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AFRINIC SUSPENDED CEO TRYING TO ASK GOVERNMENT TO APPOINT DIRECTORS OF RIR
by Adrie Schmidt 23 Jul '22

23 Jul '22

Dear Global community I have very unfortunate news to share with you. The suspended CEO of AFRINIC, Eddy Kayihura - has written to African Telecommunication union, an Inter-government body and requested them to appoint the directors of AFRINIC. This is a clear attempt to avoid the legitimate election by depriving AFRINIC members' right to select their own directors. According to ATU's reply, they have proposed four directors. One of them is involved in fraud proceedings. https://www.lawandpowerkenya.com/interconsult-engineers-ltd-director-six-ot… The RIR community has been running on the principle of community-drive bottom up process for years. This is the foundation of today's Internet. By adhering to this principle, the RIRs have successfully resisted external interference from governmental bodies such as ITU. It is extremely regretful to see that a suspended CEO of one of the RIRs, is trying to ask a governmental body to interfere with RIR's independent procedure. This is putting the entire system at a tremendous risk that we have never had before. The suspended CEO is continually trying to take further legal action in secret. He is spending members money on this. We were lucky to retrieve this letter, from the case Eddy filed against AFRINIC, in an attempt to appoint four directors suggested by ATU as elected directors, in which in that affidavit in the case, Eddy admitted that AFRINIC is lacking of quorum and can not defend its own case, so Eddy is trying to use this opportunities to bypass the very election allows member to have their voice heard. The suspended CEO is acting without authority and in secret and is out of control. The organization is failing. Members have no oversight on what he is doing unilaterally. He is out of control and not acting in the interests of members. We have attached the relevant letters in this email. You may read them yourselves. This is unprecedentedly shocking and disappointing. It is a spectra that the RIRs may fall into the hands of governmental bodies - a scenario that none of us would like to see in the community. NRS team

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NRO NC Call for Nominations
by Hans Petter Holen 22 Jul '22

22 Jul '22

Dear colleagues, This is a call for nominations from the RIPE NCC service region to fill one seat on the Number Resource Organization (NRO) Number Council (NC). The three-year term started by Filiz Yilmaz and continued by James Kennedy ends on 31 December 2022. The election for this NRO NC seat will take place during the RIPE 85 Meeting that will be held online and onsite in Belgrade from 24-28 October 2022. All members of the Internet community, except RIR staff, who are attending the RIPE Meeting (online or onsite) and have checked in may vote in the election. The deadline for nominations is Friday, 30 September 2022. Any individual residing within the RIPE NCC service region is eligible for nomination, except Regional Internet Registry (RIR) staff members. Self-nominations are permitted. The nomination process is available at: https://www.ripe.net/nro-nc/nominations-oct-2022/nro-nc-nomination-process Please send your nominations to <nominations(a)ripe.net> by 23:59 UTC on 30 September 2022. All confirmed nominations will be listed on the RIPE NCC website by Wednesday, 5 October 2022. All nominees may submit a written statement in support of their nomination for publication on the RIPE NCC website. Other people can express support for nominated individuals by sending an email to <nominations(a)ripe.net>. Expressions of support will also be published on the RIPE NCC website. ------------------- About the NRO NC ------------------- The NRO NC performs the role of the Address Supporting Organization Address Council (ASO AC), including: - Overseeing the Global Policy Development Process. - Providing recommendations to the ICANN Board concerning the recognition of new RIRs. - Nominating individuals to serve in the ASO’s two seats (Seat 9 and Seat 10) on the ICANN Board of Directors and other ICANN bodies. - Advising to the ICANN Board on Internet number resource allocation policy, in conjunction with the RIRs. - Developing procedures for conducting business in support of their responsibilities, in particular, for the appointment of an ASO AC Chair and definition of the Chair’s responsibilities. For more information about the ASO AC, please see: https://aso.icann.org/aso-ac/ To find out more about the NRO NC and the election process, please see: https://www.ripe.net/nro-nc/nominations-oct-2022/ Regards, Hans Petter Holen Managing Director RIPE NCC ------------------- Important Dates ------------------- 30 September 2022: Deadline for NRO NC nominations 5 October 2022: Deadline for all confirmed nominees to be posted on the RIPE NCC website 24-28 October 2022: Election to fill NRO NC seat during the RIPE 85 Meeting 28 October 2022: Announce successful candidate at closing plenary of RIPE 85

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An interesting article on the NRO letter
by Adrie Schmidt 22 Jul '22

22 Jul '22

I have come across this article on recent NRO Letter written by a prominent Law professor. I think it may be of value to the community, please see below: " The world's Regional Internet Registries (RIRs), coordinated by Number Resource Organization (NRO), manage the distribution of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses in five continents respectively. Although far less well known than domain names, IP addresses are also the critical resources essential to the proper function of the global internet. As the steward of the critical address resources, NRO and all the Regional Registries are highly respected technical organizations. However, many people in the internet community are surprised, though not in a lovely way, by the NRO's public call requesting Mauritius government to intervene in a court case in which AFRINIC was sued by a company reportedly located in Hong Kong for a contractual dispute. AFRINIC is the RIR for Africa, established in 2004 and headquartered in Ebene, Mauritius. Since the case involves the complicated legal and internet governance issues during a long period of time, the merit and procedure of the case cannot be elaborated in such a short piece. But anyone, of course, has the right to comment or opine on the case and may well have the different propositions or preferences. But the NRO's Open Letter dated July 12, 2022 to Mauritius Foreign Minister and Attorney General uncommonly requests the government take action against the on-going court proceeding in a country with "stable and consistent legal system." Should the NRO's request be successful, Mauritius would hardly be able to maintain her "stable and consistent legal system" simply because judicial independence, the cornerstone of rule of law, would be subverted. Since AFRINIC deliberately chose "Mauritius as the most appropriate place to host this fundamental role for the regional Internet", it shall comply with the laws and court orders of that country. The NRO's belief that preservation and protection of "the independence of AFRINIC" be only achieved through repudiating Mauritius legal system that actually "benefit" AFRINIC is entirely paradoxical. The contractual dispute is a civil dispute in nature. The NRO's blames on both the "abusive" litigation and Mauritius court orders (such as the interim measure to freeze the AFRINIC's bank account) should be able to be reviewed or resolved within the legal system of Mauritius. Instead of keeping any faith in the "stable and consistent legal system" from which AFRINIC chose to reside in order to obtain the benefit, the NRO's resort to the government powers to influence or control the court proceeding seems arbitrary, cynical and a bit arrogant to a sovereignty state. Doing so is of little help to AFRINIC that is subject to the territorial jurisdiction of Mauritius. Doesn't NRO consider that its proactive Letter could make AFRINIC less welcome in local host country? More interestingly, the NRO requests in the letter that the AFRINIC be recognized from Mauritius "as an international organization." Actually, what's requested by the NRO is the legal immunity granted to the legal status of an international organization. However, only Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs) created through multilateral international treaties, like the UN based in New York or World Trade Organization (WTO) based in Geneva, are entitled to the legal status of privileges or immunities based upon the respective founding charters or treaties. AFRINIC, as stated at www.afrinic.net, is a nonprofit and member-based organization registered and operating under the Corporate Legal Frameworks of Mauritius. Irrespective of the NRO's call to recognize AFRINIC as an international organization "as rapidly as possible", obviously, no such international treaty exists at the moment. Before requesting for AFRINIC's legal status of an international organization, the international treaty that can support the NRO's request has to be concluded. Notwithstanding AFRINIC's importance to Africa, including but not limited to providing the services to internet operators, fostering digital culture throughout the region, and supporting regional digital economy, it will inevitably take years for African countries to convene, negotiate and reach an agreement on the treaty for AFRINIC. Actually, very few internet organizations transform into treaty organizations. Most of them remain non-governmental nonprofit organizations. For example, both the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and Internet Engineering Task Force, two most influential global internet organizations, are incorporated under the American laws without any treaty immunity status. Although the pros and cons about the so-called "UN model" has been hotly debated for a couple of years, technical community is largely not keen of transforming into treaty organizations for a variety of reasons. The NRO's request that AFRINIC be recognized as an IGO is an eyebrow-raising move to the internet technical community. Alternatively, Mauritius legislature may extraordinarily enact a special law to grant the legal immunity for AFRINIC. If NRO calls for this approach, it is ironical that the call was made to the Foreign Minister and Attorney General, none of whom has the legislative powers. By all means, transformation of AFRINIC into an international organization either through an international treaty or a special Mauritius law deserves strategic thinking and planning, not just for convenience. Further, should AFRINIC obtain the legal immunity of an international organization, such legal status generally shouldn't be applied retrospectively. In an unlikely scenario that Mauritius government did address this issue "as rapidly as possible" as urged by NRO, it is still highly contentious why AFRINIC should be allowed to resort to the newly-gained legal immunity in the preexisting legal proceeding of a contractual dispute. Since non-retrospective is the commonly-recognized legal principle in the world, NRO's request for AFRINIC's international organization status, no matter successful or not, is unlikely to have any effect on the current court case. Although internet technical organizations origined from North America and Europe, they now commit to function as the steward of critical internet resources in the global public interests. They should keep in mind that mutual respect and trust between the internet organizations and sovereign states in the Global South are very important to the stable operation and development of the internet. NRO's Open Letter not only shows little understanding of the real legal issues in the proceeding but the striking sense of superiority in the post-colonist world. If NRO really wants to ensure AFRINIC "to remain accountable and subject to Mauritian laws", it should contribute to resolve the dispute, not to cause collateral damage." (The author is a professor of law with the Beijing Normal University.) https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202207/1271059.shtml

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[news] RIPE NCC Community Projects Fund 2022
by projectsfund＠ripe.net 21 Jul '22

21 Jul '22

Dear colleagues, I hope you are keeping well. For the sixth year in a row, the RIPE NCC is committing to support activities and projects for 'the good of the Internet'. We are pleased to invite applications for funding from the RIPE NCC Community Projects Fund. Through this initiative, the RIPE NCC distributes up to EUR 250,000 per year to support projects of value to the operation, resilience and sustainability of the Internet, with a focus on tools and services benefitting the technical community in Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. The call for applications is now open: https://www.ripe.net/support/cpf/call-for-applications <https://www.ripe.net/support/cpf/call-for-applications> On Tuesday, 26 July, from 10:00-11:30 UTC, we are organising an Open House with brief presentations from previous fund recipients along with members of the selection committee where you can ask your questions. The session is open to anyone, and if you're interested in applying for project funding or want to learn more, you can register at: https://www.ripe.net/participate/meetings/open-house/ripe-ncc-open-house-co… <https://www.ripe.net/participate/meetings/open-house/ripe-ncc-open-house-co…> If you have any questions, please reach out to me. Kind Regards, Alastair Strachan RIPE NCC

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New on RIPE Labs: Where Did My Packet Go? Measuring the Impact of RPKI ROV
by Alun Davies 19 Jul '22

19 Jul '22

Dear colleagues, Koen van Hove and colleagues recently conducted an experiment to find out what impact RPKI ROV has on whether packets end up in their intended location. Read all about the experiment and its results on RIPE Labs: https://labs.ripe.net/author/koen-van-hove/where-did-my-packet-go-measuring… Best regards, Alun Davies RIPE Labs Editor RIPE NCC

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New RIPE Document: RIPE Task Forces: Definition and Guidelines (ripe-782)
by Niall O'Reilly 14 Jul '22

14 Jul '22

Dear Colleagues, A new RIPE Document, [ripe-782][], "RIPE Task Forces: Definition and Guidelines" has been published at https://www.ripe.net/publications/docs/ripe-782/. This document sets out how RIPE Task Forces are created and how they operate; it updates and expands on the information on RIPE task forces contained in Part II, Chapter 4 of [ripe-464][], the report of the RIPE Enhanced Cooperation Task Force. Mirjam and I would like to thank each of you who gave suggestions, feedback, and editorial support during the preparation of this document. I have tried to acknowledge all of you by name in the document itself, and ask you to pardon any inadvertent omissions. Best regards, Niall O'Reilly RIPE Vice-Chair --- [ripe-782]: https://www.ripe.net/publications/docs/ripe-782/ [ripe-464]: https://www.ripe.net/publications/docs/ripe-464

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Re: [ripe-list] NRS Letter to Global RIR Communities
by Petra.Zeidler＠dlr.de 13 Jul '22

13 Jul '22

Dear list, wow, what an epic collection of muddling the waters, trying to confuse, throwing absurd accusations and summarily lacking good intent. One does get the impression that the concern for AFRINIC isn't baseless. Regards, Petra Zeidler

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NRS Letter to Global RIR Communities
by Zach Benyamïn Bou-Hayat 13 Jul '22

13 Jul '22

Dear Global RIR Communities, It has come to our attention that NRO has released a letter to the Mauritius Government on 12 July, 2022 (NRO Letter to Mauritius Government | The Number Resource Organization <https://www.nro.net/nro-letter-to-mauritius-government/>). The signatories to this letter are Paul Wilson, John Curran, Oscar Robles, Hansa Petter Hollen who wrote to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade and Attorney General of the Republic of Mauritius. NRS is a collective body representing the interest of its members by improving the transparency and accountability of the RIR system and strengthening the principle of the bottom-up approach on which the Internet was founded. We are writing to the global RIR community to outline our very serious concerns about the content and intention of the letter. It makes very serious, unfounded claims and crosses the boundary by attempting to interfere in the internal political, diplomatic and legal matters of a sovereign state. While NRS embraces the importance of RIRs for the Internet, we must also acknowledge the RIRs' status as private companies. This fact means they are bound to relevant regulations in their respective countries and the Rule of Law. It is of grave concern that the Number Resource Organisation has attempted to place pressure on the government of Mauritius to influence the independence of Mauritius' justice system. Their attempt to place political pressure by threatening to relocate AFRINIC from Mauritius is a disgraceful attempt to interfere in the domestic political environment and must be rejected. In this respect, we found the following claims made by the NRO extremely alarming: *"It is our understanding that AFRINIC has repeatedly asked for recognition from Mauritius of it as an international organization. We understand this is both appropriate for AFRINIC to obtain this status, and that if granted, it might lead to more appropriate outcomes which would recognise the critical position AFRINIC plays in the Internet ecosystem, while also ensuring AFRINIC continues to remain accountable and subject to Mauritian laws. Providing AFRINIC this status is consistent with the rule of law and leaves the courts to provide any reasonable check on AFRINIC. We collectively urge you to consider addressing this issue as rapidly as possible, or to take such other actions that may help to preserve and protect the independence of AFRINIC and the stability of the Internet in Africa. We appreciate your consideration of any such steps."* Specifically, we have highlighted to the Government of Mauritius: 1) An attempt of sub-judice and contempt of court by perverting the court of justice. As stated in the NRO's letter, several cases are filed against AFRINIC by its members. The issuance of NRO's statement is an absolute sign of arrogance and ignorance. It is as if the NRO is saying that all the decisions made by the esteemed judges in Mauritius so far are wrong and that the court orders are, in fact, damaging and harmful to the Internet development ecosystem in the African continent. NRO's requests directly interfere with the Mauritian Company Act and Judicial System. It is an attempt of sub-judice and contempt of court by perverting the court of justice. Furthermore, all information related to court cases shall be confidential. Hence, it is extremely alarming that legal files were read by NRO per their statement: *"the legal files are now replete with expert affidavits speaking of unlawful behavior on the part of the litigant." This level of interfering with the judicial system is intolerable. * 2) An attempt to undermine the sovereignty of Mauritius as a country. Mauritius is a country founded on the principle of democracy and the rule of law. The act of asking the Mauritian government to interfere with the judiciary process undermines not only the rule of law, but also the sovereignty and democracy of the country as an independent state. We need to remember that the NRO is neither a state nor a government. It is not even a registered legal entity; hence such a request is exceptionally outrageous, improper, and shameful to the entire RIR Community by assuming the NRO is a state-like body when in fact, it is not. The request is ridiculous as any international lawyer will tell you. The Vienna Convention does not provide for a private company, or officers of a private company to have diplomatic immunity. 3) An attempt to place AFRINIC beyond the scope of the law by granting it diplomatic status AFRINIC, as a registered private company in Mauritius, shall follow the regulations and the rule of law in Mauritius. Accordingly, the matter of AFRINIC shall be left to be judged by the capable hands of the Mauritian judicial system. As stated above, this judicial process should not be interfered with by any external party. NRO's attempt to place AFRINIC beyond the law by giving it diplomatic status as an "international organization" is unjustified. It will be impossible to explain why such a status is granted to AFRINIC while it is just one of the numerous private companies in Mauritius. None of the five RIRs have such status in their respective states, and for a good reason. They are considered law-abiding private companies, nothing more and nothing less. The fact that the NRO is trying to ask an entire nation to give one of its most corrupt members (AFRINIC) diplomatic immunity is appalling. We believe that the global community needs to take this matter seriously. 4) An attempt to break the bottom-up process upon which the RIR system was founded. It is worthwhile to point out that the lawsuits against AFRINIC were made by its own members. Hence, NRO's act: a) Turned a blind eye to the requests made by resource members to protect a corrupt leader within AFRINIC; and b) Forfeited AFRINIC members' rights to reconstitute AFRINIC into a functioning body; Such an act of the NRO hugely undermines the bottom-up principle on which the RIR system was built. Furthermore, the NRO issued a letter as a state-like body while failing to consult the opinion of its members and communities. Accordingly, there is ZERO representation of the community members' interest in the NRO's issued letter. The decision to post the letter without consulting the community is a quintessential example of a top-down approach. Instead of strengthening the RIR's central bottom-up principle, it was disappointing to see that the NRO is violating the RIR's very foundation. NRO's letter is nothing but a desperate attempt to defend a discredited CEO at the cost of eschewing its own principles that have been religiously followed by previous leaders and pioneers in this industry. NRO is profoundly wrong by attempting to place pressure on the Government of Mauritius. Rather than attacking Mauritius, the suspended CEO Eddy Kayihura of AFRINIC, should be asking other Regional Internet Registries to be thanking Mauritius for hosting AFRINIC rather than threatening and interfering in your country's independence. We call for attention from our global communities to assess the gravity of the situation. We ask the global RIR community to join the members of The Number Resources Society call on Paul Wilson, John Curran, Oscar Robles, Hansa Petter Hollen, and Number Resource Organization to withdraw the letter and apologize to the government and people of Mauritius for their actions. They wouldn't dare do it in their home country so why do these individuals think they have a right to attempt to interfere in the legal and democratic principles that govern Mauritius? We believe that the community, the Mauritian judicial system, and the Mauritian government will make the correct and necessary steps for the future of the Internet. In the interest of the global Internet community, NRS has also sent a letter to Mauritius government, you can view it at https://www.nrs.help/post/nrs-letter-to-mauritius-goverment Sincerely, NRS Team

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RIPE85 CfP Now Open!
by Brian Nisbet 11 Jul '22

11 Jul '22

Colleagues, The RIPE Programme Committee (PC) is now seeking content proposals from the RIPE community for the plenary sessions, lightning talks and BoFs. RIPE85 is going to be a hybrid meeting so both in-person and virtual presentations would be accepted and encouraged. The deadline to submit a presentation proposal is Sunday, 21 August 2022. Proposals submitted after this date will only be considered if there are still time slots available. Read more about the CfP and submit your presentation proposal at: https://ripe85.ripe.net/submit-topic/cfp/ More about RIPE85 meeting: https://ripe85.ripe.net/ Regards, Brian (On Behalf of the RIPE Programme Committee) Brian Nisbet (he/him) Service Operations Manager HEAnet CLG, Ireland's National Education and Research Network 1st Floor, 5 George's Dock, IFSC, Dublin D01 X8N7, Ireland +35316609040 brian.nisbet(a)heanet.ie www.heanet.ie Registered in Ireland, No. 275301. CRA No. 20036270

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New on RIPE Labs: The RIPE Chair Team Reports - June 2022
by Mirjam Kuehne 08 Jul '22

08 Jul '22

Dear colleagues, In this new update, we take a look at what's been happening at various meetings we attended over the last few weeks, get into the latest RIPE developments, and update you on preparations for RIPE 85: https://labs.ripe.net/author/mirjam_kuhne/the-ripe-chair-team-reports-june-… Kind regards, Mirjam Kühne RIPE Chair

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