Bizarre twist in .africa tale
20 Aug 2012
DotConnectAfrica claims that both it and UniForum have legitimate claims to the forthcoming .africa domain, even though the former failed to apply for it.
Mauritius-based DotConnectAfrica is laying claim to the .africa generic top-level domain (gTLD) for which SA's ZA Central Registry is the African Union's endorsed bidder. This is in spite of the fact that DotConnectAfrica inadvertently applied for the wrong domain, at a cost of US$185 000, and is unlikely to succeed in meeting the stringent requirements for geographic gTLDs.
The ZA Central Registry, also known as UniForum, says it intends to administer the .africa domain on behalf of the African digital community as a whole. Its bid to run the .africa domain system is backed by the .za Domain Name Authority and SA's department of communications and has the support of the African Union Commission.
Domain Incite, an industry website, reported in July that the African Union Commission had explicitly endorsed UniForum to "administer and operate" the .africa domain "on behalf of the African community". Furthermore, the commission said its endorsement of UniForum was "the only formal endorsement provided by the African Union and its member states".
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Source: TechCentral
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About Craig Wilson
Craig Wilson is an ICT journalist and speaker based in Johannesburg. He is deputy editor at TechCentral, the South African source for technology news, reviews and opinion, and regularly provides insight into the technology industry for radio and television. Email him at az.oc.lartnechcet@giarc, follow @craigwilson on Twitter and connect on LinkedIn.
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