Changes

DCA criticized AUC's plan to implement the EOI submission competition process for application endorsement. DCA claimed that the AUC’s objective for accountability and transparency was "hollow and unbelievable," as the letter they issues references the previous endorsement issued to DCA, however fails to acknowledge the previous endorsement issued by Chairman Ping.  Furthermore, DCA pointed out that the EOI process would be biased, as the [[AU Task Force]] had already expressed its support for [[AfTLD]] during the 2011 annual African [[ccTLD]] event in Ghana.  DCA encouraged all organizations to disregard the AU EOI process and asked AUC to cease the request.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/11503736-yes2dotafrica-say-no-to-african-union-expression-of-interest-eoi-for-dotafrica.html Yes2DotAfrica Say "No" to African Union Expression of Interest (EOI) for DotAfrica]</ref><ref>[http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102516344150-101/Post_Event_Press_release_final+AftLD.pdf event in Accra]</ref>

DCA criticized AUC's plan to implement the EOI submission competition process for application endorsement. DCA claimed that the AUC’s objective for accountability and transparency was "hollow and unbelievable," as the letter they issues references the previous endorsement issued to DCA, however fails to acknowledge the previous endorsement issued by Chairman Ping.  Furthermore, DCA pointed out that the EOI process would be biased, as the [[AU Task Force]] had already expressed its support for [[AfTLD]] during the 2011 annual African [[ccTLD]] event in Ghana.  DCA encouraged all organizations to disregard the AU EOI process and asked AUC to cease the request.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/11503736-yes2dotafrica-say-no-to-african-union-expression-of-interest-eoi-for-dotafrica.html Yes2DotAfrica Say "No" to African Union Expression of Interest (EOI) for DotAfrica]</ref><ref>[http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102516344150-101/Post_Event_Press_release_final+AftLD.pdf event in Accra]</ref>

<big><i>No Campaign against African Registry Consortium (ARC) </i></big>

<big><i>No Campaign against African Registry Consortium (ARC):</i></big>

While DCA was engaged in its fights with the AU DotAfrica Task Force and the AfTLD, another prospective applicant for DotAfrica, the African Registry Consortium (ARC), appeared on the horizon. <ref>[ http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs053/1102516344150/archive/1108039247315.html  Vote No to African Registry Consortium]</ref> This organization was new, and had done no promotional work whatsoever on DotAfrica. The ARC did not seem to be a community effort and had not also campaigned for DotAfrica and was generally seen as a late entrant.  The ARC quickly allied itself with the AfTLD with the purpose of obtaining an expression of Interest from the AfTLDas an African-based registry operator, with an African backend operator, <ref>[ http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2011/08/africa-may-get-its-own-domain-name/  African Registry Consortium]</ref>  and cited its affiliations to Uniforum SA, the operator of the DotCoDotZa.  It would appear that the ARC made its calculation of seeking an alliance with AfTLD because it thought the AfTLD had the upper hand and was most likely going to receive the endorsement from the African Union. This exposed the ARC to accusations of business opportunism by DCA since ARC only entered the debate after ICANN had approved the new gTLD programme in July 2011, and was trying to use AfTLD as a crutch in order to gain wide community acceptance in order to obtain an endorsement which it had not worked for <ref>[ http://myemail.constantcontact.com/The-Leopard-Cannot-Change-its-Spots--Say--No--to-the-ARC--African-Registry-Consortium.html?soid=1102516344150&aid=BYYeJN0_fLU  Say no to  African Registry Consortium (ARC)]</ref>  This formed the basis of a No Campaign against the ARC which DCA accused of: business opportunism, not having the technical credentials to boast of a world-class registry that DotAfrica required; and ARC’s potential as a BEE scamming operation, even as DCA insinuated that the financial resources of new-moneyed venture capitalist was being lined up to enable them gain control of DotAfrica (that is, on a highest bidder basis). <ref>[ http://myemail.constantcontact.com/The-Leopard-Cannot-Change-its-Spots--Say--No--to-the-ARC--African-Registry-Consortium.html?soid=1102516344150&aid=BYYeJN0_fLU  Say no to  African Registry Consortium (ARC)]</ref>  <ref>[ http://domainincite.com/5243-beware-the-new-gtld-cuckoos Beware the new gTLD cuckoos]</ref>   

While DCA was engaged in its fights with the AU DotAfrica Task Force and the AfTLD, another prospective applicant for DotAfrica, the African Registry Consortium (ARC), appeared on the horizon. <ref>[ http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs053/1102516344150/archive/1108039247315.html  Vote No to African Registry Consortium]</ref> This organization was new, and had done no promotional work whatsoever on DotAfrica. The ARC did not seem to be a community effort and had not also campaigned for DotAfrica and was generally seen as a late entrant.  The ARC quickly allied itself with the AfTLD with the purpose of obtaining an expression of Interest from the AfTLDas an African-based registry operator, with an African backend operator, <ref>[ http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2011/08/africa-may-get-its-own-domain-name/  African Registry Consortium]</ref>  and cited its affiliations to Uniforum SA, the operator of the DotCoDotZa.  It would appear that the ARC made its calculation of seeking an alliance with AfTLD because it thought the AfTLD had the upper hand and was most likely going to receive the endorsement from the African Union. This exposed the ARC to accusations of business opportunism by DCA since ARC only entered the debate after ICANN had approved the new gTLD programme in July 2011, and was trying to use AfTLD as a crutch in order to gain wide community acceptance in order to obtain an endorsement which it had not worked for <ref>[ http://myemail.constantcontact.com/The-Leopard-Cannot-Change-its-Spots--Say--No--to-the-ARC--African-Registry-Consortium.html?soid=1102516344150&aid=BYYeJN0_fLU  Say no to  African Registry Consortium (ARC)]</ref>  This formed the basis of a No Campaign against the ARC which DCA accused of: business opportunism, not having the technical credentials to boast of a world-class registry that DotAfrica required; and ARC’s potential as a BEE scamming operation, even as DCA insinuated that the financial resources of new-moneyed venture capitalist was being lined up to enable them gain control of DotAfrica (that is, on a highest bidder basis). <ref>[ http://myemail.constantcontact.com/The-Leopard-Cannot-Change-its-Spots--Say--No--to-the-ARC--African-Registry-Consortium.html?soid=1102516344150&aid=BYYeJN0_fLU  Say no to  African Registry Consortium (ARC)]</ref>  <ref>[ http://domainincite.com/5243-beware-the-new-gtld-cuckoos Beware the new gTLD cuckoos]</ref>   

<big><i>The Case of Three Strange Bed-fellows</i></big>

<big><i>The Case of Three Strange Bed-fellows:</i></big>

Following the entrance of the AfTLD and the ARC, it was widely perceived that there would be three other prospective applicants for DotAfrica,  <ref>[http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/exploring-the-africa-domain/  Exploring the .Africa domain]</ref> namely dotafrica.org, AfTLD and ARC, in addition to DCA. Against the backdrop that none of these organizations had any endorsement for DotAfrica, DCA thought that these organizations were not in a position to apply for DotAfrica.  DCA dismissed them as ‘promiscuous strange bed-fellows’ that faced very difficult obstacles.  DCA saw dotafrica.org as moribund,  <ref>[http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs053/1102516344150/archive/1107431408048.html Say NO to DotAfrica CABAL]</ref>  ARC as running a stale campaign that was likened to a fool’s errand,  <ref>[http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs053/1102516344150/archive/1106696043739.html Say no to ARC]</ref> and AfTLD as having questionable legal ownership  <ref>[http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs053/1102516344150/archive/1107431408048.html Say NO to DotAfrica CABAL]</ref> which exposed it to possible disqualification if subjected to proper due diligence since the African ccTLDs it claimed to represent were not its actual owners. This particular No Campaign by DCA that brought all three organizations together and associated them as strange bed-fellows engaged in promiscuous (illegal) behavior proved to be very effective. <ref>[ http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs053/1102516344150/archive/1107431408048.html Say NO to DotAfrica CABAL]</ref>     

Following the entrance of the AfTLD and the ARC, it was widely perceived that there would be three other prospective applicants for DotAfrica,  <ref>[http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/exploring-the-africa-domain/  Exploring the .Africa domain]</ref> namely dotafrica.org, AfTLD and ARC, in addition to DCA. Against the backdrop that none of these organizations had any endorsement for DotAfrica, DCA thought that these organizations were not in a position to apply for DotAfrica.  DCA dismissed them as ‘promiscuous strange bed-fellows’ that faced very difficult obstacles.  DCA saw dotafrica.org as moribund,  <ref>[http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs053/1102516344150/archive/1107431408048.html Say NO to DotAfrica CABAL]</ref>  ARC as running a stale campaign that was likened to a fool’s errand,  <ref>[http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs053/1102516344150/archive/1106696043739.html Say no to ARC]</ref> and AfTLD as having questionable legal ownership  <ref>[http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs053/1102516344150/archive/1107431408048.html Say NO to DotAfrica CABAL]</ref> which exposed it to possible disqualification if subjected to proper due diligence since the African ccTLDs it claimed to represent were not its actual owners. This particular No Campaign by DCA that brought all three organizations together and associated them as strange bed-fellows engaged in promiscuous (illegal) behavior proved to be very effective. <ref>[ http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs053/1102516344150/archive/1107431408048.html Say NO to DotAfrica CABAL]</ref>