[Community-Discuss] Ongoing thefts of AFRINIC Legacy Resources -- Ongoing collusion?

[Mike Silber]

Hi Ronald


> On 20 Aug 2020, at 18:23, Ronald F. Guilmette <rfg at tristatelogic.com> wrote:

> 

> In message <49BF4107-8FC6-4107-99F9-155C138FFA3A at gmail.com>, 

> Mike Silber <silber.mike at gmail.com> wrote:

> 

>> Ad hominem attacks such as these are not welcome on this list or in this community.

>> 

>> While Mr Guilmette expressed his disappointment at the fact that his queries were not responded to in a transparent manner - I did not see any allegation such as you have made.

> 

> I did far more than merely expressing my disappointment at the utter lack

> of transparency.  I said quite plainly that I have been stonewalled for

> months by AFRINIC management and staff AND that I have no idea why

> AFRINIC is (purportedly) being sued by Mr. Cohen, since AFRINIC management

> and staff have allowed Mr. Cohen to keep nearly 100% of his stolen booty

> for more than 8.5 months now.... a clear and provable fact for which

> no one has yet provided *any* explanation.  (Jan Vermeulen's big article

> about all of the thefts in AFRINIC was published on December 4th, 2019.

> That was actually a full 8.5 months ago!)


I noted your comments and I apologise if I did not repeat them in full.

I don’t think you have been stonewalled, rather I think the community has been stonewalled.

I am aware of some of the hard work that has been going on behind the scenes to address these issues. I don’t think that your characterisation is correct, but from publicly available information - I understand why you hold that view!

I also do not understand why AfriNIC is so reticent about providing details of the litigation. I think its stems from a complete mis-understanding of the sub-juice rule. Still - if the AfriNIC CEO and Board are being provided with legal advice - there may be some reason why they do not release the papers. Possibly there is something specific to the Mauritian legal process - because I simply fail to understand the logic. I agree that it does not look good.

> 

> Mike, rather than haranguing this A.T. Jane person for bad manners, why

> don't you, as a member of the community, start asking some of the questions

> that I have asked, and that management and the board are all clearly quite

> reluctant to provide answers


I can walk and chew gum at the same time. Why not both?


> for, such as:

> 

>    *)  Why after 8.5 months have none of the legacy block illicit WHOIS

>    modifications been undone?  Who is responsible for un-doing these

>    illicit changes to the WHOIS and why hasn't that person been doing

>    their job?  Isn't Eddy the ultimate responsible party here?  What is

>    his excuse for allowing these problems to languish, with no end in

>    sight?


I am aware of a project underway. I think it will be useful if the community were given real detail and not vague platitudes.


> 

>    *)  What is Mr. Cohen -actually- suing AFRINIC for?  AFRINIC management

>    and staff have -provably- allowed Mr. Cohen to keep nearly all of his

>    ill-gotten booty... all except the parts that the actual legacy holders

>    themselves took back (e.g. Sasol, the City of Cape Town, and Columbus

>    Stainless).  So why on earth would Cohen be suing AFRINIC?


Great Question - maybe AfriNIC’s counsel and actually provide the details, rather than making the CEO utter vague platitudes.

> 

>    *) Why has every single reasonable request I have made, e.g. for historical

>    WHOIS information needed to complete my investigation of these matters,

>    been consistantly and 100% stonewalled by both Eddy and Madhvi?


Great question.

> 

>    *) Who permanently "disappeared" part of the WHOIS history for the

>    196.16.0.0/14 block, and why?

> 

>    *)  Why is the legal complaint in this alleged legal action, by Mr. Cohen,

>    and against AFRINIC, being kept secret from both the public and even from

>    the dues-paying members of AFRINIC who have a clear right to see it?  And

>    why do the dues-paying members of AFRINIC even tolerate this attempt to

>    hide the facts which they have a right to know?  More to the point, who

>    is benefitting from this attempt by management and/or the board to hide

>    the full facts from the dues-paying members?


I suspect a judicious application of Hanlon’s Razor will give you your answer. However, I do understand why the unexplained secrecy leads you to further questions.

> 

>    *)  Who did Mr. Cohen allegedly "buy" all of the stolen legacy blcoks from?

>    It had to be some AFRINIC insider... someone who could fiddle the WHOIS

>    records at will.  So who ELSE, in addition to Ernest, has been profiting

>    from the looting of AFRINIC?


I am not sure AfriNIC would have that information and I am not sure your conclusion is justified. Still - absent transparency, I do understand how you got there.

> 

>    *)  Who else did Ernest implicate when he was confronted with the evidence

>    of his crimes by the board and management at the AFRINIC meeting in

>    Luanda, Angola in early December, 2019?


How do you know anyone was implicated?

> 

> Mike, rather than spending your electrons chastizing list posters for

> their bad manners, wouldn't it be a more productive use of your time

> to join me in seeking answers to the above unanswered questions?  Don't

> you think that it is about time that this colossal mess and this colossal

> and ongoing scandal finally got cleaned up, and isn't it already well

> past time for the full facts to be revealed and disclosed, at least to

> the dues-paying members?


I am happy to add my voice to yours, while expressing my disgust as to how a colleague has been treated, without any justification.

Regards

Mike


> 

> Or should things just continue to go on they way they have been, with

> AFRINIC still crooked and still a worldwide object of scorn and ridicule?

> 

> It's your RiR and your choice.  The members can just continue to turn a

> blind eye to all of this, but you cannot now do so without without knowing,

> for certain, that MANY facts and answers are being deliberately hidden.

> 

> 

> Regards,

> rfg

> 

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