Keep the Internet Open ====================== Appeal of the European Network Engineers ---------------------------------------- We have worked hard to keep the Internet available in Europe and surrounding areas during the Covid pandemic. The Internet infrastructure is essential for the safety, security and well-being of all people living here. Due to the growing international tensions in this part of the world we hear calls to deliberately harm interconnections and the functioning of the network. We realise that the Internet is being used for purposes that many of us deplore. However this cannot be a reason to harm the infrastructure itself and prevent the good and often essential things that depend on it. We urge everyone to consider this carefully and not only refrain from harming the operation and interconnection but to actively work to keep the Internet running and maintain interconnections with all parts of our region. In particular we call on all governments and everyone involved with the governance of the Internet to do everything they can to enable us to keep the Internet infrastructure operational throughout the RIPE region. We will do our part as well as we can. <Signatures> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The purpose of this appeal is to influence everyone considering actions that would make it harder for us to keep the Internet running. In particular it is intended to provide guidance and support to Internet governance bodies like the RIPE NCC. It will only work if many individuals sign up to it publicly. Individuals considered close to the current conflicts will have special weight here! You can sign this appeal by mailing a signature line of the form Name, Place, Countrycode to <sign@keepitopen.net>. Please add a very short statement why you consider yourself a network engineer. Choose the place that best describes who you are; you do not have to be there right now. We will only publish the signature line and nothing else. We will delete your e-mail messages as soon as they are processed. Signatures will start to be published when we have collected at least 256 originating from throughout the region. We will start publicising this appeal once we have at least 1024 signatures. [Please spread the word.](https://keepitopen.net) Thank you for your support! Daniel Karrenberg, Roermond, NL