RIPE NCC comments on new IANA drafts published on September 17th

RIPE NCC Statement on the Draft Articles and Bylaws 
for the new IANA as published on September 17th 1998 

Amsterdam, September 18th 1998

The RIPE NCC executive board,representing the RIPE NCC membership, has
considered the draft articles and bylaws for the new IANA published
jointly by NSI and the IANA on September 17th.  We note that there are a
considerable number of substantive changes from those previous draft
documents published by the IANA which we publicly supported as the basis
for further development.  Given the number and the substance of the
changes there has been insufficient time for due consideration and
consultation.  Yet the authors of the latest drafts indicate that they
wish to proceed 'within a day or two'. 

      With this in mind we have to state now that at this time 
      the RIPE NCC cannot support the current drafts or commit 
      to participate in a new IANA constituted by them.

We need sufficient time to consider all the changes and in particular:

- Codifying in the bylaws that the new IANA will a-priori 
respect arrangements between third parties without any knowledge of
them.  This requires careful consideration because of the far reaching
implications such arrangements may have on the new IANA.  (IV/1d)

- We need to understand and consider the material consequences  of 
art IV/1e in order to determine whether it is acceptable. 

- We are still concerned about the room for interpretation
in art V/6 and would like to see a stronger requirement of diversity
than allowing 50% of the board to be from one region.

- We need to understand and consider the far-reaching repercussions 
of codifying, at this stage, aspects of a possible membership structure
that previously were left for the Initial Board to define and implement.
In this context we also need to re-evaluate the fact that the board
members nominated by the supporting organisations have no say at all in
how it is implemented (V/4b/iv V/9c). 

- We need to understand the reasons and the material consequences
of the weakening of the language in VI/c which now speaks of
recommendations by the supporting organisations to the board. 

- We need to get clarification that the change in wording of art III/2
does not now imply that minutes of supporting organisation bodies have
to be approved by the Board of the new IANA. 

- We need to fully understand and consider the consequences of the
changes made to the requirements for supporting organisations,
especially VI/2 and VI/3b.  In the area of the address supporting
organisation the participation of individuals and individual
organisations currently happens at the local and regional levels.  
We need to understand whether the bylaws allow for this practice to
continue or if they constrain the supporting organisations sufficiently
to require changes in these structures.  We stress that we have no issue 
with the added openness requirements. 

We will work to resolve the remaining issues with all parties concerned
as soon as possible.  The upcoming series of RIPE and related meetings
in Edinburgh between September 21st and 25th will provide a good opportunity 
to make progress in our geographical area.

We urge all concerned not to proceed with the current proposal before
these concerns are addressed and we have had the opportunity to ensure
that the RIPE NCC can participate fully in the new IANA.  In the
meantime the current IANA should continue to function and provide its
services to us.  We are willing to immediately and unilaterally 
contribute US$ 50k towards the operational costs of the current IANA 
after September 30th.