[ncc-announce] [news] 131st, 132nd and 133rd RIPE NCC Executive Board Meetings - Summary Notes and Minutes

Dear RIPE NCC members,

The RIPE NCC Executive Board held its 131st, 132nd and 133rd Meetings 
via teleconference on 18 March, 26 March and 8 April 2020, respectively. 
The first of these meetings was held with the express purpose of 
discussing the operational impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the RIPE 
NCC. The second, a regular scheduled meeting, involved discussion of 
several topics including the RIPE NCC's approach regarding sanctioned 
members. The third meeting was called in order to carry out further 
discussion on the sanctions issue.

The draft minutes of these meetings are now available:
https://www.ripe.net/about-us/executive-board/minutes/2020/minutes-131st-executive-board-meeting
https://www.ripe.net/about-us/executive-board/minutes/2020/minutes-132nd-executive-board-meeting
https://www.ripe.net/about-us/executive-board/minutes/2020/minutes-133rd-executive-board-meeting

The Executive Board publishes the minutes of its meetings so that the 
workings of the Board and the decisions it makes are transparent for the 
membership that it represents. The following is a summary of the main 
items from each of the above meetings. Further details are available in 
the minutes.

Meeting #131

- The RIPE NCC Executive Board resolved that the RIPE 80 Meeting, 
originally scheduled to be held in Berlin from 11-15 May 2020, will be a 
virtual meeting with a reduced programme due to the situation with 
COVID-19.

- The Board also resolved that the upcoming May 2020 General Meeting 
will take place as scheduled and tasked the RIPE NCC to ensure that full 
remote participation will be available to all members who wish to 
attend.

Meeting #132

- To accommodate members who reported difficulties in making payments 
due to COVID-19 related issues, the Executive Board unanimously adopted 
a resolution to extend the payment timeframe for 2020 invoices for 
existing members by three months. The payment due date will be set to 1 
July 2020.

- The Board resolved that the RIPE NCC shall explore all options for 
obtaining global exemptions for its operation from sanctions. The RIPE 
NCC will also be required to validate its interpretation of the status 
of IP address registration with relevant international authorities.

- With regards to the preparation of supporting documents for the 
upcoming RIPE NCC General Meeting (GM), the RIPE NCC Executive Board:
-- Approved the RIPE NCC Annual Report 2019
-- Approved that the RIPE NCC Financial Report 2019 be submitted to the 
GM for consideration
-- Approved the Draft RIPE NCC Charging Scheme 2021, tasking RIPE NCC 
Management to prepare a document to be shared with members ahead of the 
GM

- Fergal Cunningham, Acting Chief Communications Officer, provided the 
RIPE NCC Executive Board with an update on external and internal actions 
taken by the RIPE NCC to mitigate the effects of COVID-19.

- Hans Petter Holen noted that having both the role of RIPE Chair and 
RIPE NCC Managing Director (as of 1 May 2020) will create a conflict. He 
confirmed that he will step down as RIPE Chair by 30 April 2020, but he 
is willing to serve as interim RIPE Chair until the working group chairs 
have appointed somebody according to the RIPE Nomination Committee 
process.

Meeting #133

- Following a report from Felipe Victolla Silveira on the recent outages 
of the RPKI service, along with a presentation outlining a mitigation 
plan, the Executive Board tasked the RIPE NCC to provide regular updates 
on RPKI resiliency at each board meeting.

- The Board resolved that it is committed to complying with applicable 
sanctions obligations and directed the RIPE NCC to execute the 
appropriate response and investigate any means, within the provision of 
the law, to support the continued stable operation of the Internet 
according to its mission. The Board reaffirmed its understanding that 
the registration and management of Internet number resources, including 
IP addresses, should be outside the scope of political disputes.

Kind regards

RIPE NCC Management Team
Gwen van Berne, Kaveh Ranjbar and Felipe Victolla Silveira