NIRA reserves right to disallow certain domain names – Folayan

… Hosts one-day Media College on.NG
ITRealms:

The Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA)like other registry in the world reserves the right to maintain a given list of domains that could be disallowed for registration or even withdraw same if already registered, according to its Vice President, Mr. Sunday Folayan, reports ITRealms.

NIRA, ITRealms reports, is the body responsible for the management of the Nigeria’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) .NG in the public interest of Nigeria and global internet communities.

Speaking at the weekend during a one-day Media College on .NG for the nation’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) media practitioners at NIRA House, Lagos,Mr. Folayan, who is the chief executive of Skannet Engineering, outlined some of the names not allowed on .NG to include offensive, restricted and premium names.

Other facilitators alongside Mr. Folayan, at the one-day Media College held penultimate Thursday, March 5, 2015, at NIRA House, Lagos, harped on the need for media adoption and reportage of .NG with patriotism.

ITRealms reports that the college theme was “Effective Reporting of Domain Name Industry in Nigeria,”andattracted crème de la crème in the ICT sector, saw NIRA president, Mrs. Mary Udumawelcoming participantsby encouraging Nigerians to embrace .NG and urged migration to .ng by those already on other domain name platforms.

Also, in his welcome remarks, Communication and Publicity Chairman of NIRA and Group Executive Editor, DigitalSENSE Africa Media andGroup Executive Editor, DigitalSENSE Africa Media, Mr. Remmy Nweke, noted the importance of the media college, reminding media practitioners the role to ensure effective and excellent reportage on .NG based on facts.

He acknowledged the fact that DNS has been underreported in the media globally, hence NIRA decided to enlighten Nigerian media practitioners with DNS knowledge to boost understanding and public adoption as may be applicable.

Historically, according to a member, NIRA Executive Board of Director, Mr. Akimbo A.A. Cornerstone, from 2005 till date saw NIRA’s humble beginning, following series ofnational stakeholders’ meetings before the name NIRA was adopted in addition to setting of protem board of trustees and pioneer EBOD.

He traced the evolution from American Randy Bush who managed the technical aspect of .NG while Mrs. IbukunOdusote was the administrative contact person to the intervention of former President Oluegun Obasanjo to the birth of NIRA as multi-stakeholder association as requested by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

The publisher of Nigeria Political Economist and chairman, Foundation for Knowledge Economy (FKE), Mr. Kenneth Ugbechiedefinedadomain name as a subtree of a larger tree that contains resourceswhich root contains pointer to .ng, for instance.

He pointed out the need to promote DNS to the public and .NG precisely so as to preserve the unique digital identity and forestall domain name speculations, stressing that when media promote DNS industry, they promote Nigeria’s .NG.

“We are in fact promoting and aiding the effective connection of Nigeria Internet to the World Internet,” he said.

Mr. BiyiOladipo, Treasurer, NIRA, highlighted the fact that DNS business needs structure, tapping of core opportunities and ancillary, just as he described a domain as virtual real estate, which has value, appreciates with time and could be leased, rented or sola at any time for a good money.

This, he said, is because domain name has value and must be easily remembered with melody, meaning and branding, noting that core aspect of the opportunities inherent in DNS business includes registry like NIRA, accredited registrars, and resellers who deal directly with registrants, whereas the ancillary involves hosting, security, web designing and some other support services like legal, finance to name a few.

Head, Legal Services and Board Matters, National Information Technology Development Agency(NITDA) Abuja, Mr. Emmanuel Edet told participants that Internet Governance is the development and application of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that could shape the evolution and use of the internet.

This, he stressed include infrastructure, demonopolisation, liberalization, costs and price regulation, spectrum allocation and licensing, interconnectivity, technical standards, domain names and convergence among others.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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DigitalSENSE News: ICANN board assents to 2013 Registry agreement

The New gTLD Registry Agreement is intended to enhance the security and stability of the Domain Name System (DNS) while bolstering competition in domain name industry.

The security provisions comprise of a requirement that registry operators implement Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC), reducing so-called “man-in-the-middle” attacks and spoofed DNS records.

Equally, this calls for an enhanced WHOIS service at the registry level with a common interface, and more rapid search capabilities, facilitating efficient resolution of malicious activities.

This seems to be bringing to the fore over the decision of the working group to take WHOIS off the table.

DigitalSENSE News: ICANN board assents to 2013 Registry agreement: Dr. Stephen Crocker, chair, ICANN board of directors

The board of directors of California-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names... ... Making SENSE of digital revolution!

NIRA takes MDAs on .gov.ng management

Mrs. Johnson

President, Executive Board of Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), Mrs. Mary Uduma, has confirmed that her organisation would hold a one-day workshop for the Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in Abuja.

The workshop, slated for Wednesday, April 4, this year at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Convention Centre, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, she was quoted in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online by the Head, Corporate Services, NiRA, Ms Ugo Akiri, as saying that this would be the first in the series of workshops towards actualising the Federal Government's decision to migrate all Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies’ domain names to .ng.

Also, she said it would bring to fruition the recent directive of the Honourable Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, to transfer the registration and management of Federal MDAs domains to Galaxy Backbone Plc.

She noted that NIRA, the managers of Nigeria’s unique identity on the internet, .ng is collaborating the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), on this workshop expected to commence at 8.00 am with the registration of workshop participants.

Mrs. Uduma, further noted that the workshop, which has the endorsement of the offices of both the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and the Head of Service, tends to build capacity for the MDAs to manage their respective domain names.

She stated that the adoption of the .ng is for the benefit of all Nigerians, adding that the move of the Federal government is a milestone for the .ng, Nigeria’s unique identity on the internet.

Mrs. Uduma emphasized that beyond the issues of national identity and patriotism, the government of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, is aware of the consequence of this important national resource, by leveraging the cyber security the country code provides against the use of generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) for government’s affairs.

NiRA president pointed out that a wide adoption of .ng by Nigerians would constitute a good tool in the effort to project the good people of Nigeria and the nation.

“Our collective adoption of the .ng will be a strong tool in reversing the adverse publicity projected by foreign media. The war will be won on the local and international frontiers when institutions of government in Nigeria, credible, real and legal persons and entities in Nigeria adopt the use of the .ng, not just from a consumerism perspective, but by generating a Nigerian content to the internet,” she asserted.

Mrs. Uduma explained that .ng is the two-character country code reserved for, and used by Nigeria in consonance with the unique identities upon which a global internet is predicated.

“This is, otherwise, referred to as Nigeria’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD).  A country code Top Level Domain is used or reserved for specific countries, sovereign states or dependent territories in the Domain Name System,” she clarified. 

She expected that at the end of the workshop, all Federal MDAs would migrate to the .ng platform, emphasizing that those whose current websites are not on .ng should simply register a .ng domain name, and redirect their other sites to the .gov.ng.

“When this first step is achieved, the MDAs would proceed to opening electronic-mail (e-mail) accounts on their .ng web addresses, and thereafter save the nation of the continuous embarrassment of having its government officials write a foreign e-mail addresses on their official cards,” she explained.

She also noted that the Association has a set goal of achieving 500,000 domains by the end of the year, and that the Workshop and others that shall follow is targeted at surpassing this goal, and the long term objectives of giving the country a positive image, and gleaning the gains of the internet for Nigerians.

Some of the participants at the workshop, she said, would include the Federal Government MDAs, the Armed Forces, professionals, stakeholders, the media and the interested public, persons and departments responsible for IT functions in all MDAs, even as Galaxy Backbone Plc, an accredited registrar of NIRA would be handy to assist applicants with the process of registering .ng domains.

Remmy Nweke
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