[Icp2-review] Comments and suggestions

[aalain at digitalintelligence.africa]

Dear ASO/AC members,

Please see below my comments and suggestions.

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In a recent paper(*) titled "The case AFRINIC and evolution of the Global RIR system", I concluded regarding the work on implementation procedures and updating ICP-2 as follows:
 "Any work around this, will have to address the issue of the legitimacy of the RIRs, and design the number resources management for the future. Such work will benefit from clarifying few points like What makes a stakeholder? , who is a stakeholder? and the membership versus Community.”

 The ongoing discussions on the new ICP-2 call for the following analysis from the definitions, principles and rules:

 1-  RIR
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“RIR” means a Regional Internet Registry.

 “RIR Services” means the delegation of Number Resources and the set of services necessary to ensure that Resource Holders are able to use Number Resources and the Numbering Community is able to obtain accurate information about which Number Resources are held by which entities, including allocation, registration, and directory services as well as related technical services.

 “Service Region” means the area for which an RIR is officially designated as the RIR responsible for providing RIR Services.

 “Resource Holder” means a legal or natural person, as applicable, that holds Number Resources registered with an RIR.
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- Does this definition of RIR hold anymore under regime of :

-  Inter-RIR transfers not controlled by the RIRs? ( Number resources move across regions)

- No more need-based

- Market with sellers and buyers? (Number resources became assets)

- Conflict between RIRs and Resource holder on the respective role of each of them ?

- Resource Holders claiming that the resources belong to them with no rights to RIRs and the end-users


 2-  Control
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“Control” means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to determine or cause the direction of the management or policies of an entity or the entity’s participation in the governance of an RIR, whether through ownership, by contract, or otherwise.

 "Disproportionate Control": An RIR must maintain governance rules and controls to ensure that no person or entity or group of Affiliated entities has the power to effectively control the RIR.

 "Member-Controlled": The majority of an RIR’s Governing Body must be elected by the RIR’s Members, and the Governing Body must maintain effective control over the RIR.
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- What do "Control" and "Disproportionate Control" mean in the context of:

- Number resources as assets procuring financial means to “large resource holders" who can challenge the RIR in court if failed to capture it

- Low membership's participation in RIRs decisions

 - RIR "must" participate and cooperate in audit and can't enforce the same with Resource holders


 3- The Derecognition
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                        A Proposal to Derecognize an RIR may be submitted to the RIRs and ICANN in writing by:

            a          Any RIR or group of RIRs; or

            b          Not less than 25% of the Members of the RIR that is the subject of the Proposal.
——

- Why give such power to RIR or to 25% of their membership?

- In a "RIR" context, shouldn't requirement for a regional representation of the 25% be mandatory? One country could play this game. 

- What "must" the conditions of such submission be?

- The proposal to derecognize RIR does not accept derecognition of the resource holders as consequence

- Isn’t “Reestablishment” more correct than “Derecognition”? (members are constant and allocations are invariant). More true and constructive and speaks to commitment to continuation. A key goal is stability. 

- Why can't the “Reestablishment” be considered only as last resort after failure or impossibility to address material non-compliance to regular/regulatory audits, instead of through request from some groups?


Context and references
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 (*) https://www.digitalintelligence.africa/publications/alain/AFRINIC-Evolution-of-RIR-System.html

HTH

—Adeola A. P. AINA