Dear colleagues, I'd like to provide some background on the Executive Board's decision to propose the provisions regarding charges for legacy holders in the 2015 Charging Scheme. The board discussed these at length and wanted to achieve a balance between meeting the needs of legacy holders and meeting the needs of RIPE NCC members, who the board is tasked with representing. First of all, the four options in the Charging Scheme regarding legacy space correspond directly to the four options (sections 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4) in Policy Proposal 2012-07: http://www.ripe.net/ripe/policies/proposals/2012-07 Option 2.4, according to the proposal, is for those legacy holders who meet the criteria to engage with a sponsoring LIR "but cannot find a Sponsoring LIR with which a mutually satisfactory contract of the kind mentioned in that section". The board sees this option as being for legacy holders who are*unable* to find a sponsoring LIR rather than those who*do not want* to find a sponsoring LIR. The fourth option in the Charging Scheme addresses this need to provide a direct contract for those who cannot find a sponsoring LIR with which to engage. For the RIPE NCC to provide this option, a new category of service provision will have to be established. Aside from the legal and administrative work involved, the RIPE NCC's support, operating and business systems will need to be updated. The board feels that membership should not fully subsidise the cost of this work but that the costs should mainly rest with those for whom the service is being provided. The work involved in bringing legacy holders into the membership requires little work on the RIPE NCC's part by comparison, hence the waiving of the sign-up fee. The board is also keen to keep the Charging Scheme in line with the "one-LIR, one fee" principle accepted by the membership in 2012. By charging the same fee for LIRs and those legacy holders who would like to have a direct contract with the RIPE NCC, the board believes that this does not put the RIPE NCC in a position where it is competing with its members. In 2011, when the RIPE NCC previously charged Direct Assignment Users (DAUs) who wished to have a contract directly with the RIPE NCC rather than a sponsoring LIR, the DAUs were charged the same sign-up fee as members as well as an annual fee of 1,300 euros (the same as an Extra Small LIR at the time). We believe the proposed Charging Scheme 2015 follows this precedent. The board will set aside as much time as is necessary at the upcoming General Meeting to discuss the issue of charging for services to legacy holders. If the membership feels the Charging Scheme 2015 is not acceptable and decides to vote against it, the board will discuss the issue over the Summer and present a new Charging Scheme 2015 at the Autumn GM in London. The 1,600 euro fee for LIRs proposed in the Charging Scheme would remain the same, so members can still budget for the year ahead. On a separate note, the proposed implementation plan for the RIPE Policy "RIPE NCC Services to Legacy Internet resource Holders" deals with the contractual changes necessary for the RIPE NCC to implement new processes and is independent of charging issues. I hope this helps you to understand the board's thinking in proposing the charging scheme. We will continue to follow discussions on the mailing list and look forward to hearing your views at the RIPE NCC Service Working Group and the RIPE NCC General Meeting on 14 May. If you would like to contact the board directly, you can email us at <exec-board@ripe.net>. Best regards, Nigel Titley RIPE NCC Executive Board Chairman