Final RIPE NCC Charging Schemes for Members to Vote On

Dear all,

We have now published the final RIPE NCC Charging Scheme 2025 options that will be voted on by members at the General Meeting on 22-24 May. These can be viewed at:
https://www.ripe.net/gm/meetings/may-2024/supporting-documents

The outcome is that we propose three charging schemes for the membership to choose from:

Model A: LIR fee increase 22.58% (projected income: EUR 41.1M)
Model B: LIR fee increase 20.97%, Independent Internet Number Resource Fee Increase 50% (projected income: EUR 41.1M)
Model C: LIR fee increase 16.13%, Independent Internet Number Resource Fee Increase 50%, addition of an ASN fee (projected income: EUR 41.1M)

All models are based on the existing “one LIR, one fee” approach. The overall goal for the Board in proposing these models is to ensure that we have stability in the short term so we can fulfill the commitments of the RIPE NCC Strategy 2022-2026. And while we do this, we are committed to fully reviewing the charging scheme model in order to arrive at a more sustainable model that will meet the needs of the RIPE NCC membership well into the future.

We have closely followed the discussion on the members-discuss mailing list, and we thank all who provided input there. We received over 300 mails from approximately 80 people during the discussions, and we recognise that there is a desire from most of those people to have a different model that differentiates fees based on resource holdings. However, we do not believe that this is the right year to change the existing model.

The Board has started the process of carrying out a full review of the RIPE NCC’s funding and governance structures so that there can be a stable and sustainable funding model for the organisation. Our Board colleague, Remco, kicked this off with his article on RIPE Labs that starts the conversation with members and community about the issues we need to address and how we should go about doing that. Remco will also present on this topic at the upcoming RIPE 88 Meeting, and we hope you will participate at that time. His article is at:
https://labs.ripe.net/author/remco-van-mook/building-a-stable-future-for-the-ripe-ncc/

The Board does not want to make fundamental changes to our charging model while we are starting work to revamp our entire governance and funding structures. To make dramatic changes now, while we are likely to make big changes in the coming year or two, does not seem worthwhile or appropriate at this time, and it might make the job of properly reviewing our structures much more difficult.

We understand that this will frustrate those who have argued vigorously for change this year. However, the Board has a responsibility to look after the long-term health of the organisation and we believe strongly that this is the way to do it. We encourage members to continue discussions on the mailing list, and also to contribute to the wider discussions on the long-term future of the RIPE NCC. We will also present on this topic at the General Meeting, where we expect to hear more input from members on the longer-term measures we need to take.

In the meantime, we have tried to provide meaningful options for you to consider, and now we pass the responsibility to you, the membership. We ask that you take on this responsibility by registering to vote and participating in the General Meeting.

Register to Vote:
https://my.ripe.net/#/meetings/active

Regards,

Ondřej Filip
RIPE NCC Executive Board Chair

Raymond Jetten
RIPE NCC Executive Board Treasurer