[members-discuss] [comms-circle] Re: [ncc-announce] [GM] Executive Board Meeting to Discuss Charging Scheme Input from Members

Hi Simon,

Thanks for your reply.

I have seen the activity plan brought up before several times, but I've 
not seen anywhere that the membership has been asked to provide input on 
it at all, much less provide any vote for it.

The membership clearly stated last year that they did not agree with the 
charging scheme change, and, from my perspective, during discussions 
stated that the budget was of serious concern and that RIPE should work 
to reduce the budget.

It does not appear that concern was taken seriously, and if I recall 
somewhere in this mailing list I believe someone at RIPE stated that 
reducing services to reduce the budget was not on the table or something 
to that effect. The RIPE leadership and by extension the board simply 
does not appear in-tune with the voice of the members.

  Daniel~

On 5/14/24 7:37 AM, Simon Lockhart wrote:
> On Tue May 14, 2024 at 07:27:57AM -0500, Daniel Pearson wrote:
>> It feels like presenting the membership with a vote that results in the same
>> outcome, is not providing the membership with a genuine choice and feels
>> very manipulative. I'm not an expert on Dutch law at all, but would this
>> charging scheme even stand up to the scrutiny of the legal system there? Can
>> it truly be considered a choice when each choice results in increased fee's
>> and a larger bloated budget for RIPE?
> Yes, because you persist in thinking that this is a vote on what the budget
> should be. It's not. It's a vote on how the budget should be funded.
>
> The budget is set from the activity plan. The activity plan is already set.
>
> Want a lower budget (and thus lower membership fees) in the next cycle? Sure.
> Just persuade the membership that RIPE should drop things from the activity
> plan.
>
> Simon