ICANN Wins by Technical Knockout,DCA Blocked From Being Heard..

DotConnectAfrica Trust (DCA), the Mauritius/Kenya-based charitable Trust and principal applicant for the .Africa Internet Domain Extension, has lost its Appeal case in the Los Angeles Court in its ongoing legal battle against the United States-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

The DCA vs. ICANN case involved many twists and turns, spanning nearly a decade of DCA’s efforts to hold ICANN accountable for the harm it caused to DCA over the delegation rights of the .Africa new gTLD Registry.

Despite a landmark victory at the Independent Review Process (IRP) in 2015, where the panel found that ICANN had violated its own Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation, DCA was later blocked from having its case heard on the merits by a US court. The court applied judicial estoppel, a procedural doctrine that prevented DCA from bringing additional claims, including those related to fraud and willful misconduct, to a jury trial.

The case raised serious questions about ICANN’s accountability, the limits of the IRP process, and the ability of applicants to seek redress outside ICANN’s internal mechanisms. DCA’s fraud claims against ICANN were never adjudicated, and the case ended not on the facts, but on a technicality.

For the full detailed recap, including court rulings, lawyer statements, and the timeline of events, read the full recap here: Read more on recap

This page also compiles the complete public record of the DCA Trust vs. ICANN legal battle, including the IRP win, the judicial estoppel ruling, and the ongoing implications for gTLD applicants.