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"what Mr. Cohen has actually done"
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<div>Keep on spreading lies, causing AfriNIC to take unjustified actions and to cause other people to repeat your proofless narrative and to cause innocent people to be sued only because they are following your insane proofless mind.</div>
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<div>Coconut, take your unfounded theories to the next mailing list until you will be blocked from there as well (like you were blocked in Nanog, in RIPE, and now here), and clean your pores with your tears.</div>
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<div>Ronald, as explained in the last part of my last reply, you are the lawless one, you are the anti christ according to old scriptures.</div>
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<div>Without ever seeing you I'm willing to bet in front of everyone regarding everything that I have, that these are your characteristics that are written clearly in old scriptures:</div>
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<div>- You are blond.</div>
<div>- You are bald.</div>
<div>- One eye of you is bigger than the other.</div>
<div>- One arm of you is bigger than the other.</div>
<div>- You have leprosy in your forehead.</div>
<div>- Your right ear is blocked and the left ear is opened. (it is written in old scriptures: that when a person is coming to you to tell good things about people you give him the blocked right ear, and when a person is coming to you to tell bad things about
people you give him the opened left ear).</div>
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Anyone following you is following the ancient snake, because you are the lawless one.</div>
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<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size:11pt" color="#000000"><b>From:</b> Ronald F. Guilmette <rfg@tristatelogic.com><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, October 27, 2020 12:57 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> community-discuss@afrinic.net <community-discuss@afrinic.net>; govcom@afrinic.net <govcom@afrinic.net><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Community-Discuss] Kill the Messenger</font>
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<div class="PlainText">I am in reciept this evening, California time, of a rather formal looking<br>
letter, on AFRINIC letterhead, sent to me by Guylaine Laiyra <guylaine@<br>
afrinic.net>, acting in her capacity as secretariat of the AFRINIC<br>
Governance Committee.<br>
<br>
The letter informs me that the Governance Committee has been requested,<br>
by some unspecified party, to investigate a possible breach of the AFRINIC<br>
Code of Conduct committed by myself, on Aug 20, 2020 at 00:42:39 UTC.<br>
<br>
The letter goes on to request "a wrtten explanation of {my} conduct"<br>
and invites me to "give a reason why the AFRINIC Code of Conduct should<br>
not be enforced against {me}."<br>
<br>
To the extent that I am willing to offer any such, this email will have<br>
to suffice as my response.<br>
<br>
The admirable brevity of the letter I recieved is exceeded only by its<br>
abundant ambiguity. Who has made this request for retribution? The<br>
letter does not say. The letter thus fails one of the most fundamental<br>
tests of civilized jurisdrudence -- the right of the accused to face<br>
his accuser.<br>
<br>
This leaves me to wonder who has taken offense. Was it Mr. Cohen, the<br>
very individual who is currently engaged in legal warfare against this<br>
very institution, AFRINIC? Was it Eddy Kayihura or some member of the<br>
Board, who may have taken exception to the fact that I have pointed out<br>
their collective lackadaisical approach to this entire colossal and<br>
currently still ongoing scandal of the stolen IP space?<br>
<br>
Apparently, I am not entitled to know who is accusing me of an offense.<br>
<br>
Nor, it seems, am I entitled to know which specific section of the AFRINIC<br>
Code of Conduct I have purportedly violated. (And this is more than a<br>
little Kafkaesque. All I am told is that I shall be put on trial for my<br>
offenses, and I am then left to my own devices to figure out what those<br>
might be.)<br>
<br>
In an effort to puzzle out what offense I have comitted, I have sought out<br>
some enlightenment via the web. I have thus found the following recitation<br>
of the AFRINIC Code of Conduct:<br>
<br>
<a href="https://afrinic.net/code">https://afrinic.net/code</a><br>
<br>
We ask that all AFRINIC community participants:<br>
<br>
I. Treat others with politeness and respect.<br>
<br>
II. Avoid behaviour or remarks that give offence or discriminate based<br>
on gender, sexual orientation, religion, race or ethnic origin,<br>
language, or other perceived social, cultural, or personal differences. <br>
<br>
III. Personal attacks or otherwise defamatory or discriminatory comments<br>
will not be tolerated.<br>
<br>
IV. If you disagree with somebody, please state your opinion calmly and<br>
politely.<br>
<br>
V. Respect the agenda: Please keep your remarks on-topic for the relevant<br>
part of the meeting.<br>
<br>
VI. Respect the timekeeping: Please keep your remarks reasonably short,<br>
and if the session leader closes the microphones before you have<br>
had chance to speak, then please return to your seat.<br>
<br>
VII. Respect language differences, translators, and remote participants:<br>
Please speak slowly and clearly, and please use the microphones.<br>
<br>
VIII. Act in the best interests of the AFRINIC community at all times. <br>
<br>
Before I even attempt to guess which of the above I am accused of violating,<br>
I cannot help but comment on the priority ordering on the above. Shouldn't<br>
that last item really be first? It would seem that at least one person on<br>
the community-discuss mailing list doesn't think so. But shouldn't the<br>
best interests of the AFRINIC community, on some occasions at least, take<br>
precedence over the enforcement of what I will just call the "happy talk"<br>
rules? Is clear and brutal honesty about what has gone on, and what is<br>
really continuing to go on, within AFRINIC, all to be set aside and never<br>
openly discussed, like some ugly or demented aunt or uncle, just because<br>
it may make some people uncomfortable?<br>
<br>
I have invested, without any compensation whatsoever, an enormous amount of<br>
time and energy, selflessly serving what I believe are the best interests<br>
of the AFRINIC community. And I continue to do so, even in the face of<br>
long odds and enormous resistance. If not for me and my diligent hard work,<br>
over a period of literally years, Ernest Byaruhanga would still be employed<br>
at AFRINIC and would still be stealing from the AFRINIC community, with<br>
no one the wiser to his ongoing pilfering. And, it seems, some folks, at<br>
least, would have preferred that outcome.<br>
<br>
Returning to the above list of offenses, I find it implausible that I have<br>
in any way violated rules V, VI, or VII, since I hav been brief, to the<br>
point, and have spoken slowly and clearly. That leaves rules I, II, III,<br>
and IV. I shall here address each in turn.<br>
<br>
Have I treated others with politness and respect? Yes, to the extent that<br>
they deserved any such. I have stated, both here and elsewhere, the clear<br>
reasons why at least one poster here on the community-discuss mailing list<br>
deserves none, and least of all here.<br>
<br>
Have I made remarks that may give offense? Perhaps, but only to those<br>
whose own conduct is richly and demonstratably deserving of such offense.<br>
And I have provided and will continue to provide much of the evidence that<br>
clarifies the relevant issues while laying the blame squarely where it<br>
belongs.<br>
<br>
Have I made personal attacks? None that are in any sense more serious and<br>
more threatening to the institution of AFRINIC than Mr. Cohen's current<br>
legal attack. Judged on the basis of the possible real-world implications,<br>
nothing I have said is even comparable to what Mr. Cohen has actually done.<br>
Not even in the same ballpark. And yet even he is still permitted to give<br>
voice to his slanders and lies right here on the community-discuss mailing<br>
list, even as he continues to pursue legal action whose clear goal is to<br>
utterly undermine AFRINIC's legal and ethical responsibilities. If I am<br>
guilty of the sin of crossing the street against the lights then isn't<br>
Mr. Cohen guilty, both figuratively and literally of grand larceny by<br>
comparison? Yet I am the one being asked to defend my comments here.<br>
In what parallel universe is this either sensible or fair?<br>
<br>
I will have no more to say by way of response to the Governance Committee's<br>
reauest to me to explain that which needed no explanation in the first<br>
place. I understand that, according to the rules, they are obliged to<br>
make certian pro forma inquiries in response to any reports they receive,<br>
even if they come from the likes of Mr. Cohen, and I cannot and will not<br>
begrudge them for that.<br>
<br>
If on the other hand, they are pursuing a hidden agenda of either Eddy or<br>
the Board, i.e. to silence me by way of the gross over-enforcement of<br>
patently ridiculous and petty procedural rules, then so be it. In that<br>
case, bring it on and let the community see that AFRINIC officials are<br>
still unable to tolerate even modest and well-intentioned criticism, <br>
just like the previous well-documented incident in which various mailing<br>
list posts were simply "disappeared" when they did not suit the agenda<br>
of those in power at the time.<br>
<br>
Either way I will not be so easily silenced, and it would be a mistake<br>
to underestimate my tenacity. In fact, in the end, it might be better<br>
overall if the Governance Committee, despite my evident contributions<br>
to the community, elected to be petty, and to harshly enforce the "happy<br>
talk" rules against me. There is certainly no shortage of other fora,<br>
and other outlets for my research and opinions, and in some of those,<br>
at least, unlike the AFRINIC community-discuss mailing list, I might<br>
actually find less of the abject apathy, engendered no doubt by year<br>
after year of crisis and scandal, than I find here on this mailing list.<br>
<br>
Elsewhere people actually give a damn. The articles that Jan Vermeulen<br>
wrote last year about the thefts of AFRINIC IP space were picked up and<br>
reinterpreted and/or republished as far away as the UK, Germany, and Japan.<br>
Yet here, I can't even get an "Amen!" let alone any expression of thanks<br>
for all of the work I've done and the hundreds of hours I have invested.<br>
<br>
If, as seems to be the case, nobody who values their time even reads what<br>
is written here, then it shall certainly be a kindness if the Governance<br>
Committee does me the favor of insuring that I won't waste any more of<br>
my time or electrons trying to persuade the peacefully slumbering audience<br>
here of the value of being awake, or of knowing what the hell is really<br>
going on, or who is actually responsible.<br>
<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
Ron Guilmette<br>
<br>
<br>
P.S. Jan Vermeulen @ MyBoroadband.co.za continues to write and publish<br>
about the ongoing mess that is AFRINIC, having penned another article on<br>
the topic just this past weekend. SPOILER ALERT: The total amount of<br>
stolen IPv4 space turned out to have been even larger that what Eddy or<br>
the Board previously disclosed to the community via the mailing lists.<br>
<br>
I am altogether confident that Mr. Vermeulen has more than enough material<br>
for several more shocking installments in this ongoing saga. On the off<br>
chance that anyone here on the community-discuss mailing list really wants<br>
to know all of the relevant facts, I do recommend that they keep an eye<br>
out for further public disclosures on MyBoroadband.co.za, especially<br>
given that your chances of getting the whole story here will approach<br>
zero if, as now seems likely, I am unceremoniously ejected for the sin<br>
of telling the truth plainly and without varnish.<br>
<br>
For my own part, I have recently uncovered new and compelling historical<br>
evidence, proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Cohen, Mr. Uerlings,<br>
and/or their respective minions sub-leased a good deal of the stolen<br>
AFRINIC IP space to one particular snowshoe spamming company located in<br>
Southern California... a company that shall, for the moment remain nameless.<br>
This, along with another such company located in Florida, were the clear<br>
and unambiguous end recipients of much of the stolen AFRINIC address space.<br>
<br>
All will be revealed in time, but apparently not here.<br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Community-Discuss mailing list<br>
Community-Discuss@afrinic.net<br>
<a href="https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/community-discuss">https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/community-discuss</a><br>
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