Minutes 167th Executive Board Meeting

28 June 2023, Amsterdam


Author:	Daniella Coutinho
Date:	2023/07/03
Status:	Final

Attendees:

Ondřej Filip (OF), Chair
Maria Häll (MH), Member
Raymond Jetten (RJ), Treasurer
Remco van Mook (RvM), Member
Job Snijders (JS), Member
Piotr Strzyżewski (PS), Secretary
Harald A. Summa (SU), Member
Mirjam Kühne (MK), RIPE Chair
Daniella Coutinho (DC), Executive Assistant, RIPE NCC
Fergal Cunningham (FC), Head of Membership Engagement, RIPE NCC
Athina Fragkouli (AF), Chief Legal Officer, RIPE NCC
Simon-Jan Haytink (SJH), Chief Finance Officer, RIPE NCC (topic 3-7)
Hans Petter Holen (HPH), Managing Director, RIPE NCC
Hisham Ibrahim (HI), Chief Community Officer, RIPE NCC (topic 3-7), attending remotely
Eleonora Petridou (EP), Chief Information and Security Officer, RIPE NCC (topic 3)
Felipe Victolla Silveira (FVS), Chief Operations Officer, RIPE NCC (topic 3)
Carolien Vos (CV), HR Director, RIPE NCC (topic 3)

Apologies:

Christian Kaufmann (CK), Outgoing Member

1. Welcome and agenda

The Chair opened the meeting at 10:14 and welcomed everyone, especially new Board member Harald A. Summa. Further he congratulated Maria Häll and Raymond Jetten on their re-election.

The Board is looking forward to working with each other.

1.1 Apologies, new agenda points

The Chair noted all members of the current RIPE NCC Executive Board (the Board) were present. Outgoing Board member Christian Kaufmann was also invited, as is customary with leaving Board members. He however sent his apologies. The Board thanked Christian for all the work he has done for the RIPE NCC and the Board.

One item was added to the agenda under AOB - Recognised IPv4 Brokers list.

1.2 Approval of minutes

Resolution EB#167-R-01
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the minutes of EB#165 and EB#166.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

1.3 Conflict of Interest

None of the Board members noted a conflict of interest regarding the topics on the agenda.

1.4 Dates of next meetings

TBC 13-14 October 2023, Dubai
25 November 2023 - Joint APNIC Board meeting, Rome
26 November 2023, Board meeting ahead of RIPE 87, Rome
29 Nov-1 Dec 2023, RIPE NCC General Meeting, Rome
13-14 December 2023, Amsterdam

1.5 Conference Calendar

The Board discussed upcoming meetings and conferences of the RIPE NCC and the industry, and they agreed on who would be attending which event. Hans Petter Holen noted the request for Board attendance at regional meetings of the RIPE NCC.

1.6 Action list review

Ongoing action items

Action EBD437 / 14/03/2022 / SJH
To evaluate the current treasury statute and propose a new version with more flexible options to invest by the Board meeting in June.

Status 30/06/2022: Ongoing. On agenda of EB#159 at topic 4.2. SJH will use the provided feedback to update the proposals.

Status 26/09/2022: Ongoing. A separate meeting of the Treasury Project group takes place on 29/09/2022. Afterwards the Board will be updated.

Status 14/12/2022: Ongoing. Discussed at EB#163, topic 4.3. SJH will plan further meetings to work out details for the suggested options.

Status 23/03/2023: Ongoing, a new investment partner has been selected that will adjust the current treasury statute to remove inefficiencies and mitigate (unintended) risks, using a very conservative approach.

Status 28/06/2023: On the agenda of EB#167, topic 3.1

Action EBD444 / 26/09/2022 / AF
To make the amendments that were the outcome of the analysis of the Standard Service Agreement and LIR Account Agreement as presented during EB#160 and inform the Executive Board when the amendments are made.

Status 14/12/2022: Ongoing. The amendments will be discussed at the next Executive Board meeting.

Status 23/03/2023: Ongoing, discussed at EB#165, topic 7.4. All adjustments apart from the typo in the Arbitration Procedure have been made.

Status 28/06/2023: Done. The typo will be adjusted when the Arbitration Procedure gets updated after the upcoming Arbiters meeting.

Action EBD445 / 26/09/2022 / FVS
To give an overview of the amount of online stored historic data of our services and discuss retention.

Status 14/12/2022: Ongoing. The overview of historic data will be given at the next Executive Board meeting.

Status 23/03/2023: Ongoing. The overview of historic data is still to be shared.

Status 28/06/2023: Ongoing. The overview of historic data is still to be shared.

Action EBD447 / 15/12/2022 / HPH
The Board asked the Managing Director to provide a detailed plan and make preparations for setting up a legal entity in Dubai fully owned by the RIPE NCC.

Status 23/03/2023: Discussed at EB#165, topic 7.1. Athina Fragkouli presented the requirements for the new entity and the Board asked to move forward with the proposed structure.

Status 28/06/2023: On the agenda of EB#167, topic 5.5.

Action EBD449 / 23/03/2023 / SJH
To make further calculations to the different charging scheme models as discussed with the Board during EB#165 and share the calculations with the Board by 5 April 2023 at the latest.

Status 28/03/2023: Done. Calculations have been shared as requested after EB#165 and ahead of the Charging Scheme discussion at the General Meeting May 2023 .

1.7 Roles Executive Board

After the Executive Board Elections in May, the Board reconsidered the different roles and other assignments and agreed to the following distribution:

Chair, Ondřej Filip
Secretary, Piotr Strzyżewski
Treasurer, Raymond Jetten
Board liaison to RIPE NomCom, Remco van Mook
NRO EC Meeting Observer, Remco van Mook
Academia and NRENs, Maria Häll
Selection committee for the RIPE NCC Community Project Fund, Job Snijders

The website has been updated accordingly to reflect the changes.

2. Report from the MD

Hans Petter Holen shared his report with the Board. He focused on the recruitment of the Chief Registry Officer and the status of Objectives and Key results 2023. Further, the Integrated Risk Management report of June 2023 was discussed and the strategy review for 2024.

3. Finance

3.1 Treasury Project

Following the approval of the selection of an investment partner to manage the investment portfolio of the RIPE NCC during EB#165 in March 2023, Simon-Jan Haytink shared the proposed contract and treasury statute and explained the details. The investment partner provides its services via UBS Luxembourg. It is therefore advised to open a bank account with UBS to be able to make use of the integrated services regarding reporting and investment transactions. The Board reviewed the documents and agreed to the content.

Resolution EB#167-R-02
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the updated Treasury Statute June 2023.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

Resolution EB#167-R-03
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the selection of UBS Luxembourg as a counterparty in compliance with the updated Treasury Statute June 2023.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

3.2 Financial update May 2023

Simon-Jan Haytink presented the financial results up to May 2023. Income and expenditures are slightly under budget, and the applications of new LIR accounts are lower than expected. The Board noted it would be good to find a solution for invoicing members in Ultra High Risk countries and sanctioned members. Anticipating a tighter budget in the second half of 2023 and in 2024, Simon-Jan shared possible savings per area. Furthermore, the Board was informed about a new Travel Management Company that is contracted. The travel costs will be paid using a Business Travel Account with American Express.

Resolution EB#167-R-04
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the selection of American Express Europe S.A. as a counterparty.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

3.3 Budget 2024

At the General Meeting (GM) May 2023, the members voted and adopted a Charging Scheme with a projected income of 38M EUR for 2024. Simon-Jan asked the Board for guidance to support the preparation of the RIPE NCC Budget 2024. The following areas were discussed: income, expenditures, overall goal and focus areas for Budget 2024, and preliminary budget scenarios.

Simon-Jan highlighted that it needs to be decided how the RIPE NCC will deal with revenue at risk from Ultra High Risk countries - possibly payments can be covered from the reserves. In 2025, a gap between income and cost of 10-15% is expected in the budget. Hans Petter mentioned that with a declining number of LIR accounts due to consolidation, we should not exclude increasing our fees for 2025. The Board will take this into account when they present the 2025 Charging Scheme to the members at the GM in May 2024.

The Board advised to focus on cost saving as much as possible rather than stopping activities at this point. Changes in activities must be discussed with the members in, for instance, Open Houses and at the next GM.
The Board suggested aiming for a break-even budget, including revenue at risk. Hans Petter noted that bringing costs down will not be possible each year.

During this topic, Harald A. Summa asked to be shortly excused due to another obligation. He came back while this topic was still being discussed.

4. RIPE

RIPE Chair Mirjam Kühne shared her report with the Board and covered the following topics:

Review of RIPE 86; it was a good meeting where new people felt welcome and stepped up for the Program Committee and Working Group chairs
Future RIPE Meetings (including an update from Hisham Ibrahim)
Proposals for hosts for RIPE meetings 89, 90 and 91 are coming in
Current Policy discussions (three ongoing)
Internet Governance demands are increasing - governments are not sure how the Internet works exactly and proposed regulation to solve issues related to content or applications might harm the underlying infrastructure. We need to encourage and support community members taking part in Internet governance debates.
RIPE Governance documents: Deadlines for comments for the Draft NRO NC Election Process document has passed and the RIPE Chair team is working on the next version. The draft document on Principles for RIPE NCC Staff Participation in the RIPE Community received a lot of support, a Last Call will be issued.
The next RIPE Chair Team selection process will start next year. As a first step the Board will have to appoint a chair of the Nominating Committee. At the next Board meeting, a detailed timeline and additional information will be shared.

5. Corporate Governance

5.1 Review General Meeting May 2023

Fergal Cunningham shared the review of the General Meeting May 2023. It was the first election with Assembly Voting. The official report is available online.

The overall number of registrations was the second highest ever received. The registration analysis showed that longer-term members are very likely to register. The turnout was 12% of the membership. Because there were some issues with receiving voting passwords by email, it was suggested to explore alternative options for providing the necessary passwords.

The Executive Board also expressed its gratitude to Cynthia Revström, Arnold Nipper, Annie Yanyan Yang, Kris Edgar, Nat Morris and Sebastian Becker who volunteered to be members of the Executive Board Election Code of Conduct Team.

5.2 Remove Waiting List suspension

Felipe Victolla Silveira noted that on 21 April, the RIPE NCC Executive Board resolved to suspend the ability of RIPE NCC members to submit new applications to the IPv4 Waiting List until further notice (resolution EB#166-R-02). This decision was taken based on the membership vote on the fee model. Since a substantial majority of the members have voted for a model that will not change the behaviour when applying for the waiting list, Felipe proposed to lift the suspension and shared the motivation and implementation. The Board agreed with the recommendation.

Resolution EB#167-R-05
The RIPE NCC Executive Board resolves to remove the suspension imposed on 21 April 2023 and allow the submission of new applications for the IPv4 Waiting List, effective immediately.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

5.3 Locking of resources

Athina Fragkouli gave the background of this topic: At the RIPE 85 meeting in October 2022, a number of Ukrainian members asked for a way to prevent their resources from being transferred, even if a request was later submitted that was compliant with RIPE policy. The RIPE NCC Executive Board decided on 14 December 2022 to allow members and End Users (represented by their sponsoring LIRs) to request the prevention of their resources from being transferred for a period of six months (resolution EB#163-R-02). In February 2023 a relevant policy proposal was submitted to the NCC Services Working Group. Athina noted that at RIPE 86 all concerns regarding this proposal were discussed and the working group supported the policy proposal. The proposal has now moved to the next stage (Impact Analysis) in the Policy Development Process. As the temporary solution will expire, Athina asked the Board how they wanted to proceed. The Board decided to extend the temporary resolution until the proposed policy completes the Policy Development Process.

Resolution EB#167-R-06
The RIPE NCC Executive Board, taking into account:

The ongoing discussions about RIPE Policy Proposal 2023-03;
The perceived support by the community for this proposal; and
The time to reach consensus through the Policy Development Process

Resolves to extend the resolution EB#163-R-02 and continue allowing members and End Users (represented by their sponsoring LIRs) to request the prevention of their resources from being transferred until RIPE Policy Proposal 2023-03 completes the Policy Development Process.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board will review this resolution in six months and anticipates the RIPE community will develop a RIPE policy for a permanent solution in the meantime.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

5.4 Mailing list moderation

Athina reminded the Board that all emails that are sent to the Members-Discuss mailing list are under moderation due to postings of emails that were not in accordance with the principles of the RIPE Code of Conduct or with the purpose of the mailing list. During the last General Meeting, there were some concerns regarding the moderation as the delay in posting messages makes a discussion more difficult. The Board discussed the matter and agreed to remove general moderation and only apply moderation to emails sent from individual subscribers who send emails not in accordance with the purpose of the mailing list and the principles of the RIPE Code of Conduct

Resolution EB#167-R-07
The RIPE NCC Executive Board resolves to remove the temporary moderation of the members-discuss mailing list that was imposed on 7 March 2022.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board further resolves to moderate emails sent from individual subscribers who, from 28 June 2023, send emails evaluated as not in accordance with the purpose of the mailing list or the principles of the RIPE Code of Conduct. This evaluation and moderation will be conducted by a designated member of the RIPE NCC Executive Board and a RIPE NCC staff member. All emails, accepted or rejected, will be archived on the RIPE NCC website.

Further, the RIPE NCC Executive Board resolves that if individual subscribers are put under moderation based on this resolution, this moderation will last one year from the date the last non-complying email was sent, even if this email was sent while the individual subscriber was under moderation.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

5.5 Dubai office setup

Hans Petter shared the status of the setup of the legal entity in Dubai. The required documentation is ready to be signed but there is a legal obligation for the Works Council to give input. The setup will be finalised once the Works Council advice has been received and considered.

5.6 Publishing Conflicts of Interest

Hans Petter suggests that the Board members should more explicitly disclose their affiliations in their biographies on the website in order to be as transparent as possible. Hans Petter presented an example of how a biography would be published and the Board discussed the matter. The Board agreed to share the organisations they are affiliated with and number of LIR accounts for which they are a contact and have voting rights.

6. AFRINIC

The situation at AFRINIC was again discussed. Hans Petter noted that AFRINIC operations are still continuing thanks to their staff. AFRINIC is still awaiting a court ruling to hold elections for their Board.

7. AOB

Recognised IPv4 Transfer Brokers
A Board member noted that they are doubting the usability of the list of recognised IPv4 transfer brokers. Hans Petter agreed to note an action to reconsider the list.

Action EBD450 / 28/06/2023 / FVS
Analyse the usability of the IPv4 Transfer Broker List and suggest a way forward.
Impact analysis of IXP assignment policy
The impact Analysis for Policy Proposal 2023-01 "Reducing IXP IPv4 assignment default size to a /26” was shared with the Board last week. The Board shortly discussed the proposal and did not have any comments on the Impact Analysis.

As Remco van Mook is one of the policy authors, he explicitly stated that he would not comment.
Country codes
The Board touched on the country codes that are used in the Database. Athina noted that at the RIPE 86 Meeting, a presentation was given where the use of the country codes was outlined. Additionally, an article on RIPE Labs has been published. The Board agreed to further discuss the topic with the Database Working Group and to add the topic to the agenda of the upcoming Board meeting in October 2023.
Board training
Several options for Board training were discussed. Further ideas for training can be shared with the Board Chair and Hans Petter and the topic will be discussed in a future meeting.
Fragmentation
A Board member noted ISOC is talking about fragmentation of the Internet and asked if we can provide some input. Hans Petter shared a link to an article on RIPE Labs https://labs.ripe.net/author/chrisb/fragmentation-still-the-internets-big-bad/. Hisham noted that the RIPE NCC’s focus is on technical fragmentation, especially in the Joint Internet Registry. There is no evidence of such fragmentation at this point.
Restrictions for EB candidates
At the previous EB#165 meeting there was a discussion on requirements and expectations for Board members and candidates. This was also discussed in the Open House with the members and the Board. A Board member asked if the topic of multiple candidates belonging to the same organisation or multiple candidates owning the same organisation could be added to the upcoming General Meeting so the members can vote on this.

No additional topics were brought forward.

The Chair closed the meeting at 16:32.

Resolutions