<html><head></head><body><div class="ydp96bb9a2cyahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><div><p class="ydpee3a79eayiv3918465945ydpd3c629cdMsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">Mr Guilmette, </span></p><p class="ydpee3a79eayiv3918465945ydpd3c629cdMsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">The Governance committee is acting upon complaints that were logged online </span></p><p class="ydpee3a79eayiv3918465945ydpd3c629cdMsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">https://afrinic.net/govcom/request#GC2020.04</span></p><p class="ydpee3a79eayiv3918465945ydpd3c629cdMsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">https://afrinic.net/govcom/request#GC2020.05. Besides, there was a blog post about it from AFRINIC </span></p><p class="ydpee3a79eayiv3918465945ydpd3c629cdMsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">https://afrinic.net/20200903-code-of-conduct</span></p><p class="ydpee3a79eayiv3918465945ydpd3c629cdMsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;"> </span></p></div></div><div><br></div><div class="ydp96bb9a2csignature"><div style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><p>Dr Ing. Alioune Badara TRAORE </p><p>Membre du conseil de l'AMRTP en charge des TIC</p><p>Président FEMAT</p><p>Directeur Technique du CNOSM</p><p>Ceinture Noire 7ème DAN<br>Arbitre Olympique de Taekwondo <br>+223 6678 58 31</p></div></div></div>
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Le mardi 27 octobre 2020 à 10:58:18 UTC, Ronald F. Guilmette <rfg@tristatelogic.com> a écrit :
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<div><div dir="ltr">I am in reciept this evening, California time, of a rather formal looking<br></div><div dir="ltr">letter, on AFRINIC letterhead, sent to me by Guylaine Laiyra <guylaine@<br></div><div dir="ltr">afrinic.net>, acting in her capacity as secretariat of the AFRINIC<br></div><div dir="ltr">Governance Committee.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">The letter informs me that the Governance Committee has been requested,<br></div><div dir="ltr">by some unspecified party, to investigate a possible breach of the AFRINIC<br></div><div dir="ltr">Code of Conduct committed by myself, on Aug 20, 2020 at 00:42:39 UTC.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">The letter goes on to request "a wrtten explanation of {my} conduct"<br></div><div dir="ltr">and invites me to "give a reason why the AFRINIC Code of Conduct should<br></div><div dir="ltr">not be enforced against {me}."<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">To the extent that I am willing to offer any such, this email will have<br></div><div dir="ltr">to suffice as my response.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">The admirable brevity of the letter I recieved is exceeded only by its<br></div><div dir="ltr">abundant ambiguity. Who has made this request for retribution? The<br></div><div dir="ltr">letter does not say. The letter thus fails one of the most fundamental<br></div><div dir="ltr">tests of civilized jurisdrudence -- the right of the accused to face<br></div><div dir="ltr">his accuser.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">This leaves me to wonder who has taken offense. Was it Mr. Cohen, the<br></div><div dir="ltr">very individual who is currently engaged in legal warfare against this<br></div><div dir="ltr">very institution, AFRINIC? Was it Eddy Kayihura or some member of the<br></div><div dir="ltr">Board, who may have taken exception to the fact that I have pointed out<br></div><div dir="ltr">their collective lackadaisical approach to this entire colossal and<br></div><div dir="ltr">currently still ongoing scandal of the stolen IP space?<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Apparently, I am not entitled to know who is accusing me of an offense.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Nor, it seems, am I entitled to know which specific section of the AFRINIC<br></div><div dir="ltr">Code of Conduct I have purportedly violated. (And this is more than a<br></div><div dir="ltr">little Kafkaesque. All I am told is that I shall be put on trial for my<br></div><div dir="ltr">offenses, and I am then left to my own devices to figure out what those<br></div><div dir="ltr">might be.)<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">In an effort to puzzle out what offense I have comitted, I have sought out<br></div><div dir="ltr">some enlightenment via the web. I have thus found the following recitation<br></div><div dir="ltr">of the AFRINIC Code of Conduct:<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"> <a href="https://afrinic.net/code" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://afrinic.net/code</a><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"> We ask that all AFRINIC community participants:<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"> I. Treat others with politeness and respect.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"> II. Avoid behaviour or remarks that give offence or discriminate based<br></div><div dir="ltr"> on gender, sexual orientation, religion, race or ethnic origin,<br></div><div dir="ltr"> language, or other perceived social, cultural, or personal differences. <br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"> III. Personal attacks or otherwise defamatory or discriminatory comments<br></div><div dir="ltr"> will not be tolerated.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"> IV. If you disagree with somebody, please state your opinion calmly and<br></div><div dir="ltr"> politely.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"> V. Respect the agenda: Please keep your remarks on-topic for the relevant<br></div><div dir="ltr"> part of the meeting.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"> VI. Respect the timekeeping: Please keep your remarks reasonably short,<br></div><div dir="ltr"> and if the session leader closes the microphones before you have<br></div><div dir="ltr"> had chance to speak, then please return to your seat.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"> VII. Respect language differences, translators, and remote participants:<br></div><div dir="ltr"> Please speak slowly and clearly, and please use the microphones.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"> VIII. Act in the best interests of the AFRINIC community at all times. <br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Before I even attempt to guess which of the above I am accused of violating,<br></div><div dir="ltr">I cannot help but comment on the priority ordering on the above. Shouldn't<br></div><div dir="ltr">that last item really be first? It would seem that at least one person on<br></div><div dir="ltr">the community-discuss mailing list doesn't think so. But shouldn't the<br></div><div dir="ltr">best interests of the AFRINIC community, on some occasions at least, take<br></div><div dir="ltr">precedence over the enforcement of what I will just call the "happy talk"<br></div><div dir="ltr">rules? Is clear and brutal honesty about what has gone on, and what is<br></div><div dir="ltr">really continuing to go on, within AFRINIC, all to be set aside and never<br></div><div dir="ltr">openly discussed, like some ugly or demented aunt or uncle, just because<br></div><div dir="ltr">it may make some people uncomfortable?<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">I have invested, without any compensation whatsoever, an enormous amount of<br></div><div dir="ltr">time and energy, selflessly serving what I believe are the best interests<br></div><div dir="ltr">of the AFRINIC community. And I continue to do so, even in the face of<br></div><div dir="ltr">long odds and enormous resistance. If not for me and my diligent hard work,<br></div><div dir="ltr">over a period of literally years, Ernest Byaruhanga would still be employed<br></div><div dir="ltr">at AFRINIC and would still be stealing from the AFRINIC community, with<br></div><div dir="ltr">no one the wiser to his ongoing pilfering. And, it seems, some folks, at<br></div><div dir="ltr">least, would have preferred that outcome.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Returning to the above list of offenses, I find it implausible that I have<br></div><div dir="ltr">in any way violated rules V, VI, or VII, since I hav been brief, to the<br></div><div dir="ltr">point, and have spoken slowly and clearly. That leaves rules I, II, III,<br></div><div dir="ltr">and IV. I shall here address each in turn.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Have I treated others with politness and respect? Yes, to the extent that<br></div><div dir="ltr">they deserved any such. I have stated, both here and elsewhere, the clear<br></div><div dir="ltr">reasons why at least one poster here on the community-discuss mailing list<br></div><div dir="ltr">deserves none, and least of all here.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Have I made remarks that may give offense? Perhaps, but only to those<br></div><div dir="ltr">whose own conduct is richly and demonstratably deserving of such offense.<br></div><div dir="ltr">And I have provided and will continue to provide much of the evidence that<br></div><div dir="ltr">clarifies the relevant issues while laying the blame squarely where it<br></div><div dir="ltr">belongs.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Have I made personal attacks? None that are in any sense more serious and<br></div><div dir="ltr">more threatening to the institution of AFRINIC than Mr. Cohen's current<br></div><div dir="ltr">legal attack. Judged on the basis of the possible real-world implications,<br></div><div dir="ltr">nothing I have said is even comparable to what Mr. Cohen has actually done.<br></div><div dir="ltr">Not even in the same ballpark. And yet even he is still permitted to give<br></div><div dir="ltr">voice to his slanders and lies right here on the community-discuss mailing<br></div><div dir="ltr">list, even as he continues to pursue legal action whose clear goal is to<br></div><div dir="ltr">utterly undermine AFRINIC's legal and ethical responsibilities. If I am<br></div><div dir="ltr">guilty of the sin of crossing the street against the lights then isn't<br></div><div dir="ltr">Mr. Cohen guilty, both figuratively and literally of grand larceny by<br></div><div dir="ltr">comparison? Yet I am the one being asked to defend my comments here.<br></div><div dir="ltr">In what parallel universe is this either sensible or fair?<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">I will have no more to say by way of response to the Governance Committee's<br></div><div dir="ltr">reauest to me to explain that which needed no explanation in the first<br></div><div dir="ltr">place. I understand that, according to the rules, they are obliged to<br></div><div dir="ltr">make certian pro forma inquiries in response to any reports they receive,<br></div><div dir="ltr">even if they come from the likes of Mr. Cohen, and I cannot and will not<br></div><div dir="ltr">begrudge them for that.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">If on the other hand, they are pursuing a hidden agenda of either Eddy or<br></div><div dir="ltr">the Board, i.e. to silence me by way of the gross over-enforcement of<br></div><div dir="ltr">patently ridiculous and petty procedural rules, then so be it. In that<br></div><div dir="ltr">case, bring it on and let the community see that AFRINIC officials are<br></div><div dir="ltr">still unable to tolerate even modest and well-intentioned criticism, <br></div><div dir="ltr">just like the previous well-documented incident in which various mailing<br></div><div dir="ltr">list posts were simply "disappeared" when they did not suit the agenda<br></div><div dir="ltr">of those in power at the time.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Either way I will not be so easily silenced, and it would be a mistake<br></div><div dir="ltr">to underestimate my tenacity. In fact, in the end, it might be better<br></div><div dir="ltr">overall if the Governance Committee, despite my evident contributions<br></div><div dir="ltr">to the community, elected to be petty, and to harshly enforce the "happy<br></div><div dir="ltr">talk" rules against me. There is certainly no shortage of other fora,<br></div><div dir="ltr">and other outlets for my research and opinions, and in some of those,<br></div><div dir="ltr">at least, unlike the AFRINIC community-discuss mailing list, I might<br></div><div dir="ltr">actually find less of the abject apathy, engendered no doubt by year<br></div><div dir="ltr">after year of crisis and scandal, than I find here on this mailing list.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Elsewhere people actually give a damn. The articles that Jan Vermeulen<br></div><div dir="ltr">wrote last year about the thefts of AFRINIC IP space were picked up and<br></div><div dir="ltr">reinterpreted and/or republished as far away as the UK, Germany, and Japan.<br></div><div dir="ltr">Yet here, I can't even get an "Amen!" let alone any expression of thanks<br></div><div dir="ltr">for all of the work I've done and the hundreds of hours I have invested.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">If, as seems to be the case, nobody who values their time even reads what<br></div><div dir="ltr">is written here, then it shall certainly be a kindness if the Governance<br></div><div dir="ltr">Committee does me the favor of insuring that I won't waste any more of<br></div><div dir="ltr">my time or electrons trying to persuade the peacefully slumbering audience<br></div><div dir="ltr">here of the value of being awake, or of knowing what the hell is really<br></div><div dir="ltr">going on, or who is actually responsible.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Regards,<br></div><div dir="ltr">Ron Guilmette<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">P.S. Jan Vermeulen @ MyBoroadband.co.za continues to write and publish<br></div><div dir="ltr">about the ongoing mess that is AFRINIC, having penned another article on<br></div><div dir="ltr">the topic just this past weekend. SPOILER ALERT: The total amount of<br></div><div dir="ltr">stolen IPv4 space turned out to have been even larger that what Eddy or<br></div><div dir="ltr">the Board previously disclosed to the community via the mailing lists.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">I am altogether confident that Mr. Vermeulen has more than enough material<br></div><div dir="ltr">for several more shocking installments in this ongoing saga. On the off<br></div><div dir="ltr">chance that anyone here on the community-discuss mailing list really wants<br></div><div dir="ltr">to know all of the relevant facts, I do recommend that they keep an eye<br></div><div dir="ltr">out for further public disclosures on MyBoroadband.co.za, especially<br></div><div dir="ltr">given that your chances of getting the whole story here will approach<br></div><div dir="ltr">zero if, as now seems likely, I am unceremoniously ejected for the sin<br></div><div dir="ltr">of telling the truth plainly and without varnish.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">For my own part, I have recently uncovered new and compelling historical<br></div><div dir="ltr">evidence, proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Cohen, Mr. Uerlings,<br></div><div dir="ltr">and/or their respective minions sub-leased a good deal of the stolen<br></div><div dir="ltr">AFRINIC IP space to one particular snowshoe spamming company located in<br></div><div dir="ltr">Southern California... a company that shall, for the moment remain nameless.<br></div><div dir="ltr">This, along with another such company located in Florida, were the clear<br></div><div dir="ltr">and unambiguous end recipients of much of the stolen AFRINIC address space.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">All will be revealed in time, but apparently not here.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">_______________________________________________<br></div><div dir="ltr">Community-Discuss mailing list<br></div><div dir="ltr"><a href="mailto:Community-Discuss@afrinic.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Community-Discuss@afrinic.net</a><br></div><div dir="ltr"><a href="https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/community-discuss" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/community-discuss</a><br></div></div>
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