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Minutes

1. Welcome, Preliminaries

The RIPE NCC Executive Board Chairman, Nigel Titley, welcomed attendees and began the General Meeting (GM) at 18:07 local time.

2. Financial Update and Outlook 2010

Jochem de Ruig, Chief Financial Officer of the RIPE NCC, gave the financial update and outlook for the remainder of 2010.

3. Reports from the RIPE NCC

The RIPE NCC reporting for the GM was presented in the RIPE NCC Services Working Group, which took place on 17 November 2010 from 16:00-17:45. The RIPE NCC reports were not repeated here.

4. Reports from the Executive Board

The Chairman gave the report from the RIPE NCC Executive Board.

The Chairman concluded by saying that members should always feel free to contact the RIPE NCC Executive Board if they should have any feedback.

There were no questions.

5. Draft RIPE NCC Activity Plan 2011

The Chairman asked that members read the Draft RIPE NCC Activity Plan 2011 and contact the Executive Board should they have any comments.

Draft Activity Plan 2011

The Chairman said that any feedback on the Draft Activity Plan 2011 would be welcome.

6. Draft RIPE NCC Budget 2011

Draft Budget 2011

The Chairman said that members should send any feedback they might have to the Executive Board.

7. RIPE NCC Charging Scheme 2011

Jochem de Ruig, Chief Financial Officer of the RIPE NCC, gave a presentation on the RIPE NCC Charging Scheme 2011.

A member asked if the change in the Charging Scheme, to score initial IPv6 allocations zero, only applies for allocations allocated in 2011.

Jochem responded that it would apply to all initial IPv6 allocations.

Another member said that the change regarding IPv6 allocations was announced to a set of the membership at the Moscow RIPE NCC Regional Meeting rather than all members, and it was unclear that it was a proposed charging scheme. He said such changes should be brought to the attention of the full RIPE NCC membership first.

The Chairman said that it was announced in Moscow that the Executive Board would present a charging scheme that contained the point on IPv6 allocations. He said the announcement did not mention that this was the approved Charging Scheme.

The member said that he received the information via the RIPE NCC Twitter account and the Chairman agreed that this could have been better presented.

A member asked if IPv6 allocations would have a major impact on members' billing scores due to the large amount of addresses.

Jochem responded that the algorithm used to calculate the billing score matches the initial allocation sizes and, therefore, ensures that allocations of IPv4 and IPv6 have a comparable weight.

A member asked if the change regarding initial IPv6 allocations would be retained for future charging schemes, because LIRs in the future might have large IPv6 allocations and not much IPv4 but they should still make contributions.

The Chairman said this was something the Executive Board would take into consideration.

A member asked if, now IPv4 was running out, it might be a good time to redesign the Charging Scheme to make it easier to understand.

Jochem said that he and the Executive Board already planned to look at the design of the Charging Scheme to make it more understandable and in line with future developments. He added that he and some others were working to develop some models to present to the Executive Board for its consideration.

A member asked that the RIPE NCC provide a better overview to members on their billing score so they could understand why they have moved from one billing category to another.

Jochem replied that members would receive an email from the RIPE NCC outlining the reasons why they were placed in a particular billing category.

A member asked for confirmation that the first IPv6 allocation would be free, and Jochem said that the initial allocation of IPv6 would score zero on a member's billing score.

The formal resolution:

"The General Meeting adopts the RIPE NCC Charging Scheme 2011."

  • For 126:
  • Against: 6
  • Abstain: 0

8. RIPE NCC Voting Procedures

Axel Pawlik, Managing Director of the RIPE NCC, gave a presentation on the RIPE NCC's findings regarding voting procedures to be used at RIPE NCC General Meetings.

A member asked if he understood correctly that with the new Articles of Association, resolutions at the GM would not be voted on by electronic means but that the proposed changes to the Articles of Association put the decision to allow for electronic voting in the hands of the Executive Board.

Axel explained that while the Executive Board decided it did not want to introduce electronic voting for resolutions for the time being, they wanted to allow for electronic voting for resolutions to be introduced in future without having to change the Articles of Association.

The member asked what the timeframe would be for informing members when electronic voting for remote participants would be allowed.

Executive Board member Fahad AlShirawi said the Executive Board wanted to gain experience with electronic voting and get feedback from members before deploying it fully. He added that the current wording is to meet a legal requirement rather than to postpone a decision on electronic voting for resolutions.

The Chairman said the membership would be informed on whether there would be electronic voting for resolutions when the call for the General Meeting was sent to members.

Executive Board member Remco van Mook pointed out that electronic voting when there is a large number of resolutions would not simplify matters.

A member said a change to the methodology to allow single transfer voting would speed up the process.

The Chairman explained that the membership was required to approve each individual arbiter, so single transfer voting was not possible in this case.

Axel said that the decision to use electronic voting had to balance efforts not to delay members in attendance for too long and to involve those who wanted to participate remotely.

A member asked the Executive Board to clarify whether the changes to the Articles of Association would mean that members in attendance at the General Meeting would be still be able to use paper ballots rather than use electronic voting on site.

The Chairman confirmed that members in attendance would be able to use paper ballots.

A member said that if others could conduct elections for many seats in one voting round, then the RIPE NCC General Meeting could devise a secure and efficient method of conducting electronic voting. He added that electronic votes cast in advance of the General Meeting might greatly increase participation, and the challenge was to figure out how to do this within the constraints of Dutch law.

The Chairman acknowledged this point.

A member said it should be ensured that a member would not be able to cast a paper ballot and vote electronically at the same General Meeting.

The Chairman said there would always be provision for voting by paper ballot at the General Meeting in case there was a network failure or other technical issue with electronic voting.

A member asked that the Executive Board and the RIPE NCC management prepare for electronic voting for the next General Meeting.

The Chairman said the changes Articles of Association would allow the Executive Board to do this if possible.

The member said the changes to the Articles of Association did not cover all eventualities and did not expand electronic voting to the extent required.

The Chairman said he felt that the proposed changes to the Articles of Association covered all eventualities.

A member asked via the chat facility what the RIPE NCC was doing to help developing countries become more involved with the RIPE NCC.

The Chairman said that electronic voting was one of the ways that the RIPE NCC was trying to involve developing countries more closely with the RIPE NCC.

RIPE NCC Executive Board member Fahad AlShirawi said that the RIPE NCC also holds regional meetings in developing areas and has launched a number of outreach initiatives in developing regions to try to promote greater involvement from developing countries. He also said that if the members had any ideas on how to promote participation with the RIPE NCC from developing countries, they should let the Executive Board know.

The member suggested having fellowship programs in developing countries as a means of promoting developing country involvement with the RIPE NCC.

A member asked about the possibility of having paper ballots that remote participants could send in.

The Chairman noted the comments.

9. RIPE NCC Articles of Association

Axel Pawlik, Managing Director of the RIPE NCC, gave a presentation on the proposed changes to the RIPE NCC Articles of Association.

The presentation, forms the second half of the presentation given for Agenda Point 8.

The formal resolution:

"The General Meeting in accordance with Article 21 of the Articles of Association adopts the amendments to the Articles of Association as proposed and announced by the Executive Board on 20 October 2010."

"Furthermore, the General Meeting instructs and authorises the Executive Board to perform or to have performed all that is required to have the amendments executed before a Dutch civil law notary, including but not limited to the translation into Dutch by certified translator and final amendment at the request of the notary or RIPE NCC's lawyer of the exact wording of the amendments in Dutch, and the amendment of any cross-references to the Articles of Association in other documents to bring these in conformity with the Articles of Association as adopted in this General Meeting."

  • For: 126
  • Against: 6
  • Abstain: 0

10. New RIPE NCC Conflict Arbitration Procedure

Remco van Mook, RIPE NCC Executive Board Member, gave a presentation on the new RIPE NCC Conflict Arbitration Procedure.

A member asked if there was a history of the arbitration decisions made in the past, how often arbitration was needed and what was decided in each case.

Remco said that RIPE NCC panel of arbiters dealt with seven cases since the arbitration procedure was instigated in 1997. He added that most cases were concerning the payment of RIPE NCC service fees.

Daniel Karrenberg, RIPE NCC Chief Scientist, said that cases could not be publicly documented because of the confidential information contained in the cases.

A member asked why so many arbiters were needed if there have only been seven cases recorded.

Remco said the Executive Board felt that there might be more cases as IPv4 runs out, so there might be a need for more arbiters. He added that, if there were no further cases, it would not cost anything extra to have the extra arbiters on the panel.

A member asked about the timelines involved in the arbitration process.

Remco said the problem with the current process is that no timelines are set out, and this resulted in an arbitration case that lasted for 18 months. He said the proposed procedure sets down timelines that would have to be followed.

A member asked Remco to relate his experience as arbiter.

Remco said that no cases for arbitration had come his way in his 18 months on the panel of arbiters.

The Chairman asked one of the other arbiters present, Jaap Akkerhuis, to relate his experience of being an arbiter.

The arbiter said that the case he was involved in was related to payments. He said it was easy to get information from the RIPE NCC but difficult to get data from the complainant. He said the case took in total two and a half months before he had enough information to make a ruling. He added that pursuing people for information and consulting with people took the majority of the time and effort spent as arbiter on the case.

A member said, in relation to the comment on the large number of arbiters compared with cases brought to arbitration, that cases did not come in on a schedule and arbiters might not be available when a case is brought. He said for a recent case, none of the arbiters were able to take a case. He said increasing the number of people on the panel of arbiters might improve the chances of an arbiter being available. He also added that the proposed procedure included timelines that would allow arbiters to make an informed decision on whether or not they would have time to take a case.

A member said he did not like the point in the proposed procedure that said the RIPE NCC would meet “any costs” because this was a very broad term.

Remco said the Executive Board could not limit the amount of costs but these costs were not likely to be significant. He added that travel and legal advice were likely to be the main reason for costs but, if there was a large amount of information, administrative help might also be required. He noted that all costs would have to be justified.

In response to a comment from RIPE NCC Chief Scientist Daniel Karrenberg, Athina Fragkouli from the RIPE NCC said that the party initiating the procedure could still choose an arbiter but, if this arbiter was not acceptable to the other party, the arbiter had to be chosen from the top of the list of arbiters.

The formal resolution:

"The General Meeting approves the new RIPE NCC Conflict Arbitration Procedure."

  • For: 126
  • Against: 0
  • Abstain: 6

11. Appointment of Arbiters to the RIPE NCC Arbiters Panel

RIPE NCC Chairman Nigel Titley explained that the Executive Board appointed seven arbiters but their appointment needed to be approved by the membership. He asked if any of the arbiters to be appointed were present at the GM.

Proposed arbiters James Hickman and Ondřej Surý presented themselves and spoke briefly to attendees.

Nigel proposed appointing the arbiters by show of hands.

The resolution:

"The General Meeting approves the addition of Pierre Baume to the RIPE NCC Arbiters Panel."

The following results were noted:

  • For: 116
  • Against: 6
  • Abstain: 10

Pierre Baume was officially declared to be an arbiter.

Nigel asked that the following six arbiters be appointed using the paper ballots.

The formal resolution:

"The General Meeting approves the addition of Conor Dufficy to the RIPE NCC Arbiters Panel."

  • For: 80
  • Against: 28
  • Abstain: 23

Conor Dufficy was officially declared to be an arbiter.

The formal resolution:

"The General Meeting approves the addition of Ronald Duncan to the RIPE NCC Arbiters Panel."

  • For: 87
  • Against: 24
  • Abstain: 20

Ronald Duncan was officially declared to be an arbiter.

The formal resolution:

"The General Meeting approves the addition of Alireza Ghafarallahi to the RIPE NCC Arbiters Panel."

  • For: 87
  • Against: 30
  • Abstain: 14

Alireza Ghafarallahi was officially declared to be an arbiter.

The formal resolution:

"The General Meeting approves the addition of James Hickman to the RIPE NCC Arbiters Panel."

  • For: 105
  • Against: 16
  • Abstain: 10

James Hickman was officially declared to be an arbiter.

The formal resolution:

"The General Meeting approves the addition of Ondřej Surý to the RIPE NCC Arbiters Panel."

  • For: 126
  • Against: 1
  • Abstain: 4

The formal resolution:

"The General Meeting approves the addition of Nick Williams to the RIPE NCC Arbiters Panel."

  • For: 99
  • Against: 21
  • Abstain: 11

Nick Williams was officially declared to be an arbiter.

12. Close

RIPE NCC Chairman Nigel Titley thanked the membership who attended and those who participated remotely. He closed the meeting at 20:06 local time.