherence to the statements in that Attachment. It is the Kenyan government's intent that KENIC operate in compliance with the clause 9 GAC principles for. Where the communications do not address conditions specifically, the Kenyan government is committed to wokr with ICANN to ensure compliance.

Clause 8.2 of the GAC Principles calls upon the relevant government or public authority to communicate to ICANN how it will require the delegee to abide by the terms and conditions outlined in clause 9 of the Principles. The Kenyan government's ongoing endorsement is subject to KENIC Limited continuing to meet its obligations outlined in the letter dated 21^st June, 2002 from the Communications Commission of Kenya to the Ministry of Transport & Communications, the 5 August 2002 Communication from the Ministry of Transport and Communications to ICANN, signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport and Communications, titled "re-delegation of .ke country code top level domain", KENIC's Memorandum & Articles of Association, and this letter.

As contemplated by the GAC Principles, the Kenyan government and KENIC Limited wish to work cooperatively with ICANN to ensure that KENIC Limited fulfills its responsibilities, to both the Kenyan and global Internet communities, as delegee of the .ke ccTLD. As envisioned by clause 5.1 of the GAC Principles, the Kenyan government recognizes its role of ensuring that the .ke ccTLD is administered in Kenya's public interest, taking into consideration public policies, laws, and regulations. At the same time, Kenya recognizes ICANN's function to establish, disseminate, and oversee implementation of the technical standards and practices that relate to the operation of the global domain-name system. (GAC Principles clause 6.1.) The Kenyan government considers ICANN to be the appropriate international entity to oversee the technical coordination of the Internet in a manner that will preserve it as an effective and convenient mechanism for global communication and commerce.

In view of the dual responsibilities, from different perspectives, of the Kenyan government and ICANN for ensuring that KENIC Limited operates appropriately as delegee of the .ke ccTLD, we believe that it is vital that there be close governmental/ICANN coordination in connection with the delegation. In this regard, we suggest the following procedures be followed:

1. Coordination of Policy Requirements.

The GAC Principles recommend that ICANN should ensure, through an appropriate communication with the delegee, conformity to "ICANN developed policies concerning: interoperability of the ccTLD with other parts of the DNS and Internet; operational capabilities and performance of the ccTLD operator; and the obtaining and maintenance of, and public access to, accurate and up-to-date contact information for domain name registrants." (Clause 10.2.5.) There is the theoretical possibility that, in seeking to ensure that KENIC Limited operates the .ke top-level domain in the interest of the Kenyan community, the Kenyan government might give KENIC Limited directions that in some way conflict with ICANN policies. Such a conflict would be undesirable, and all parties should work together to minimize the possibility of such a conflict. In this regard, the Kenyan government would alert ICANN upon discovering a possibility of conflict and to seek to coordinate its supervision of KENIC Limited with that of ICANN through appropriate means, with the goal of avoiding any situation where the KENIC Limited faces conflicting governmental and ICANN requirements. We understand and appreciate that ICANN intends to do likewise.

2. Termination Procedures.

The GAC Principles envision (clauses 7.1 and 7.3) that a delegee's status may be terminated in the event that it breaches the requirements of its communications with the relevant government and ICANN. To promote coordination in this area, ICANN and the Kenyan government should consult with one another concerning any contemplated termination due to breach of KENIC Limited’s responsibilities as delegee.

In particular, we note that Sponsorship Agreements ICANN has entered into provide ICANN the ability to terminate upon notification "by the Governmental Authority that the Sponsoring Organization has contravened the terms of the Governmental Communication, or the term of the Governmental Authority's designation of the Sponsoring Organization as manager of the Delegated ccTLD has expired." (Section 6.2.4 of JPRS-ICANN ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement and auDA-ICANN Sponsorship Agreement.) The Kenyan government believes provisions of this type will assist in appropriate coordination of actions in the event termination is appropriate, and expects ICANN to exercise its right of termination under a similar provision in a KENIC Limited-ICANN agreement upon notification by the Kenyan government. Likewise, we note that the Kenyan government commits to a similar type of coordination in the event of a breach (see GAC Principles clause 7.3.).

3. Designation of a Successor Delegee.

The GAC Principles recommend that, in the event that a delegation is terminated, a successor delegee should be designated by the relevant governmental authority, subject to that designated successor's ability to meet the technical and other requirements embodied in an ICANN-delegee communication. (See GAC Principles clauses 3.5, 7.3, and 7.4.) Consistent with this recommendation, Section 6.3 of the recent ICANN-JPRS ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement provides that any reassignment of a ccTLD will be done "in coordination with the Governmental Authority." The Kenyan government believes this provision provides an appropriate mechanism for the designation of a successor manager of the .ke ccTLD.

If you wish to discuss any aspect of the above designation of KENIC Limited as delegee of the .ke ccTLD, please do not hesitate to contact either me or the KENIC management.

Yours sincerely,

SAMMY KYUNGU, SS
Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Transport and Communications

ATTACHMENTS:

1) Analysis under clause 9 [see attachment A]
2) KENIC Limited constitution [see attachment B]

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