[ncc-services-wg] State of sanctions

Dear Alex,

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you.

As an association under Dutch law, the RIPE NCC is in principle subject to EU and Dutch sanctions regulations. Of relevance to us are financial sanctions, which consist of:

- Freezing of funds and economic resources of designated persons and entities; and
- A prohibition on making funds and economic resources available to such persons and entities.

So far, these sanctions apply to designated persons and entities listed in EU sanctions regulations for Iran and Syria. You can find the legislation (along with sanctioned persons/entities) here:

- Iran: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32012R0267 <https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32012R0267>

- Syria: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32012R0036 <https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32012R0036>

Please note that the list of designated persons and entities is regularly updated.

The RIPE NCC has reviewed its membership and has set a restriction on transfer and resource requests for three of its members. This was announced by the RIPE NCC Executive Board last year in April[1], followed by an update in June[2].

In late December 2020, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) confirmed to the RIPE NCC its understanding that IP resources are considered economic resources, as defined in the EU sanctions regulations, and must be frozen for sanctioned entities.

The MFA's primary concern is in terms of preventing the IP resources of sanctioned entities from being transferred, as well as preventing the allocation of additional resources. However, the MFA also said it believed the RIPE NCC had taken adequate steps to ensure compliance with sanctions and there was no need to deregister the IP resources of the three affected members. This was announced by the RIPE NCC Executive Board in March[3].

Please also note that the RIPE NCC had requested an exemption from EU sanctions regulations. However, the MFA stated that according to the regulation, there was no legal basis to exempt IP resources from sanctions.

Regarding your last point, it might be difficult to provide a detailed overview, as anything we publish will have to be sufficiently anonymised to avoid identifying the affected members. However, we will see what we can do here, as we appreciate the value in having transparent reporting around this issue.

Kind regards,

Athina Fragkouli
Chief Legal Officer
RIPE NCC


[1] Sanctions and the RIPE NCC: Current Status and Executive Board Position:
https://www.ripe.net/ripe/mail/archives/ncc-announce/2020-April/001413.html <https://www.ripe.net/ripe/mail/archives/ncc-announce/2020-April/001413.html>

[2] Sanctions and the RIPE NCC: Status Update
https://www.ripe.net/ripe/mail/archives/ncc-announce/2020-June/001427.html <https://www.ripe.net/ripe/mail/archives/ncc-announce/2020-June/001427.html>

[3] RIPE NCC Sanctions Update:
https://www.ripe.net/ripe/mail/archives/ncc-announce/2021-March/001477.html <https://www.ripe.net/ripe/mail/archives/ncc-announce/2021-March/001477.html>



> 
> From: Alex Le Heux <aleheux at tucowsinc.com <mailto:aleheux at tucowsinc.com>>
> Subject: [ncc-services-wg] State of sanctions
> Date: 20 May 2021 at 16:28:49 CEST
> To: ncc-services-wg at ripe.net <mailto:ncc-services-wg at ripe.net>
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> The various types of sanctions and or such limits that apply to the RIPE NCC’s services have been a recurring topic for a couple years now. Recently, this seems to pop up more often though. This isn’t surprising as sanctions have become a more popular tool in the last few years.
> 
> It occurred to me that we don’t seem to have a clear overview of what the total effect is:
> 
> - Which sanctions, imposed by whom, affect the RIPE NCC’s operations and services?
> - Who are the targets of these sanctions?
> - Which of the RIPE NCC’s services are affected by these sanctions, for whom and in which way?
> 
> (Please read “sanctions” with a wide definition and include such things as Dutch banks looking for money laundering that was mentioned during RIPE82)
> 
> If there is a detailed overview of all this available, could the RIPE NCC publish this periodically? If not, can they start doing so?
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Alex Le Heux


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