[members-discuss] LIR’s billing issues with RIPE NCC, need support

> The current "you have to pay for a couple more years" wording needs
> looking at - a simple "minimum membership period is 3 years" would I
> expect fix the disputable/legal ramifications, as the current setup
> isn't allowed in the UK for example
> (you cannot charge for a service that you do not, will not or cannot
> supply - so if the member no longer exists, you cannot supply them
> membership, so you cannot charge)

This is not an issue because it is allowed in the UK. Membership is not a service, and it is also not "supplied" to anyone. Membership entitles the member to voting rights and the possibility to request resources according to policies that passed a vote open to all members. But the membership itself is NOT a service.

The fees members pay are used to fund RIPE's services, but those services are not provided to its members. RIPE's services are provided to the global Internet. So, a member is not paying RIPE for resources or any other service; one becomes a member to join in the governance, and help fund the services, of RIPE.

You are confusing a RIPE membership with something like a gym "membership", which is not really a membership but (legally) a subscription. The two are very different.

-- 
Regards,
   Terrence Koeman, PhD/MTh/BPsy
      Darkness Reigns (Holding) B.V.

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