ZADNA under fire over “heavy-handed” new rules

There’s an increasing outcry in South Africa over new regulations on the .za domain that many believe are burdensome and likely to harm the namespace.

The country’s Internet Service Provider Association today became the latest group to express dismay about the proposed new rules, which among other things would require all registrants to verify their identity before registering a name.

“ZADNA’s draft regulations and procedures as they stand threaten to undo 34 years of local and international goodwill towards domains ending in .ZA. The regulations are heavy-handed and cumbersome and as such will disincentivise adoption of .ZA registrations,” William Stucke, chair of ISPA’s domain name working group, said in a press release.

The organization, which counts many .za registrars among its members, believes the new rules will make local brand owners choose easier options like .com rather than jump through ZADNA’s hoops and pay inflated registrar prices.

Registrars have also criticized the proposed new registrar licensing regime, which would allow ZADNA to terminate registrars at very short notice.

ZADNA also announced today that it has picked ZA Registry Consortium as its back-end operator. ZARC is made up of incumbent back-end ZACR, a non-profit, and its commercial arm Domain Name Services. The new contract will run until October 2027.

GoDaddy among five companies competing for .za contract

Five companies are bidding for the contract to run the back-end for South Africa’s .za domains, which is expected to be awarded shortly.

Local ccTLD overseer ZADNA has named ZA Registry Consortium (ZARC), Lexreg and Fevertree Consulting Consortium, GoDaddy Registry, The Bean App & GMO Internet Group, and Catalytic Peter capital Consortium as respondents to its 2021 RFP.

Of those, only GoDaddy is a lone bidder, and the only one without an obvious South African partner. The rest are consortia, apparently newly created to bid for the contract.

ZARC is a venture of incumbent back-end ZA Central Registry and its affiliated commercial arm Domain Name Services, according to ZACR.

Lexreg and Fevertree Consulting Consortium appears to be made up of local corporate registrar Lexsynergy and a South African consulting firm.

The Bean App is a South African startup registrar. Its partner GMO is the Japanese registry provider behind .shop and a bunch of geographic and dot-brand gTLDs.

I’m sorry to say I have no idea what “Catalytic Peter” is. It has no internet footprint and ZADNA has not revealed any information beyond the name.

ZADNA said it is “currently at the advanced stage of the final checkpoints of the procurement process.”

.za has over 1.3 million domains and over 600 registrars. While ZACR currently runs four additional African geographic gTLDs, .za is by far its biggest deal in terms of registrations.

.za back-end deal up for grabs

South African domain authority ZADNA has let it be known that it’s opening up the .za back-end contract to bids.

In a notice posted last week, the organization said that it’s told current operator ZACR that its contract will be terminated in six months, and that it will have to compete for a new one.

ZADNA had the option to extend the contract, which was signed in 2012, for another five years but has evidently chosen not to do so.

Still, ZACR has the twin benefits of incumbency and a home-field advantage — ZADNA says “the operation of the .ZA registry
infrastructure is geographically located in South Africa”.

Money might be a factor in play — the current wholesale registry fee for .co.za, .org.za and .net.za domains is ZAR 55 ($3.70), of which ZAR 15 ($1) is given to ZADNA. This mix is open to change under the rebid.

The organization has published a detailed request for information (pdf) explaining what it’s looking for, which will be followed by a formal request for proposals.

ZACR’s contract is due to end next April. ZADNA says it has no intention of bringing the registry in-house.

.za has 1.2 million domains and over 600 registrars.

South African registry to be merged with film censor, broadband regulator

South African ccTLD operator ZADNA is to be merged with two other government agencies, including the film censor, under a program announced by the nation’s government this week.

The non-profit state-owned company will merged with Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), which regulates telecoms and broadband, and the Film and Publications Board, which censors and classifies movies, under plans announced today.

It comes as part of a broader government initiative to rationalize South Africa’s state-owned enterprises.

While it’s far from uncommon for a ccTLD to be managed by a state telecoms regulator, I’m not aware of any instances where a registry shares a roof with a movies regulator.

ZADNA is currently the official ccTLD manager for .za, though in practice it’s operated under contract by non-profit ZA Central Registry.

ZADNA hikes up the price of .za domains

South African ccTLD registry ZADNA has upped the price of .za domains after a consultation.

Standard pricing will increase by ZAR 10 to ZAR 55 ($3.35), which works out at about a 22% increase, from April 1 next year.

There’s also a ZAR 10 increase on customers of its old, pre-EPP legacy system, where the base price is currently ZAR 130 ($7.58). That kicks in January 1.

ZADNA has been increasing the legacy pricing for years to encourage registrants onto its industry-standard EPP infrastructure.

The changes come despite receiving comments from the local internet community about affordability and the current economic conditions.

South Africa might raise, or lower, some wholesale domain fees

ZADNA, the South African ccTLD registry, has put out a call for comments on plans to adjust the wholesale price of .za domain names.

For the last nine years, it’s had a two-tier pricing system, with registrars on its EPP registry paying a lower fee than those still on its outdated bespoke technology.

Now, the registry is talking about possibly raising the price of the EPP, which has been at ZAR 45 ($2.62) for the last five years, and/or scrapping the legacy system, where prices currently stand at ZAR 130 ($7.58).

The fee for the legacy registry has been going up for years, to encourage registrars to migrate to the more modern, efficient EPP system. Today, all but 2.5% of .za domains are on the EPP system.

While ZADNA says it has not made up its mind whether to raise, lower or freeze its fees, its consultation document (pdf) seems to pitch pretty hard for increases.

The registry argues that an hike linked to the local Consumer Price Index, which it says has gone up 21% since 2015, may be called in order to track the cost of doing business.

In terms of lowering the price, ZADNA says it may help .za become more competitive, but at the expense of its ability to invest in infrastructure.

Interested parties have until June 30 to send in their comments. A decision will be made by the end of July, and any price changes will come into effect in October,

ALL .za domains have to link to government coronavirus web site

The South African government has decreed that every web site using a .za domain name must now carry a link to an official government coronavirus advice site.

The regulation (pdf), which largely focuses on other types of teleconmmunications services, came into effect last Thursday. It states:

Internet sites operating within .zaDNA top level domain name must have a landing page with a visible link to www.sacoronavirus.co.za

The rule applies to every site, not just those purveying health news.

ZADNA’s front page currently features this clickable graphic, slightly below the fold.

ZADNA is the registry for .za, but also the city gTLDs .joburg and .capetown. The wording of the regulation suggests that these two gTLDs are also covered by the rule, but official government communications make no mention of either.

The rules also require fake coronavirus news to be blocked, but that’s on the ISPs to implement.

You may notice that the government’s domain is SAcoronavirus.co.za. This appears to be because coronavirus.co.za currently belongs to a domainer. That bare-bones site has a non-clickable link to the government site, and also an offer to sell the domain.

ZADNA boss canned for “misconduct”

The CEO of South African ccTLD manager ZADNA has been fired after a “misconduct” investigation lasting over half a year.
Vika Mpisane had been suspended from the role since early December, according to local reports, with Peter Madavhu taking his place.
Madavhu will continue as acting CEO until further notice, ZADNA told its members last week. A July 17 letter from chair Motlatjo Ralefatane, seen by DI, said:

Members would recall that Mr Vika Mpisane was on suspension pending the disciplinary hearing, which has been concluded.
Stemming from those disciplinary actions, Mr Vika Mpisane’s employment as the Chief Executive Officer of ZADNA has been terminated with effect from 16 July 2019.

The specifics of Mpisane’s alleged wrongdoings are not known. The fact that he had been suspended was not even public knowledge until MyBroadband scooped the story in May.
It has previously been reported that he was suspended for “for serious hybrid acts of misconduct including mismanagement of ZADNA funds”.
A disciplinary process that kicked off in January has reportedly been delayed multiple times, during which time Mpisane continued to draw a salary.

ZADNA CEO suspended for “hybrid misconduct”

The CEO of South Africa’s ccTLD registry has reportedly been suspended amid claims of “acts of misconduct”.
According to reports in the local tech press, Vika Mpisane was suspended in early December and has been subject to a delayed disciplinary process since January.
“Mr Vika Mpisane was suspended for serious hybrid acts of misconduct including mismanagement of ZADNA funds and others,” ZADNA chair Motlatjo Ralefatane told MyBroadband.
While details are rather thin on the ground, there are local rumors that some of the allegations relate to Mpisane’s salary and bonuses.
Ralefatane reportedly said that forensic accounting investigations are ongoing.
ZADNA, the ZA Domain Name Authority, is a non-profit organization and official ccTLD manager for .za. It answers to the South African government, but is not funded by it. It should not be confused with ZACR, the commercial entity that actually runs the .za registry on ZADNA’s behalf.
Mpisane has come under increased scrutiny this week as it turns out he is running unopposed for the Southern Africa seat on the board of AFRINIC, the Regional Internet Registry responsible for handing out IP addresses on the continent, apparently without ZADNA’s knowledge.
According to MyBroadband, Ralefatane believes Mpisane should not be representing that he has ZADNA’s support for his run.
His CV (pdf), posted to the AFRINIC web site in April, states that he is the current CEO of ZADNA, with no reference to his suspension.
Ralefatane reportedly added that she is not sure if AFRINIC or ICANN are aware of the allegations against him. They are now.
Mpisane is still listed on ZADNA’s web site as its CEO, also with no reference to the suspension.
His bio on the site reads, in its entirety (errors from the original): “The voice of reason and wisdom An outstanding leader with passion about the internet and what is has to offer. He walks the talk and talks the talk”.

Now South Africa looks to second-level domain sales

South Africa looks to be the next country to start letting people register domains directly at the second level of its ccTLD.
Local registry authority ZADNA this week opened a policy consultation on allowing registrants access to direct, second-level .za names.
Currently, if you want a .za you have to register at the third level under the likes of .co.za or .net.za.
But ZADNA says second-level names will help it continue to compete in a market now populated by hundreds of new gTLDs.
The company said it has been “inundated” by calls for such a move.
The policy shift would see South Africa follow the the path beaten in recent years by UK, New Zealand, Kenya and (probably) Australia, which have all changed policy to allow second-level names.
But these things are never without controversy.
Domain investors are typically resistant to such moves, fearing dilution and the possible devaluing of their portfolios.
There are often also intellectual property concerns, and concerns about priority “grandfathering” rights when matching .co.za and .org.za names, for example, have different owners.
ZADNA is floating the possibility of auctions to resolve these kinds of conflicts.
The proposal (pdf) is open for comment until April 16.