New gTLD AFRICA Redux: DotConnectAfrica Trust v. ICANN and ZACR

UPDATES in new gTLD .AFRICA litigation DotConnectAfrica Trust vs ICANN and ZA Central Registry, pending in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles, Central District:

UPDATE 3 Feb 2017: On Feb 3, 2016 ICANN updated its litigation page to indicate that on 4 January 2017, Court Order: Plaintiff's Ex Parte Application for Temporary Restraining Order is denied; Plaintiff's papers are deemed to be a new preliminary injunction motion; Parties are to submit supplemental briefs; and Preliminary Injunction hearing set for 31 January 2017 (which the Court later moved to 3 February 2017).  No further update as to the Feb 3rd hearing (as of Feb 4, 2017, 00:00 UTC).

UPDATE 8 January 2017: News Review: New gTLD .AFRICA Plaintiff Files for New TRO vs ICANN.

UPDATE 3 January 2017: California State Superior Court has denied DotConnectAfrica Trust's motion for preliminary injunction in an Order dated December 22 but not posted until Jan. 3, 2017 on the ICANN.org website, the Court indicating it will assign the case for a trial date at the case management conference January 23rd:

The above corrects and updates an earlier update based on a report from Law360.com:
UPDATE: ICANN not (corrected) enjoined from delegating .AFRICA by California State Superior Court Judge. According to Law360.com on Thursday, December 22, 2016, California Superior Court Judge Howard L. Halm issued a "written tentative ruling" indicating he would grant the motion for a preliminary injunction filed by African nonprofit DotConnectAfrica Trust (DCA), blocking ICANN from delegating new gTLD (new generic top-level domain) .AFRICA  to ZA Central Registry (ZACR), ruling DCA’s claim that its application was unfairly rejected must be resolved first. Based on the update of January 3, above, the Law360.com report was erroneous.

New gTLD AFRICA: DotConnectAfrica Trust v. ICANN and ZA Central Registry (ZACR), Case No. BC607494, Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles – Central (trial court proceeding):

15 November 2016:

• Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction [PDF, 436 KB] Hearing December 22, 2016, embed below
• Declaration of Sara C. Colon [PDF, 192 KB]
• Exhibits 1 to 3 [PDF, 3.53 MB]
• Declaration of Ethan J. Brown [PDF, 184 KB]
• Exhibits 1 to 4 [PDF, 617 KB]
• Declaration of Sophia Bekele Eshete [PDF, 1.44 MB]
• Exhibits 1 to 27 [PDF, 25.49 MB]

Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction:

9 December 2016:

• ICANN's Evidentiary Objections to Declaration of Sophia Bekele Eshete Filed in Support of Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction [PDF, 126 KB]
• ICANN's Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction [PDF, 255 KB] embed below
• Declaration of Christine Willett [PDF, 46 KB]
• Exhibits A to D [PDF, 416 KB]
• Declaration of Akram Atallah [PDF, 102 KB]
• Exhibits E to F [PDF, 94 KB]
• Declaration of Jeffrey LeVee [PDF, 107 KB]
• Exhibits G to J [PDF, 376 KB]
• Declaration of Kevin Espinola [PDF, 31 KB]
• Exhibit K [PDF, 110 KB]
• Declaration of Mark McFadden [PDF, 110 KB]

ICANN's Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction:

9 December 2016

• ZACR's Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction [PDF, 1.30 MB] embed below
• Declaration of Amy T. Brantly [PDF, 247 KB]
• Exhibits 1 to 3 [PDF, 652 KB]
• Declaration of Moctar Yedaly [PDF, 170 KB]
• Exhibits A to K [PDF, 17.6 MB]
• Declaration of Mokgabudi Lucky Masilela [PDF, 366 KB]
• Exhibits A to I [PDF, 8.27 MB]

ZACR's Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction:

15 December 2016:

• Plaintiff's Joint Reply to ICANN and ZACR's Opposition to Motion for Preliminary Injunction[PDF, 509 KB] Embed below
• Response to Evidentiary Objections to Declaration of Sophia Bekele [PDF, 129 KB]
• Evidentiary Objections to Declaration of Christine Willett [PDF, 205 KB]
• Evidentiary Objections to Declaration of Akram Atallah [PDF, 209 KB]
• Evidentiary Objections to Declaration of Kevin Espinola [PDF, 177 KB]
• Evidentiary Objections to Declaration of Mark McFadden [PDF, 241 KB]
• Evidentiary Objections to Declaration of Moctar Yedaly [PDF, 229 KB]
• Evidentiary Objections to Declaration of Mokgabudi Lucky Masilela [PDF, 224 KB]
• Request for Judicial Notice in Support of Joint Reply to ICANN and ZACR’s Opposition to Motion for Preliminary Injunction [PDF, 211 KB]
• Exhibit A [PDF, 81 KB]

Plaintiff's Joint Reply to ICANN and ZACR's Opposition to Motion for Preliminary Injunction:

How did the case get from U.S. District Court to State of California Superior Court?

• Order Granting ZACR's Motion to Intervene and Remanding Case to State Court [PDF, 32 KB] 19 October 2016
• Notice of Remand [PDF, 482 KB] 25 October 2016
• DotConnectAfrica Trust v. ICANN (U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Ciruit) | ICANN.org: Order Dismissing ICANN and ZA Central Registry Appeals [PDF, 52 KB] 14 December 2016, but "Appellant Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ [ICANN] request that this court’s order dismissing the appeal contain language “reflecting that the preliminary injunction order is void and the appeal is moot,” is denied."

For more:

• News Review: dotAFRICA, Public Interest, Judge Holds ICANN Accountable | DomainMondo.com
• DotConnectAfrica Trust v. ICANN (Trial Court Proceeding) | ICANN.org and 
• All Domain Mondo posts with label: AFRICA.

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.AFRICA: DCA Trust v ICANN, ZACR Motion to Intervene & Opening Brief

UPDATE: DotConnectAfrica Trust v. ICANN -- the plot thickens --

"ZACR seeks to intervene pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(a), or alternatively, under Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(b), as a defendant to the Ninth and Tenth causes of action to enforce its right to .Africa. Intervention is proper because ZACR has an interest in the Registry Agreement which may be impaired or impeded by the disposition of this action and ZACR’s interest is not adequately represented by the existing parties." --ZACR's Memorandum of Points and Authorities (pdf)

Dismissed defendant, ZA Central Registry, which filed an interlocutory appeal, has now filed its opening brief (embed below), and has also filed a motion to intervene as a party:

• ZACR's Notice of Motion and Motion to Intervene [PDF, 232 KB] scheduled for September 19, 2016 hearing;
• Memorandum of Points and Authorities [PDF, 166 KB] (embed below)
• Declaration of David W. Kesselman [PDF, 42 KB] 1 August 2016
• ZACR's Opening Appellate Brief [PDF, 275 KB] 22 July 2016 (embed below)

The DotConnectAfrica Trust answering brief is due August 19, 2016. The optional reply brief is due September 9, 2016.  Meanwhile the U.S. District Court has assigned the case to a 10-12 day jury trial beginning February 28, 2017. See Scheduling Order (pdf).  

See also: ICANN and Dot AFRICA: Dismissed Party ZACR Files Notice of Appeal | DomainMondo.com and the history and background of this case at .africa | Wikipedia.org.

ZACR's Opening Appellate Brief (embed below):


Memorandum of Points and Authorities in support of ZACR's motion to intervene:



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