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Minutes 91st Executive Board Meeting

Minutes 91st Executive Board Meeting

12 December 2013, 1200-1800, RIPE NCC offices Amsterdam

Author:

Paul Rendek

Date:

2013/12/30

Status:

Final

Attendees:

  • Dmitry Burkov, ICANN Liaison
  • Christian Kaufmann, Secretary
  • Nigel Titley, Chairman
  • Remco Van Mook, Treasurer
  • János Zsakó, Adviser
  • Rob Blokzijl, RIPE Chairman, RIPE
  • Hans Petter Holen, RIPE Deputy Chairman, RIPE
  • Sabine Mader, Assistant to the Managing Director, RIPE NCC
  • Axel Pawlik, Managing Director, RIPE NCC
  • Paul Rendek, Director of External Relations, RIPE NCC
  • Jochem de Ruig, Chief Financial Officer, RIPE NCC

Agenda

Lunch

1. Agenda / Comments

1.1 Apologies, New Agenda Points

1.2 Approval of Previous Minutes, EB# 90

1.3 Date of Next Meetings

1.4 Conference attendance by Executive Board until June 2014

2. Remaining Outstanding Actions Not Covered by Agenda

3. Report from the RIPE NCC

3.1 Financial Update

3.1.1 Report following from Interim Audit

3.1.2 Treasury Report

3.2 Legal

  • Power of Attorney for AoA
  • Iran situation
  • Publication of approval workflow

3.3 LEA Update

3.4 RIPE NCC Housing – office location

4. Review RIPE-68 and RIPE NCC General Meeting October 2013

4.1 Review

4.2 Draft Minutes RIPE NCC General Meeting 16 October 2013

4.3 Promotion for Executive Board Members and Job Description

5. Approval of Draft RIPE NCC Activity Plan and Budget 2014

5.1 Review of Draft RIPE NCC Activity Plan/Budget 2014 amendments

5.1.1 Proposal Internet Protocol Journal (IPJ)

5.1.2 Proposal LISP Registry

5.2 Approval of Revised Draft RIPE NCC Activity Plan/Budget 2014

6. Action Plan following from Membership Survey 2013

7. External Relations (1645-1700)

7.1 ICANN / IANA

7.2 NRO / RIRs

7.3 RIPE

7.4 IETF

8. AOB (1700-1710)

9. Executive Session (1715-1800)

Nigel Titley, RIPE NCC Chairman, opened the meeting at 13:00

1. Agenda / Comments

1.1 Apologies, New Agenda Points

Apologies were received from Fahad AlShirawi, who was not present at the Executive Board meeting.

Nigel asked the Board members if they had any additional agenda items to add. Christian asked if the upcoming meeting between AFRINIC and RIPE NCC Boards could be discussed. The Board agreed to discuss this in agenda point 8.

1.2 Approval of Previous Minutes, EB# 90

No comment was brought forward on the previous minutes; the Board approved the minutes of Executive Board Meeting #90.

1.3 Date of Next Meetings

  • 11 March 2014, London
  • May, meetings at RIPE 68, Warsaw, 12+14 May 2014
  • 19 June 2014, RIPE NCC Offices Amsterdam
  • September, tbd
  • October, meetings at RIPE 69, London, 3+5 Nov 2014
  • December, tbd

1.4 Conference Attendance by Executive Board until June 2014

Nigel asked the Board to complete their travel plans for the coming year of events. Axel reminded the Board members to keep visa issues in mind during their planning.

Paul mentioned that the consolidated Board travel planning would be reviewed by RIPE NCC to ensure that we have appropriate Executive Board representation at events.

After discussion, it was agreed to add the following events to the Executive Board Conference Calendar:

  • Global Multistakeholder Meeting on Internet Governance – Brazil
  • ITU PP 2014, Korea

2. Remaining Outstanding Actions Not Covered by Agenda

Completed: 246, 248, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270

EB246 08/03/2012 AP

RIPE NCC will hand over the secretariat support for the financial accounts of MENOG by July 2012.

The RIPE NCC will coordinate this with the MENOG Chairman.

Status 14/06/2012: ONGOING, expected to meet the target deadline.

Status 02/08/2012: The RIPE NCC is awaiting the MENOG Chairman's signature. IN PROGRESS

Status 29/11/2012: IN PROGRESS - Paul and Fahad to speak to Osama and suggest a way forward for the MENOG accounts. The Board asked for a proposal by the MENOG 12 Meeting.

Status 26/03/2013: ONGOING

Status 25/06/2013: ONGOING – The Board decided that if the MENOG funds are not taken by MENOG by the end of August 2013, the funds will be added to and reported in the RIPE NCC financial administration.

Status 27/08/2013: ONGOING - The RIPE NCC will draft a letter to the MENOG Chairman stating that the MENOG funds will be reported in the RIPE NCC financial administration but will be made available for MENOG activities at the discretion of the MENOG Chairman.

Status 12/12/2013: DONE, the financial administration of MENOG was incorporated into the RIPE NCC books at the end of August and a letter was send on 19 September 2013.

EB248 26/03/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to investigate ICANN contingency plans and to incorporate the relevant aspects into the reply letter to the tax authorities. The Board asked Axel to liaise with Remco for the final approval of the text.

Status 25/06/2013: ONGOING, the text document was sent to Remco with request for comments and approval. Jochem and Remco will schedule a meeting with the fiscal advisors to finalise the letter for the Dutch tax authorities.

Status 27/08/2013: ONGOING - The final draft of the text will be produced and sent to the Dutch tax authorities.

Status 12/12/2013: DONE, the letter was sent on 29 October 2013, no reply yet.

EB263 27/08/2013 AP

Updated RIPE NCC Transfer Procedure: With the modification of section 3.2 of the document the Board asked the RIPE NCC to publish and implement the updated version of the document.

Status 12/12/2013: DONE. Please see: the amended document "Transfer of Internet Number Resource Records and Change of a Member's Official Legal Name" http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/ripe-595

EB264 27/08/2013 AP

The Board asked the RIPE NCC to publish the updated “Closure of Member and De-Registration of Internet Number Resources” document.

Status 12/12/2013: DONE. Please see: http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/ripe-594

EB265 27/08/2013 AP

The Board asked the RIPE NCC to include the report of the changes to the arbitration procedures as a resolution in the agenda of the upcoming RIPE NCC General Meeting in October 2013.

Status 12/12/2013: DONE.

EB266 27/08/2013 AP

The Board asked the RIPE NCC to prepare a presentation and communicate the draft procedure for handling address hijacking in time for the upcoming RIPE Meeting.

Status 12/12/2013: DONE.

EB267 27/08/2013 AP

The Board asked the RIPE NCC to prepare a revised version of the Activity Plan by 6 September. Comments from board and approval are due by 13 September. Upon approval the Board has asked the RIPE NCC to publish the documents.

Status 12/12/2013: DONE.

EB268 27/08/2013 AP

Proposed Amendments to Articles of Association (AoA):

The Board asked the RIPE NCC to prepare the resolutions and include them in the agenda of the upcoming

RIPE NCC General Meeting on 16 October 2013.

Status 12/12/2013: DONE.

EB269 27/08/2013 AP

The Board asked the RIPE NCC to publish the proposed changes to the Articles of Association and publish the draft agenda for the RIPE NCC General Meeting on 16 October 2013.

Status 12/12/2013: DONE.

EB270 27/08/2013 AP

GTLD name collision mitigation plan: The Board asked Axel to cooperate with the other RIRs to formally communicate the concerns of the RIRs to ICANN management.

Status 12/12/2013: DONE.

In progress: 235

EB235 08/12/2011 RM & CK

Remco and Christian agreed to closely cooperate with Daniel to prepare future project plans for RIPE Atlas.

Status 8/03/2012: ONGOING, a meeting has been held. Deliverables are expected.

Status 14/06/2012: ONGOING, Remco and Christian will review the information provided by the RIPE NCC and suggest a way of moving forward.

Status 02/08/2012: ONGOING

Status 29/11/2012: ONGOING – Remco and Christian agreed to contact Daniel to coordinate a meeting.

Status 26/03/2013: ONGOING

Status 25/06/2013: ONGOING - As the RIPE Atlas project has recently been handed over to Kaveh; Remco and Christian agreed to review the future project plans with him in 2 month's time.

Status 27/08/2013: ONGOING - the Board is pleased with the progress. The Board will continue to monitor developments and will review the future of RIPE Atlas in the December Executive Board Meeting.

Status 12/12/2013: DONE, Remco and Christian reported that Kaveh provided a document of future project plans following a succession of meetings with Kaveh. Christian provided a summary of the plans to the Board.

The Board further discussed the deployment curve of RIPE Atlas probes. After discussion they asked the RIPE NCC to produce figures to show the deployment rate and attrition rate of the RIPE Atlas probes. In addition the Board asked for a short break down of where funding was being allocated in regards to new features, TTM and DNSMON, RIPE Atlas probe distribution, etc.

ACTION: EB271 12/12/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to provide a report outlining the status of actual deployment and attrition of probes and to provide a report showing the RIPE Atlas figures including TTM and DNSMON over the past years. The Board requested that this data be provided for Board review one week prior to the AFRINIC/RIPE NCC joint Board meeting in January 2014.

ACTION: EB272 12/12/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to include the RIPE Atlas project as a recurring agenda item in Executive Board meetings. The Board agreed to discuss the longer term funding and direction of the RIPE Atlas project under this agenda item.

ACTION: EB273 12/12/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to include RIPE Atlas as an agenda topic for the AFRINIC/RIPE NCC joint Board meeting in January 2014.

3. Report from the RIPE NCC

Link to Update on Hijacking:

https://www.ripe.net/lir-services/resource-management/address-hijacking-in-the-ripe-ncc-service-region

Paul provided an update on regional representation. The Board thanked Paul and encouraged him to hire the staff according to plans to complete the team in Moscow and Dubai.

In addition to the report published prior to the Executive Board meeting, Axel reported on the MoU that is signed between RIPE NCC and AFRINIC for collaboration on specific activities.

Paul provided a short presentation on the RIPE NCC Mission statement prepared by the RIPE NCC Senior Management team. After discussion they asked for slight modifications to the statement text and to provide the Board with a period of two weeks to comment on the revision.

ACTION: EB274 12/12/2013 EB

Nigel tasked the RIPE NCC Board to provide comment on the RIPE NCC Mission and Vision statements by 31 December 2013.

3.1 Financial Update

Jochem provided an update on the financials. He reported that membership growth continues, the revenue is up from budget, expenses are below budget and a surplus is expected around EUR 1.5 million over 2013.

3.1.1 Report Following from Interim Audit

EB252 26/03/2013 AP

The Board requested that Axel report back after the interim audit Q3/Q4 2013 based on the action points raised by the auditors in the 2012 management letter.

Status 25/06/2013: ONGOING

Status 27/08/2013: ONGOING - A report from Axel will be provided in the December 2013 Executive Board Meeting.

Status 12/12/2013: DONE

In general, the Board welcomed comments and recommendations from the external auditors. However, after discussion it was agreed that not all recommendations would be implemented. It was agreed that the Board would formally sign off prior to the implementation of any recommendations.

The Executive Board reviewed the report from the Interim Audit. The Board agreed that changing the passwords at the RIPE NCC once a year was sufficient. There were no further comments regarding the remarks from the interim audit.

3.1.2 Treasury Report

Jochem provided a summary of the Treasury Report. He mentioned that the USD funds were disbursed over 2013 and he asked for the Board to agree to bring reserves in this account back up to 1 Million USD to be used for USD expenses in the future.

In further discussions the Board acknowledged that the rating of many governments in the Euro zone has decreased.

ACTION: EB275 12/12/2013 AP

The Board agreed to replenish the USD account to USD 1 million and asked Jochem to make the appropriate transaction.

ACTION: EB276 12/12/2013 AP

The Board formally decided to retain the investment in French government bonds. They also asked to amend the Treasury Statute to reflect that the rating of government bonds that are in the RIPE NCC portfolio can decrease to a point below the threshold set. New bonds will always have to meet the threshold. Already purchased government bonds where the country rating drops over time below the threshold should be evaluated on a case by case basis and the Board may decide to keep them. In every such case, an explicit board decision must be taken.

ACTION: EB277 12/12/2013 AP

The Board decided to transfer the funds from the Rabobank to the ABN AMRO bank.

Jochem asked the Board to discuss the current reserve levels and a possible rebate to the members.

After discussion, the Board acknowledged that it is not the intention to make a structural surplus of reserves and that the Board aims to reduce the reserves over time. The Board discussed two options: a rebate and lowering of membership fees.

After some debate, the Board decided to lower the fees and over time reduce the surplus and reserve.

ACTION: EB278 12/12/2013 AP

The Board asked for a financial forecast document on membership growth, revenues and fees in March in time to propose a report and Charging Scheme 2015 for the GM in May 2014.

3.2 Legal

  • Power of Attorney for AoA

Nigel suggested that the Board sign the power of attorney document during the break.

  • Iran situation

Jochem reported that we are awaiting a response from the Dutch authorities on services to a specific Iranian member. The Board agreed that, at present, we are not actively providing services but will not formally close down the registry in question in 2014. The RIPE NCC will continue to seek a response from the Dutch authorities and document any further actions.

  • Publication of approval workflow

Jochem explained that there is a workflow document that outlines the approval of RIPE NCC procedures. The Board agreed on the publication of the workflow document and tasked the RIPE NCC to publish this.

ACTION: EB279 12/12/2013 AP

The Board asked the RIPE NCC to publish the workflow document outlining the approval of RIPE NCC procedures.

3.3 LEA Update

Jochem and Paul provided an update on relations with the LEA community.

Paul informed the Board that the annual RIR/LEA Meeting would be held again in March 2014 together with LEAs during the E-crime congress in London. He also reported that we are actively engaging the other RIRs to acquire more global participation.

The Board was pleased with the level of interaction with the LEAs and had no further questions.

3.4 RIPE NCC Housing – office location

Jochem reported that the RIPE NCC is looking for new office space that would be more suitable for the organisation. Both renting and purchasing a property would be considered. The Board supports the move to a new property and asks the RIPE NCC to report back when they have found a suitable property for the Board to review.

4. Review RIPE 68 and RIPE NCC General Meeting October 2013

4.1 Review

The Board briefly discussed the RIPE 68 and General Meeting. After some general points they thanked the RIPE NCC for hosting a great event.

4.2 Draft Minutes RIPE NCC General Meeting 16 October 2013

Nigel asked the Board for any final comments on the Draft Minutes of the General Meeting. No comments were brought forward and the Board unanimously approved the publication of the minutes of the RIPE NCC General Meeting October 2013. .

4.3 Promotion for Executive Board Members and Job Description

After discussion, Remco proposed that the document should include the amount of time the Board position takes up including representation and travel. The Board agreed to include a time estimate of 20 days of work a year to be included in the document.

An expectation of the background of the candidates should be outlined in the document. Requirements raised were:

  • Understanding the Internet and its governance
  • Comprehension of business finances
  • Ability to manage a mid-sized multi-million Euro organisation

ACTION: EB280 12/12/2013 AP

The Board asked Jochem and Christian to define the roles of the RIPE NCC Executive Board and outline the governance structure.

5. Approval of Draft RIPE NCC Activity Plan and Budget 2014

5.1 Review of Draft RIPE NCC Activity Plan/Budget 2014 Amendments

5.1.1 Proposal Internet Protocol Journal (IPJ)

After a discussion on the future of the IPJ, the Board expressed that it expects that the Internet Society will find a funding structure for the future of the publication.

Resolution EB#91-R-01

“The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the support (50,000 USD) for the Internet Protocol Journal in 2014”

5.1.2 Proposal LISP Registry

Resolution EB#91-R-02

“The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves that the RIPE NCC is willing to execute the registry function for LISP”

5.2 Approval of Revised Draft RIPE NCC Activity Plan/Budget 2014

The Board reviewed the amendments to the Draft Activity Plan and Budget 2014.

Nigel asked for the Board approval on the RIPE NCC Activity Plan and Budget 2014. The Board unanimously approved the Draft Activity Plan and Budget 2014.

Resolution EB#91-R-03

“The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the Draft RIPE NCC Activity Plan and Budget 2014 with the inclusion of the additional expense items as listed in the appendix and with the inclusion of the LISP registry activity.”

6. Action Plan Following from Membership Survey 2013

http://www.ripe.net/lir-services/member-support/info/surveys/ripe-ncc-survey-2013/RIPENCCSurvey2013KeyFindingsandProposedActions.pdf

The Board appreciated the key findings and suggested that developments on actions be reported.

ACTION: EB281 12/12/2013 AP

The Executive Board asked Axel for a mid-year update in 2014 on the progress on actions made from the key findings of the RIPE NCC Survey 2013.

They also encouraged the RIPE NCC to publicise this as a priority to the membership.

Paul explained that the status of actions will be reported at RIPE Meetings and that the RIPE NCC plans to host small focus group meetings in Q4 2014 to review the progress and provide feedback resulting from action made derived from the survey.

7. External Relations

7.1 ICANN / IANA

Dmitry provided an update of activities in ICANN. In specific, he focused on the 1net initiative and the Brazil meeting planned for April 2014.

ACTION: EB282 12/12/2013 AP

The Board supports Axel in his attempt to clarify and report back on the association with ICANN in relation to the IANA function and in conjunction with the other RIRs.

7.2 NRO / RIRs

This agenda point was talked about during the discussions in agenda 7.1.

7.3 RIPE

The Board discussed the organisation of a RIPE Community Foundation. Rob Blokzijl commented that this step would only make sense if it would be used purely as a financial instrument of clarity for expenditure on RIPE related business.

After discussions the Board agreed that a separate foundation was unnecessary and agreed that clearer bookkeeping could solve potential issues of transparency.

7.4 IETF

Axel mentioned that the RIPE NCC is increasing its relations with the IETF. The Board unanimously supported this direction and reported that they were pleased with the cooperation between the RIPE NCC and the IETF at the last RIPE NCC Roundtable meeting in September of this year.

8. AOB

The Board discussed the upcoming AFRINIC/RIPE NCC joint Board meeting to be held in January 2014. Several issues were raised that could be included on the agenda of discussions with the AFRINIC Board including the RIPE Atlas project and more collaboration on public affairs.

ACTION: EB283 12/12/2013 AP

The Board asked to distribute an agenda of the AFRINIC/RIPE NCC joint Board meeting two weeks prior to the meeting.

No other business was brought forward.

9. Executive Session

The Chairman thanked the RIPE NCC and the Board members and closed the meeting at 17:55.

Outstanding Action Items:

There were no outstanding action items to report.

New Action Items:

EB271 12/12/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to provide a report outlining the status of actual deployment and attrition of probes and to provide a report showing the RIPE Atlas figures including TTM and DNSMON over the past years. The Board requested that this data be provided for Board review one week prior to the AFRINIC/RIPE NCC joint Board meeting in January 2014.

EB272 12/12/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to include the RIPE Atlas project as a recurring agenda item in Executive Board meetings. The Board agreed to discuss the longer term funding and direction of the RIPE Atlas project under this agenda item.

EB273 12/12/2013 AP

The Board asked Axel to include RIPE Atlas as an agenda topic for the AFRINIC/RIPE NCC joint Board meeting in January 2014.

EB274 12/12/2013 EB

Nigel tasked the RIPE NCC Board to provide comment on the RIPE NCC Mission and Vision statements by 31 December 2013.

EB275 12/12/2013 AP

The Board agreed to replenish the USD account to USD 1 million and asked Jochem to make the appropriate transaction.

EB276 12/12/2013 AP

The Board formally decided to retain the investment in French government bonds. They also asked to amend the Treasury Statute to reflect that the rating of government bonds that are in the RIPE NCC portfolio can decrease to a point below the threshold set. New bonds will always have to meet the threshold. Already purchased government bonds where the country rating drops over time below the threshold should be evaluated on a case by case basis and the Board may decide to keep them. In every such case, an explicit board decision must be taken.

EB277 12/12/2013 AP

The Board decided to transfer the funds from the Rabobank to the ABN AMRO bank.

EB278 12/12/2013 AP

The Board asked for a financial forecast document on membership growth, revenues and fees in March in time to propose a report and Charging Scheme 2015 for the GM in May 2014.

EB279 12/12/2013 AP

The Board asked the RIPE NCC to publish the workflow document outlining the approval of RIPE NCC procedures.

EB280 12/12/2013 AP

The Board asked Jochem and Christian to define the roles of the RIPE NCC Executive Board and outline the governance structure.

EB281 12/12/2013 AP

The Executive Board asked Axel for a mid-year update in 2014 on the progress on actions made from the key findings of the RIPE NCC Survey 2013.

EB282 12/12/2013 AP

The Board supports Axel in his attempt to clarify and report back on the association with ICANN in relation to the IANA function and in conjunction with the other RIRs.

EB283 12/12/2013 AP

The Board asked to distribute an agenda of the AFRINIC/RIPE NCC joint Board meeting two weeks prior to the meeting.

Resolutions:

EB#91-R-01

“The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the support (50,000 USD) for the Internet Protocol Journal in 2014”

EB#91-R-02

“The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves that the RIPE NCC is willing to execute the registry function for LISP”

EB#91-R-03

“The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the Draft RIPE NCC Activity Plan and Budget 2014 with the inclusion of the additional expense items as listed in the appendix and with the inclusion of the LISP registry activity.”