DotConnectAfrica goes to Washington

In their latest press release, DotConnectAfrica the applicant for the .africa gTLD, has given an update on their meetings in Washington D.C. with congressional staffers in pertinent committees to discuss the general and specific issues conveyed in its letter to Congress.

This follows their February 2013 letter to Congress , the press release gives an Update on Letter of Escalation to the U.S. Congress as follows,

It may be recalled that DCA Trust had sent an official letter to the United States Congress in February 2013 to escalate its complaints and grievances over the new gTLD program. The letter was jointly addressed to Senator John Rockefeller, Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation; and Honorable Congressman Greg Walden, Chairman of the House Sub-Committee on Communications and Technology.  The letter may be found here http://www.dotconnectafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Letter-to-US-Senate-on-UniForum-escalation-21st-February-2013-from-DotConnectAfrica.pdf

During the month of May 2013, DCA Trust held several high-level meetings in Washington D.C. with congressional staffers in pertinent committees to discuss the general and specific issues conveyed in its letter to Congress. The meetings were quite encouraging and provided DCA Trust an opportunity to further explicate its recommendations to Congress. The meetings have enabled joint understanding on the way forward regarding the issues raised by DCA Trust in its escalation letter to Congress. The prospects for a congressional investigation remain on the table.

DotConnectAfrica have also given their updates on their application saying

 “DotConnectAfrica Trust’s independent new gTLD application for the

.Africa name string was directly affected by a GAC Objection Advice; and following the public notification procedure, DCA Trust was given a 21-day period to respond officially to the GAC Policy Advice pertaining to its .Africa application. DCA Trust had articulated a comprehensive response and submitted same to the ICANN Board on May 8, 2013.

A copy of DCA Trust’s Response to the GAC Advice has now been published by ICANN and may be found here (http://newgtlds.icann.org/sites/default/files/applicants/…). ICANN staffs are presently summarizing all the Responses to GAC Advice received from affected applicants, and this assignment will be completed by May 31, 2013.”

The rest of the Press release can be read here http://www.prlog.org/12146711-dotconnectafrica-update-status-of-our-gtld-application-current-engagements-with-the-uscongress.html