[ncc-announce] [news] Executive Board Resolution on Legacy Internet Resource Holders

Dear Colleagues,

The Executive Board has instructed the RIPE NCC to temporarily restrict
the ability of Legacy Internet Resource Holders to become RIPE NCC
members or open LIR accounts in their capacity as Legacy Internet
Resource Holders. This decision was taken at last week's Executive Board
meeting in Amsterdam.

Since the policy “RIPE NCC Services to Legacy Internet Resources” was
implemented in 2014, the RIPE NCC has waived the EUR 2,000 sign-up fee
for Legacy Internet Resource Holders who choose to enter into a
contractual relationship with the RIPE NCC. It now seems that some
entities have started obtaining very small blocks of legacy IPv4
resources (in some cases as little as a /29) and using this to open an
LIR account and obtain an IPv4 /22 allocation without having to pay the
sign-up fee.

The board feels that this is against the spirit in which this fee was
waived and gives an unfair advantage to these entities. Removing this
cost barrier could also result in faster depletion of the IPv4 pool that
the RIPE community has reserved for newcomers. We will therefore be
adding this to the agenda of the upcoming General Meeting (GM) that will
take place on 26 October. We will also put forward a resolution for the
membership to vote on to address this problem. As the board anticipates
an increase in these kinds of requests ahead of the GM, we felt it was
necessary to apply this temporary restriction until a proper solution
can be applied.

It is important to note that despite this temporary restriction, Legacy
Internet Resource Holders may continue to register their resources:
- By becoming a RIPE NCC member (without using their capacity as Legacy
Internet Resource Holders to receive the sign-up fee waiver)
- Under an existing LIR account
- Through a sponsoring LIR
- By entering into a direct agreement with the RIPE NCC

The board encourages the membership to discuss this matter on the
<members-discuss at ripe.net> mailing list. You can also contact the board
directly at <exec-board at ripe.net>.

Best regards,

Nigel Titley
RIPE NCC Executive Board Chairman