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Minutes 112th Executive Board Meeting

Attendees:

  • Dmitry Burkov, ICANN Liaison
  • Maria Häll, Member
  • Christian Kaufmann, Secretary
  • Nigel Titley, Chairman
  • Remco Van Mook, Treasurer
  • Salam Yamout, Member
  • János Zsakó, Member
  • Athina Fragkouli, Head of Legal, RIPE NCC (for agenda item 4)
  • Hans Petter Holen, RIPE Chair
  • 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

1. Agenda / Comments
1.1 Apologies, New Agenda Points
1.2 Approval of Previous Minutes, EB#110 and EB#111
1.3 Dates of Next Meetings

2. Action Item Review, not covered by agenda
2.1 DONE
2.2.2. IN PROGRESS

3. Report from the RIPE NCC

4. RIPE NCC Corporate Governance

5. Strategic Issues
5.1 Discussion of the Strategy Workshop 8 June 2017

6. Direction 2018
6.1 Planned Activities and Budget 2018

7. RIPE

8. AOB
8.1 Internet Protocol Journal

The Chairman opened the meeting at 13:05

1. Agenda / Comments

1.1 Apologies, New Agenda Points

No apologies, all Board members were present.

In addition to the agenda point under AOB the following agenda items were raised for discussion:

  • Board Position Selection
  • Board Appointed ASO Position
  • RIPE NCC / AFRINIC Joint Board Meeting

1.2 Approval of Previous Minutes, EB#110 and EB#111

Resolution EB#112-R-01
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the minutes of EB#110 and EB#111.

1.3 Dates of Next Meetings

  • 8 September 2017, Amsterdam: 09:00-12:00 Briefing session, 13:00-17:30 Board meeting
  • 21 October 2017, Dubai, informal meeting prior to RIPE 75
  • 14 December 2017, Amsterdam, 13:00-17:30 Board Meeting

2. Action Item Review, not covered by agenda

2.1 DONE

EB370 / 17/03/2017 / AP
The RIPE NCC Executive Board instructs the RIPE NCC to report all cases of confirmed fraud to the local authorities.

EB371 / 17/03/2017 / AP
The RIPE NCC Executive Board asked the RIPE NCC for a full review of the RIPE NCC Standard Service Agreement (SSA) to ensure that the SSA has the appropriate provisions that restrict RIPE NCC's liability and allow the RIPE NCC to take necessary steps against fraud.

EB372 / 17/03/2017 / AP
The RIPE NCC Executive Board asked the RIPE NCC to prepare a short presentation by the RIPE NCC Head of Legal for the RIPE NCC General Meeting May 2017 to clarify the meaning of discharging the RIPE NCC Executive Board under Dutch jurisdiction.

ACTION: EB374 / 09/06/2017 / AP
The RIPE NCC Executive Board asked the RIPE NCC to check if discharging the RIPE NCC Executive Board was a legal requirement under Dutch jurisdiction and to inform the Board.

EB373 / 17/03/2017 / AP
The RIPE NCC Executive Board asked Axel to investigate the possibility of modifying the Rob Blokzijl Foundation articles so that the foundation could award individuals from around the globe and not just from the RIPE NCC service region.

Nigel Titley reported that the articles of the Rob Blokzijl Foundation could not be modified. Nigel mentioned that there is a plan to establish another foundation that could handle an award distribution globally.

2.2. IN PROGRESS

Action EB368 / 15/12/2016 / CK & SY
Christian Kaufmann and Salam Yamout to review options for training courses for board members and to report back to the RIPE NCC Executive Board.
Status 17/03/2017: IN PROGRESS, Christian provided an update to the Board with options for general discussion. Christian and Salam will propose a potential supplier for a course on leadership conducted in Amsterdam, if possible.
Status 09/06/2017: Requirements were submitted it was reported that proposals were received that Christian and Salam would review and recommend to the Board.

Action: EB 351/ 07/07/2016 / AP
Axel to share the RIPE NCC's plans in the area of IoT with the Board and keep them informed of relevant developments on this topic.
Status 15/12/2016: ONGOING, the Executive Board requested a revised version of the document.
Status 17/03/2017: ONGOING
Status 09/06/2017: The Board asked Axel to provide a short presentation on IoT at the upcoming Board meeting in September 2017 and asked for the revised document on RIPE NCC's plans to be delivered to the Board.

3. Report from the RIPE NCC

With reference to the RIPE NCC External Relations Report, the RIPE NCC Executive Board discussed the concerns the LEA community had brought forward over recent months.

It was agreed cooperation should be carried out to the mutual satisfaction of both the RIPE NCC and the LEAs.

Axel mentioned that the RIPE NCC Executive Board is required to instruct the RIPE NCC Management to re-engage the auditors. There was short discussion on the regulations of extending the company used to audit the RIPE NCC.

Resolution EB#112-R-02
The RIPE NCC Executive Board instructs RIPE NCC Management to continue the engagement with the current audit firm for another three-year period.

4. RIPE NCC Corporate Governance

There was a discussion on reporting fraudulent activity to the authorities. The Board referred to action item EB370. The Board agreed that any report of fraudulent activity should be supported by evidence. Axel assured the Board that the RIPE NCC would report all fraudulent activity with supporting evidence.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board briefly discussed the document, "RIPE NCC Website and Publicly Available RIPE NCC Services Terms of Service".

The RIPE NCC Head of Legal, Athina Fragkouli, explained that these Terms of Service would apply to the use of the RIPE NCC website and to the publicly available RIPE NCC Services that are not subject to specific terms and conditions.

Resolution EB#112-R-03
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the document Terms of Service:
RIPE NCC Website and Publicly Available RIPE NCC Services.

Athina presented the points that were included in the “Updates to Procedural Documents and Terms and Conditions “ document for Board approval.

Athina explained that, due to the new Transfer Policy that gathered the transfer sections from all policy documents into one policy document, references to the old transfer sections needed to be updated in the following documents:

  • Transfer of Internet Number Resources and Change of a Member's Official Legal Name
  • Independent Internet Number Resources – Contractual Relationship Changes Between Sponsoring LIR and End User

Athina also presented two more suggestions to these two documents as follows:

1) According to the current document, the RIPE NCC would approve a transfer due to a merger or acquisition that could be approved by a national authority document. That includes notary documents but this option is not explicitly given. A new sentence was suggested to make this option explicit in cases where a national authority does not document a merger or acquisition.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board rejected this suggestion because they did not see the value of explicitly mentioning the option to provide a notary document.

2) Currently a transfer request due to a merger or acquisition is not evaluated in accordance with the RIPE policy and therefore RIPE policy restrictions do not apply. However, there have been cases where a merger or acquisition is clearly conducted in order to circumvent policy restrictions. A new sentence was suggested that would give the RIPE NCC the right to evaluate requests for transfers due to such abusive mergers or acquisitions in accordance to the RIPE policy, so that RIPE policy restrictions could also apply to these cases. Athina highlighted that this change in the process would increase the RIPE NCC's liability, as the evaluation would not be based on third party documents but on its own discretion.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board decided to reject the proposed addition to avoid an increase in liability.

Athina also mentioned that the current document "RIPE NCC Services for Legacy Internet Resources of RIPE NCC Members Terms and Conditions" contained an error in Article 4.1. She explained that as Legacy Services are provided by the RIPE NCC, the member cannot be held liable for RIPE NCC services, but rather for the way they use these services. She reported that this is reflected correctly in all similar provisions in RIPE NCC agreements and should be corrected in this document.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board briefly discussed these changes and agreed that they were necessary.

Resolution EB#112-R-04
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the Updates to Procedural Documents and Terms & Conditions as follows:

  1. Transfer of Internet Number Resources and Change of a Member's Official Legal Name
  2. Independent Internet Number Resources – Contractual Relationship Changes Between Sponsoring LIR and End User
  3. RIPE NCC Services for Legacy Internet Resources of RIPE NCC Members Terms and Conditions

5. Strategic Issues

5.1 Discussion of the Strategy Workshop 8 June 2017

The RIPE NCC Executive Board reflected on the strategic meeting that was held jointly with the RIPE NCC Management on 8 June.

ACTION: EB375 / 09/06/2017 / AP
The RIPE NCC Executive Board asked for the strategic objectives to be included as agenda items in the upcoming Board meetings.

ACTION: EB376 / 09/06/2017 / AP
The RIPE NCC to prepare a draft strategy document to be approved by the RIPE NCC Executive Board. Implementation of strategic objectives should be reported at each Board meeting.

ACTION: EB377 / 09/06/2017 / AP
The Strategic Workshop outcome document should be delivered to the RIPE NCC Executive Board by email no later than 26 June 2017.

6. Direction 2018

6.1 Planned Activities and Budget 2018

Axel reported on the plans to prepare the RIPE NCC Activity Plan and Budget 2018. The RIPE NCC Executive Board expects that the strategic objectives will be clearly reflected in the structure of the Activity Plan and Budget document.

ACTION: EB378 / 09/06/2017 / AP
The RIPE NCC Executive Board asked Axel to integrate the strategic objectives into the structure of the RIPE NCC Activity Plan and Budget 2018.

7. RIPE

The RIPE Chair Hans Petter Holen reported he is keeping up with Working Group discussions and the code of conduct in Working Groups and mailing lists. He is concerned with the tone on the mailing lists and plans to address this so that all community members are reminded of the spirit with which we carry out our work in RIPE.

He reported on the progress for the selection process of the RIPE Chair.
He believes that further work will need to be done to reach an outcome that can be presented to the community.

Hans Petter also briefly reported on the work of the Accountability and Diversity Task Forces.

Internet of Things (IoT):
Hans Petter stated that in light of the dialogue and support for further discussions he plans to give the IoT topic a time slot on the agenda. He believes this will also give the community an opportunity to reach consensus on forming a working group (WG) around IoT.

Hans Petter reported that Rob Evans would be an additional contact person for incidents that may take place at the RIPE Meetings.

Hans Petter was pleased with the successful outcome of the RIPE Fellowship Programme at RIPE 74 and very much supported an increase in resources for the activity at the upcoming RIPE meetings.

Hans Petter informed the Board on the location of the upcoming RIPE meetings as follows:

  • Autumn 2017 Dubai
  • Spring 2018 Marseille
  • Autumn 2018 Amsterdam

He reported that the call for proposals for 2019 RIPE Meetings would be published shortly.

8. AOB

8.1 Internet Protocol Journal

Prior to any discussion on the future support of the Internet Protocol Journal (IPJ), Salam Yamout excused herself from the discussion due to a potential conflict of interest.

Nigel noted that the RIPE NCC Executive Board met with the IPJ Editor at the last RIPE Meeting as planned. During the discussion, Nigel asked the Board if a portion of the RIPE NCC Platinum Sponsorship of ISOC could be allocated to the Internet Protocol Journal.

After discussion, the Board agreed that no further funding would be allocated to the IPJ. The Board suggests that the IPJ Editor use the Community Funds Project as a potential means to fund the IPJ activity.

8.2 Board Position Selection

Dmitry Burkov was not able to join the last RIPE NCC Executive Board meeting after the election process at the recent RIPE NCC General meeting in Budapest. The Board unanimously agreed that Dmitry remains the ICANN representative for the RIPE NCC Executive Board.

8.3 Board Appointed ASO Position

It was reported that the term of the Board appointed ASO AC position was drawing near.

ACTION: EB379 / 09/06/2017 / AP
The Board asked Axel to prepare the Call for Candidates for the Board appointed ASO AC position according to the set procedures.

8.4 RIPE NCC / AFRINIC Joint Board Meeting

The AFRINIC Board has extended an invitation to the RIPE NCC Board for a joint Board meeting to be held at the upcoming AFRINIC Meeting in the autumn of 2017. The Board welcomed the invitation and agreed that it would be useful.

ACTION: EB380 / 09/06/2017 / NT
Nigel Titley agreed to formally accept the invitation of the AFRINIC Board to hold a joint Board meeting in the autumn of 2017.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 16:00

Outstanding Action Items:

Action EB368 / 15/12/2016 / CK & SY
Christian Kaufmann and Salam Yamout to review options for training courses for board members and to report back to the RIPE NCC Executive Board.
Status 17/03/2017: IN PROGRESS, Christian provided an update to the Board with options for general discussion. Christian and Salam will propose a potential supplier for a course on leadership conducted in Amsterdam, if possible.
Status 09/06/2017: It was reported that proposals were received that Christian and Salam would review and recommend to the Board.

Action: EB 351/ 07/07/2016 / AP
Axel to share the RIPE NCC's plans in the area of IoT with the Board and keep them informed of relevant developments on this topic.
Status 15/12/2016: ONGOING, the Executive Board requested a revised version of the document.
Status 17/03/2017: ONGOING
Status 09/06/2017: The Board asked Axel to provide a short presentation on IoT at the upcoming Board meeting in September 2017 and asked for the revised document on the RIPE NCC's plans to be delivered to the Board.

New Action Items:

EB374 / 09/06/2017 / AP
The RIPE NCC Executive Board asked the RIPE NCC to check if discharging the RIPE NCC Executive Board was a legal requirement under Dutch jurisdiction and to inform the Board.

EB375 / 09/06/2017 / AP
The RIPE NCC Executive Board asked for the strategic objectives to be included as agenda items in the upcoming Board meetings.

EB376 / 09/06/2017 / AP
The RIPE NCC to prepare a draft strategy document to be approved by the RIPE NCC Executive Board. Implementation of strategic objectives should be reported at each Board meeting.

EB377 / 09/06/2017 / AP
The Strategic Workshop outcome document should be delivered to the RIPE NCC Executive Board by email no later than 26 June 2017.

EB378 / 09/06/2017 / AP
The RIPE NCC Executive Board asked Axel to integrate the strategic objectives into the structure of the RIPE NCC Activity Plan and Budget 2018.

EB379 / 09/06/2017 / AP
The RIPE NCC Executive Board asked Axel to prepare the Call for Nominations for the Board appointed ASO AC representative according to the set procedures.

EB380 / 09/06/2017 / NT
Nigel Titley agreed to formally accept the invitation of the AFRINIC Board to hold a joint Board meeting in the autumn of 2017.

Resolutions:

Resolution EB#112-R-01
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the minutes of EB#110 and EB#111.

Resolution EB#112-R-02
The RIPE NCC Executive Board instructs the RIPE NCC Management to continue the engagement with the current audit firm for another three-year period.

Resolution EB#112-R-03
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the document, "RIPE NCC Website and Publicly Available RIPE NCC Services Terms of Service".

Resolution EB#112-R-04
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the Updates to Procedural Documents and Terms & Conditions as follows:

  1. Transfer of Internet Number Resources and Change of a Member's Official Legal Name
  2. Independent Internet Number Resources – Contractual Relationship Changes Between Sponsoring LIR and End User
  3. RIPE NCC Services for Legacy Internet Resources of RIPE NCC Members Terms and Conditions