Date:
 Wed, 28 Jun 1995 10:31:17 EST
Reply-To:
 "Pimienta Daniel " <[email protected]>
From:
 "Pimienta Daniel " <[email protected]>
To:
 <[email protected]>
Cc:
 "REDID President" <[email protected]>
Subject:
 SERIOUS PROBLEMS WITH THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC DOMAIN
X-Mulbri:
 00**0000000000


Dear Colleague,

I want to express, in the name of REDID, our very surprise and preoccupation about the manner how recent changes have occurred with the management of the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Internet domain. Our discomfort, as you will see, is not with you, but with those who interferes, from the outside, in the referenced changes.

REDID is the most important Research Network of the Dominican Republic (and I could add of the Caribbean, except Puerto Rico, Cuba and may be Jamaica- see < gopher.psg.com> under "Caribbean Infrastructure" for more info if you like).

I am asking you to please hold any action on this file until the ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ completion of a consensus meeting FUNREDES have called for July, 13th, with all the concerned parties (see convocation letter in annex and note the letter was written before I got informed of the change).

Let me give you now some backup information:

FUNREDES/REDID
The NGO I am heading, FUNREDES, is playing an active role in relation with research networks in the South. We participated actively to the creation of the following networks: Peru (RCP, 1991), Dominican Rep. (REDID, 1992) and Haiti (REHRED, 1993). At the present, we are operating the REDID network, by formal agreement with the Board of Directors.

We are, right now, coordinating a bunch of actions for the creation of the REDID Internet node and subsequent Webs and Gophers (with target date for completion within 3 months). The plan is receiving various supports (computers gift from SUN, free link from a commercial Internet provider, technically skilled persons from International cooperation). The first step planned was the transfer of the .DO domain from University of Puerto Rico (UPR) to be executed before the end of the month.

INTERNET ENVIRONMENT

The Dominican Rep. which have been, for years, with UUCP, e.mail only nets is moving fast towards the Internet. Three commercial providers are competing locally.

As for research networks, there is two offers: 1) REDID, with a monthly traffic of around 60MBytes, which federates research institutions (universities, NGOs, Governmental research centers and International Organizations) and have its own legal structure which includes all the required instruments. REDID is having now 140 users from 60 institutions and is growing at the pace of 3 new institutions per month (average).

2) RUDAC, which is the CUNET component for Dominican Rep., is managed by a person from one of the 25 universities (PUCMM) and
is having a monthly traffic of 3
 Mbytes,
 say 20 times less
(figure reported by CUNET recently).
  
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It has been impossible to get exact user figures, but the traffic figures call for a very limited number. Furthermore, RUDAC is frequently out of operation (for instance now and since 2 weeks). It is worth stating that the PUCMM university, which manage RUDAC in the Santo Domingo campus, is having, in the Santiago campus, some 25 users in REDID (which is much more than in RUDAC and probably more users than the whole RUDAC).

INTERNET DOMAIN

In the previous context, the Internet domain was managed, as you know, by CRACIN and then UPR.

FUNREDES decided to call for a meeting of all the Internet Providers (or would be providers) so that to try to reach a consensus for the migration of the domain to a national institution.

Our recommendation, which is well received by the commercial providers, is that REDID, being the institution the most representative (including PUCMM as a charter member) and having now the technical capacity and the infrastructure would be the correct choice.

DE FACTO SITUATION RESULTING FROM OAS INTERVENTION

Yesterday, while checking the name of the President of UPR, I discovered, talking by phone with the postmaster of UPR, that the administrative responsibility of the .DO have been transferred, one month ago, on OAS request, to the postmaster of RUDAC. The UPR postmaster mentioned that your organization complained about the fact that most Caribbean countries were having their domain under a foreign responsibility and reported that the term of "colonialism" was pointed. This person insisted on the fact that UPR had not taking the initiative for that move: the person from OAS dealing with networks did so and should be considered responsible, the UPR person confirmed this is documented.

I can understand your point about "colonialism" and totally agree that such situation must be transitory. However, what I discovered is more than colonialism, it is a serious act of interference in a national matter, from the outside.

I am afraid that, at least in the case of Dominican Rep., the result is to change from "transparent, practical and useful colonialism" into "unfair, impractical and unreliable colonialism".

DISCOMFORT AND PROBABLE REACTIONS

The fact that the OAS person responsible for the interference is a Trustee of the Internet Society does not represent a ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ justification and, at the contrary, amplifies the discomfort (REDID had a precedent unkind situation with this person, in 1993, when it was excluded from the regional network meeting organized in Mexico and expressed discomfort to the Mexican Council of Science and Technology).

We are part of those who believe that cyberspace should not be the place for such practices, and that the officials of the Institution must give the right example. In our sense, the correct reaction is to make such acts public to the Internet Community so that reinforce the correct pattern; we are reserving our rights to do so.

The OAS person responsible for networks is showing disrespect to the 60 institutions which legally conform the REDID network (including Ministry of Education, Higher Education Council and UNDP, to mention few examples) deciding, on their behalf, without their authorization and without consulting them, what is good for them. This person is acting to provoke artificial advantage to the project he is supporting (RUDAC/CUNET), in spite of the fact this project fails to represent the researchers of the country.

I believed I had a gentleman agreement with the CRACIN people where I will be informed of any move as regard to the domain and my plan was to act transparently when the times would come. The moment has come but I was told yesterday that CRACIN left their responsibility to UPR, and then UPR answered to an OAS request. Nobody have taken the elementary correction to involve the real network people of the Dominican Republic.

As you see, the matter is very serious and could provoke strong and public reaction and possible diplomatic disagreements. The moment is very unfortunate, since the strong competition between commercial providers could bring additional tensions. We were very confident to manage a consensus, and we are now seriously worried that this interference would make things more difficult.

POSSIBLE SOLUTION

My request to you is that you hold the administrative change for 3 weeks and we will come back then with a consensus decided by ALL the Dominican institutions involved (vs a decision forced, by external parties, without transparency, to the less possible representative network of the country). I hope you can understand than a "de facto" move prior to the meeting is destroying the condition for fair negotiation and that the direct negotiation with the person who received the administrative responsibility from an outside interference is not an acceptable solution.

If you could hold the decision, I expect the case will be solved without public turmoils.

If it is too late or if you decide not to move (I know and can understand the reluctance of the Internic to be involved in national conflicts), then I will recommend that REDID handle publicly the interference made by a Trustee of the Internet Society and a member of an International Organization. A functionary supposed to know what is netiquette and what is cooperation, and their respective implications in terms of people and country respects.

The sad point is that no potential national conflict was expected before and that the path was perfectly clean for a neat management of the issue. Now, there is an unfair situation caused by a person who is creating tensions from the outside (the relationship between PUCMM and REDID are good and I hope this will not disturb them), in search of non-national interests, where the situation was well managed by national entities.

Please, let me know your position as soon as possible.

Sorry to disturb you and best regards,

Daniel Pimienta
Dir. Fundacion Redes y Desarrollo
FUNREDES                         tel: + 1 809 535 2422 (mensajeria)
Aptdo 2972                       fax:         535 6646
Santo Domingo                    [email protected]
Republica Dominicana                    [email protected]
==========================================================================

ANNEX: COPY OF THE LETTER PREPARED BEFORE WE GOT INFORMED AND TO

 BE SENT ASAP.

Santo Domingo, 27/6/95


Comunicacion de La Fundacion Redes y Desarrollo

Sr. Ernest Burry, Presidente de CODETEL Sr. Miguel Ceara Hatton, Director del CIECA, en su calidad de Presidente de REDID Sr. Alvaro Nadal, Vicepresidente de AACR Mons. Agripino Nunez Collado, Rector de la PUCMM, en su calidad de Representante de la red CUNET/RUDAC Sr. Leopoldo Nunez, Director General de Telecomunicaciones Sr. Marcos Troncoso, Vicepresidente de TRICOM

CC:

Dr. Mario Bonetti, Presidente de la Academia de Ciencias de la Republica Dominicana
Dr. Norman Maldonado, Presidente de la Universidad de Puerto Rico

Tema
Gestiones para el domino Internet de la Republica Dominicana

Como lo habiamos anticipado, en una carta abierta enviada en el foro electronico de los investigadores dominicanos, la Fundacion Redes y Desarrollo, en su calidad de agente facilitador del desarrollo de las Nuevas Tecnologias de Informacion y Comunicacion dentro del mundo de la investigacion, toma la iniciativa de convocar una reunion de informacion y de busqueda de consenso para el inicio de las gestiones para la transferencia de la responsabilidad del dominio Internet de la Republica Dominicana, desde la institucion portorriquena que ha gentilmente asegurada esta funcion, desde el 1991, hacia una institucion dominicana , la cual esperamos pueda ser identificada por consenso en esta reunion. Se trata de un asunto technico-administrativo en relacion con la Sociedad Internet (INTERNIC) que tiene un cierto grado de repercusion dado la unicidad que prevale, el criterio de responsabilidad tecnica que requiere y las funciones de servidor de informacion para el enrutamiento de trafico que implica.

Le rogamos cortesmente bien querer delegar para esta reunion una persona que tenga el perfil tecnico requerido asi como el mandato de Usted para la toma de decision.



FECHA: Jueves 13 de Julio de 1995, de 10am a 11:30am

LUGAR: Academia de Ciencia de la Republica Dominicana

AGENDA:

-Presentacion de la problematica del dominio Internet -Antecedentes regionales
-Situacion particular de la Republica Dominicana -Propuesta de la Fundacion Redes y Desarrollo -Discusion abierta.
-Conclusion

Le agradecemos de antemano bien querer confirmar la presencia de su delegado antes de la fecha de 11/7/95, por
una de esas vias:
  
correo electronico:
 [email protected]
fax:
 535 6646
tel.:
 535 2422


Le saluda cortes y atentamente,

Daniel Pimienta Director .