The IXI/EMPB access point serving the RIPE NCC has been taken out of service last week. Since there have been a number of misunderstandings about the consequences of this, here are some clarifications: 1) This has no consequences whatsoever to the Internet (IP) connectivity of the NCC. If you where concerned about that, read no further. 2) The only service affected by this is the PAD (XXX, X.25) access to the Interactive Information Server directly from IXI/EMPB. IXI/EMPB access to the IIS was a convenience service outside the RIPE NCC core services. There are currently no efforts underway to restore it. 3) The Interactive Information Server is still reachable from the public X.25 networks (PPSDN) at (0)204129004331. This also makes it technically still reachable for IXI/EMPB subscribers, albeit at the additional expense of PPSDN charges for which many users are not authorised. 4) The IIS is of course still accessible from the Internet by telnetting to info.ripe.net. 5) The NCC was notified about the actual cut-off only at the date it happened. That the cutoff whould happen had however been announced a long time in advance and has been reported in the NCC Quarterly Reports and at RIPE meetings. Regards Daniel Karrenberg RIPE NCC Manager