<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><div style="direction: inherit;">Oh, that's where the "we are not the document police" refrain comes in very useful as an expression of support.</div> --srs</div><div> On 17-Aug-2016, at 4:16 PM, Ronald F. Guilmette <<a href="mailto:rfg@tristatelogic.com">rfg@tristatelogic.com</a>> wrote: </div><blockquote type="cite"><div> In message <<a href="mailto:ADC89954-A8EE-4304-B4BC-74B12E74C58D@gmail.com">ADC89954-A8EE-4304-B4BC-74B12E74C58D@gmail.com</a>>, Suresh Ramasubramanian <<a href="mailto:ops.lists@gmail.com">ops.lists@gmail.com</a>> wrote: <blockquote type="cite">There was this little kerfuffle some years back </blockquote><blockquote type="cite"> </blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/174651/article.html">http://www.pcworld.com/article/174651/article.html</a> </blockquote> Thanks LOTS Suresh! I didn't know anthing about this till now, but this write-up is absolutely the funniest thing I've read all year so far, although the parts I think are hilarious are probably not the same ones that other people think are hilarious. Examples: RIPE contends it was duped and that at the time, it was impossible to tell that the front company wasn't legitimate. What's the expression? "Either lead, follow, or get out of the f***ing way." If RIPE NCC is unable to tell if a company is real or not, perhaps they should farm out this part of their duties to a more experienced third- party subcontractor. (I'm available. :-) That essentially made RIPE part of a money laundering operation... And here we are, 7 years later, and this has changed how, exactly? RIPE does take measure to vet new applicants, but in the case of RBN, "it's quite difficult to find those people if they are hidden behind those shell companies and fake fronts," For some reason this reminds me of those child psychology experiments where researchers try to figure out at what age, on average, children begin to grasp the fact that when a ball is moved so that it is behind a visual barrier, it doesn't actually and physically disappear forever. Regards, rfg </div></blockquote></body></html>