Dear Colleagues, The Executive Board has instructed the RIPE NCC to temporarily restrict the ability of Legacy Internet Resource Holders to become RIPE NCC members or open LIR accounts in their capacity as Legacy Internet Resource Holders. This decision was taken at last week's Executive Board meeting in Amsterdam. Since the policy “RIPE NCC Services to Legacy Internet Resources” was implemented in 2014, the RIPE NCC has waived the EUR 2,000 sign-up fee for Legacy Internet Resource Holders who choose to enter into a contractual relationship with the RIPE NCC. It now seems that some entities have started obtaining very small blocks of legacy IPv4 resources (in some cases as little as a /29) and using this to open an LIR account and obtain an IPv4 /22 allocation without having to pay the sign-up fee. The board feels that this is against the spirit in which this fee was waived and gives an unfair advantage to these entities. Removing this cost barrier could also result in faster depletion of the IPv4 pool that the RIPE community has reserved for newcomers. We will therefore be adding this to the agenda of the upcoming General Meeting (GM) that will take place on 26 October. We will also put forward a resolution for the membership to vote on to address this problem. As the board anticipates an increase in these kinds of requests ahead of the GM, we felt it was necessary to apply this temporary restriction until a proper solution can be applied. It is important to note that despite this temporary restriction, Legacy Internet Resource Holders may continue to register their resources: - By becoming a RIPE NCC member (without using their capacity as Legacy Internet Resource Holders to receive the sign-up fee waiver) - Under an existing LIR account - Through a sponsoring LIR - By entering into a direct agreement with the RIPE NCC The board encourages the membership to discuss this matter on the <members-discuss@ripe.net> mailing list. You can also contact the board directly at <exec-board@ripe.net>. Best regards, Nigel Titley RIPE NCC Executive Board Chairman