Minutes 89th Executive Board Meeting

Minutes 89th RIPE NCC Executive Board Meeting

25 June 2013, 1300-1700, RIPE NCC Offices Amsterdam

Attendees:

• Dmitry Burkov, ICANN Liaison
• Christian Kaufmann, Secretary
• Nigel Titley, Chairman
• Remco Van Mook, Treasurer
• János Zsakó, Adviser
• Rob Blokzijl, RIPE Chairman, RIPE
• Sabine Mader, Assistant to the Managing Director, RIPE NCC
• Axel Pawlik, Managing Director, RIPE NCC
• Paul Rendek, Director of External Relations, RIPE NCC
• Jochem de Ruig, Chief Financial Officer, RIPE NCC

Apologies:

Fahad AlShirawi, Member

Agenda

1. Agenda / Comments (1300-1315)

1.1 Apologies, New Agenda Points

1.2 Approval of Previous Minutes, EB#87, #88

1.3 Date of Next Meetings

• 2 September 2013, venue APNIC meeting, China tbc
• 14 & 16 October 2013, informal meetings during RIPE-67, Athens
• December 2013, date tbc, RIPE NCC offices, Amsterdam

1.4 Conference attendance by Executive Board

2. Remaining Outstanding Actions, not covered by agenda (1315-1330)

3. Report from the RIPE NCC (1330-1400)

3.1 Financials

3.1.1 Financial status

3.1.2 Treasury//

3.2 Legal

3.2.1 Organisational documents

4. RIPE NCC General Meeting (1400-1430)

4.1 General Meeting May

4.2 Draft Minutes RIPE NCC General Meeting 15-16 May 2013

4.3 Format of the 2^nd General Meeting of the year

4.4 Changes to Articles of Association regarding the RIPE NCC Board

5. Directions 2014 (1430-1530)

5.1 Format RIPE NCC Activity Plan 2014 and RIPE NCC Budget 2014

5.2 Financial Forecast 2013-2015

5.3. Resolutions RIPE NCC Budget 2013

6. External Relations (1530-1600)

6.1 ICANN / IANA

6.2 NRO / RIRs

6.3 ITU

6.4 RIPE

6.4.1 General Review RIPE-66 Dublin

6.4.2 Discuss the impact analysis of the ‘No need – Post Depletion Reality Adjustment and Cleanup'

6.5 IETF

7. AOB (1600-1615)

7.1 Historic allocations made in Russia

7.2 Admin Issues

Nigel Titley, RIPE NCC Chairman, opened the meeting at 13:15

1. Agenda / Comments (1300-1315)

1.1 Apologies, New Agenda Points

Apologies were received from Fahad AlShirawi, who was not present at the Executive Board meeting.

Nigel asked the Board members if they had any additional agenda items to add.

Axel suggested that the Board discuss the impact analysis for policy proposal 2013-03 “No Need – Post Depletion Reality Adjustment and Cleanup” in agenda 6.4

Dmitry suggested adding an agenda topic under AOB to discuss and resolve historic allocations made in Russia.

Nigel suggested that the Board discuss the number of members in the RIPE NCC Executive Board. It was agreed to discuss this in agenda item 4.4.

No further agenda items were brought forward.

1.2 Approval of Previous Minutes, EB#87, #88

No comment was brought forward on the previous minutes; the Board approved the minutes of Executive Board Meeting #87 & #88.

1.3 Date of Next Meetings

• 27 August 2013, venue APNIC meeting, Xi'an, China.
• 14 & 16 October 2013, meetings at RIPE-67, Athens.
• December 2013, date tbc, RIPE NCC offices, Amsterdam

1.4 Conference attendance by Executive Board

Nigel asked for the Board to submit their plans for the coming year of events. This will be reviewed by RIPE NCC to ensure that we have good representation and spread through relevant events.

2. Remaining Outstanding Actions, not covered by agenda (1315-1330)

a) Completed

EB247 26/03/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to prepare a DB Proxy Service contract for their review and approval.

Status 25/06/2013: DONE

EB249 26/03/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to prepare a message for the RIPE NCC services WG list to explain the Board decision on future development of RPKI. It was agreed that Nigel would send the message.

Status 25/06/2013: DONE

EB251 26/03/2013 AP

The Board tasked Axel to publish the amendments to the Arbitration Panel for their review.

The Board will discuss this further after the Arbitration Panel has concluded its review.

Status 25/06/2013: DONE. The document has been sent to the Arbitration Panel, awaiting feedback from the Panel.

ACTION (new:EB256): Axel to provide the Board with the results of the Arbitration Panel review.

EB253 26/03/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to propose a Charging Scheme for the upcoming General Meeting with a fixed fee as well as the EUR 50 charge for PI space.

Status 25/06/2013: DONE

EB254 26/03/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to approach ICANN and ask whether they will be distributing the IANA function throughout the planned regional offices.

Status 25/06/2013: DONE

EB255 26/03/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to send the Board the un-aggregated response figures of the 2012 RIPE NCC staff survey.

Status 25/06/2013: DONE

b) In progress

EB235 08/12/2011 RM & CK

Remco and Christian agreed to closely cooperate with Daniel to prepare future project plans for RIPE ATLAS.

Status 8/03/2012: ONGOING, a meeting has been held. Deliverables are expected.

Status 14/06/2012: ONGOING, Remco and Christian will review the information provided by the RIPE NCC and suggest a way of moving forward.

Status 02/08/2012: ONGOING

Status 29/11/2012: ONGOING – Remco and Christian agreed to contact Daniel to coordinate a meeting.

Status 26/03/2013: ONGOING

Status 25/06/2013: ONGOING– As the RIPE ATLAS project has recently been handed over to Kaveh; Remco and Christian agreed to review the future project plans with him in 2 month's time.

EB246 08/03/2012 AP

RIPE NCC will hand over the secretariat support for the financial accounts of MENOG by July 2012. The RIPE NCC will coordinate this with the MENOG Chairman.

Status 14/06/2012: ONGOING, expected to meet the target deadline.

Status 02/08/2012: The RIPE NCC is awaiting the MENOG Chairman's signature. IN PROGRESS

Status 29/11/2012: IN PROGRESS - Paul and Fahad to speak to Osama and suggest a way forward for the MENOG accounts. The Board asked for a proposal by the MENOG 12 Meeting.

Status 26/03/2013: ONGOING

Status 25/06/2013: ONGOING – The Board decided that if the MENOG funds are not taken by MENOG by the end of August 2013, the funds will be added to and reported in the RIPE NCC financial administration.

EB248 26/03/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to investigate ICANN contingency plans and to incorporate the relevant aspects into the reply letter to the tax authorities. The Board asked Axel to liaise with Remco for the final approval of the text.

Status 25/06/2013: ONGOING, the text document was sent to Remco with a request for comments and approval. Jochem and Remco will schedule a meeting with the fiscal advisors to finalise the letter for the Dutch tax authorities.

EB250 26/03/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to report on the progress of improving efficiency and integration of (legacy) systems at the upcoming Board meeting in June.

Status 25/06/2013: DONE

EB252 26/03/2013 AP

The Board requested that Axel report back after the interim audit Q3/Q4 2013 based on the action points raised by the auditors in the 2012 management letter.

Status 25/06/2013: ONGOING

3. Report from the RIPE NCC (1330-1400)

Axel mentioned that regarding changes made recently to the RIPE DB software, a member has contacted the RIPE NCC and complained about these changes causing operational problems. Axel reported that he is coordinating with the member as well as the DB Working Group chairs, to collect information to see how to resolve this issue.

Axel stated that there was nothing further to add to the report previously published to the Board. The Board thanked Axel and his team for their reports to the Board in the informal meeting held prior to the Executive Board meeting.

3.1 Financials

3.1.1 Financial status

3.1.2 Treasury

Jochem and Remco referred the Board to the document on liquidity management. After discussion the Board unanimously agreed the following resolution:

EB#89-R-01:

"The RIPE NCC Executive Board adopts the resolution to change the authorisation procedure for transferring from deposits so that one board member can authorise the transfer. The Board approved the updating of the Treasury Statute in accordance with this change."

3.2 Legal

3.2.1 Organisational documents

The Board briefly discussed the Transparency Report. The Board asked that the document be more clear in the next version by reviewing and simplifying the language used in the document. The following resolution was unanimously agreed:

EB#89-R-02:

"The RIPE NCC Executive Board adopts the ‘Transparency Report 2012 – LEA Requests Report 2012' and tasks the RIPE NCC Management with publishing the improved version as a RIPE document".

4. RIPE NCC General Meeting (1400-1430)

4.1 General Meeting May

There was a brief discussion about the current and future levels of RIPE NCC financial reserves. The Board concluded that any further decisions would be deferred until the RIPE NCC has concluded its discussions with the Dutch tax authorities.

4.2 Draft Minutes RIPE NCC General Meeting 15-16 May 2013

The Board reviewed the General Meeting minutes and asked that they be published on the RIPE NCC website.

4.3 Format of the 2nd General Meeting of the year

Axel suggested a change of the format of his presentation in the second General Meeting scheduled in October 2013.

ACTION EB257: The Board asked Axel to prepare the format of his presentation in the General Meeting to be discussed during the morning session of the RIPE NCC Board meeting on 27 August 2013.

4.4 Changes to Articles of Association regarding the RIPE NCC Board

Nigel reported that for years the RIPE NCC Board has been comprised of 5 individuals. Since that time, the membership has grown significantly as has the amount of work expected from a RIPE NCC Board member. The heavier workload comes from an increased number of activities carried out by the RIPE NCC as well as increased regional representation and more specialised resources needed within the Board.

After discussion, the Board agreed that an increase to a maximum of 7 Board positions would be appropriate. Nigel recommended that this proposal be brought forward to the membership at the upcoming RIPE NCC General Meeting in October 2013.

At the same time, the Board also recommended removing the requirement to have one candidate more than the number of vacant positions for Board elections.

ACTION EB258: The Board asked Axel to prepare a resolution for the upcoming RIPE NCC General Meeting to update the Articles of Association and include it as a formal agenda item in the upcoming General Meeting.

5. Directions 2014

5.1 Format RIPE NCC Activity Plan 2014 and RIPE NCC Budget 2014

The Board examined the proposed format of the Activity Plan 2014 and Budget 2014 based on a proposal prepared by the RIPE NCC management which enhances the transparency in direction of each activity. The following resolution was unanimously agreed:

EB#89-R-03:

"The RIPE NCC Executive Board agrees with the proposed augmentation of the AP/Budget 2014, including labelling key activities as "New Activity", "Expanding", "Ongoing", "Scaling Down", and "Planned Ending" and tasks the RIPE NCC Management with working out the detailed AP/Budget 2014.”

5.2 Financial Forecast 2013-2015

The Board discussed the financial forecast 2013-2015, areas of efficiency and the overall FTE count in the operations of the RIPE NCC. The Board was pleased to see that the cost per member is continuously decreasing.

ACTION EB259: A revised financial forecast 2013-2015 with explanations of expenses will be sent to the Executive Board.

5.3. Resolutions RIPE NCC Budget 2013

Two resolutions were presented to the Board for additional resources to be used in 2013. Proposals were made for the expansion of RIPE NCC regional representation and for addressing the issues associated with internal legacy systems.

The Board approved the following resolutions unanimously:

EB#89-R-04:

"The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the proposed regional expansion plans including the additional budget needed in 2013 to execute these plans. A full review will take place in accordance with the budget review in 2015."

EB#89-R-05:

"The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the proposed plan to eliminate internal legacy systems including the additional budget of 100,000 EUR needed in 2013 to execute these plans."

The Board instructed the RIPE NCC to move forward with proposed plans for both activities.

6. External Relations (1530-1600)

6.1 ICANN / IANA

Dmitry provided the Board with an update of topical ICANN activities that are relevant for the RIPE NCC.

The Board agreed to monitor the work being carried out between the LEAs with regards to the DNS Whois.

6.2 NRO / RIRs

Axel provided a brief update of NRO activities.

6.3 ITU

Paul provided an update of ITU activities where RIPE NCC is active. It was stated that the RIPE NCC would draft a formal submission for the ITU-CWG due 1 August 2013 in response to the contribution made by Saudi Arabia.

He also stated that the RIPE NCC would start working with the other RIRs and industry partners to prepare for the ITU Plenipotentiary 2015.

6.4 RIPE

6.4.1 General Review RIPE-66 Dublin

The Board reported that they were very pleased with the RIPE 66 meeting.

Axel reported that the RIPE NCC is looking at the cost of the RIPE Meeting fees and will propose to drop the early payment discount. In addition, it is proposed to drop the RIPE Dinner fee from 70 EUR to 50 EUR. The Board supported the suggestions.

6.4.2 Discuss the impact analysis of the ‘No need – Post Depletion Reality Adjustment and Cleanup'

The Board reviewed their contribution to the impact analysis regarding the policy proposal 2013-03 “No Need – Post Depletion Reality Adjustment and Clean up”.

After discussions in the Board, “no needs” for transfers of IPv4 addresses was seen as a departure from the longstanding RIR resource allocation principles. The Board took note of the opinion of the legal advisor on the effects of EU competition law but felt that if “needs based” is retained on everything except transfers of IPv4 space they see limited exposure for the RIPE NCC if the proposal were accepted.

ACTION EB260: The Board asked Axel to provide an updated version of the impact analysis on the “No Need” policy for their approval.

6.5 IETF

Axel reported that the IETF has approached the RIPE NCC to cooperate in Internet governance meetings. The Board stated that they support collaborative work in the area of Internet governance with the IAB/IETF.

7. AOB

7.1 Historic Allocations made in Russia

In the early days of service provision in Russia many Russian networks experienced difficulty doing business outside Russia and as a result an organisation (ROSNIIROS) acted as a registry in Russia. Address allocations were given to many new networks by ROSNIIROS to organisations in Russia at the time. The space is currently in use by these organisations but they would like to move the addresses away from ROSNIIROS administration, as the addresses were considered to be independent even though registered through ROSNIIROS.

After discussion the Board determined that administration of IP addresses given to ROSNIIROS and re-allocated to its end users is seen as an administration correction and are not subject to the RIPE transfer policies.

ACTION EB261: The Board tasks the RIPE NCC Management to contact ROSNIIROS and correct the administrative issue.

7.2 Admin Issues

The Chairman thanked the RIPE NCC and the Board members and closed the meeting at 17:00 (UTC+2).

Outstanding Action Items:

EB235 08/12/2011 RM & CK

Remco and Christian agreed to closely cooperate with Daniel to prepare future project plans for RIPE ATLAS.

Status 8/03/2012: ONGOING, a meeting has been held. Deliverables are expected.

Status 14/06/2012: ONGOING, Remco and Christian will review the information provided by the RIPE NCC and suggest a way of moving forward.

Status 02/08/2012: ONGOING

Status 29/11/2012: ONGOING – Remco and Christian agreed to contact Daniel to coordinate a meeting.

Status 26/03/2013: ONGOING

Status 25/06/2013: ONGOING– As the RIPE ATLAS project has recently been handed over to Kaveh; Remco and Christian agreed to review the future project plans with him in 2 month's time.

EB246 08/03/2012 AP

RIPE NCC will hand over the secretariat support for the financial accounts of MENOG by July 2012. The RIPE NCC will coordinate this with the MENOG Chairman.

Status 14/06/2012: ONGOING, expected to meet the target deadline.

Status 02/08/2012: The RIPE NCC is awaiting the MENOG Chairman's signature. IN PROGRESS

Status 29/11/2012: IN PROGRESS - Paul and Fahad to speak to Osama and suggest a way forward for the MENOG accounts. The Board asked for a proposal by the MENOG 12 Meeting.

Status 26/03/2013: ONGOING

Status 25/06/2013: ONGOING – The Board decided that if the MENOG funds are not taken by MENOG by the end of August 2013, the funds will be added to and reported in the RIPE NCC financial administration.

EB248 26/03/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to investigate ICANN contingency plans and to incorporate the relevant aspects into the reply letter to the tax authorities. The Board asked Axel to liaise with Remco for the final approval of the text.

Status 25/06/2013: ONGOING, the text document was sent to Remco with request for comments and approval. Jochem and Remco will schedule a meeting with the fiscal advisors to finalise the letter for the Dutch tax authorities.

EB252 26/03/2013 AP

The Board requested that Axel report back after the interim audit Q3/Q4 2013 based on the action points raised by the auditors in the 2012 management letter.

Status 25/06/2013: ONGOING

New Action Items:

EB256 25/06/2013 AP

Axel to provide the Board with the results of the Arbitration Panel review.

EB257 25/06/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to prepare the format of his presentation in the General Meeting to be discussed during the morning session of the RIPE NCC Board meeting on 27 August 2013.

EB258 25/06/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to prepare a resolution for the upcoming RIPE NCC General Meeting to update the Articles of Association and include it as a formal agenda item in the upcoming General Meeting.

EB259 25/06/2013 AP

A revised financial forecast 2013-2015 with explanations of expenses will be sent to the Executive Board.

EB260 25/06/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to provide an updated version of the impact analysis on the “No Need” policy for their approval.

EB261 25/06/2013 AP

The Board tasks the RIPE NCC Management to contact ROSNIIROS and correct the administrative issue.

Resolutions:

EB#89-R-01:

"The RIPE NCC Executive Board adopts the resolution to change the authorisation procedure for transferring from deposits so that one board member can authorise the transfer. The Board approved the updating of the Treasury Statute in accordance with this change."

EB#89-R-02:

"The RIPE NCC Executive Board adopts the ‘Transparency Report 2012 – LEA Requests Report 2012' and tasks the RIPE NCC Management with publishing the improved version as a RIPE document".

EB#89-R-03:

The RIPE NCC Executive Board agrees with the proposed augmentation of the AP/Budget 2014, including labelling key activities as "New Activity", "Expanding", "Ongoing", "Scaling Down", and "Planned Ending" and tasks the RIPE NCC Management with working out the detailed AP/Budget 2014.

EB#89-R-04:

The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the proposed regional expansion plans including the additional budget needed in 2013 to execute these plans. A full review will take place in accordance with the budget review in 2015.

EB#89-R-05:

The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the proposed plan to eliminate internal legacy systems including the additional budget of 100,000 EUR needed in 2013 to execute these plans.