[rpd] [Last Call] Draft Policy Proposal - Hierarchical Names for New AS-SETs (AFPUB-2026-ASN-001-DRAFT02) and Amendment of Utilisation in Soft Landing (AFPUB-2026-IPv4-002-DRAFT02)

Sun Jul 19 17:39:35 UTC 2026

Dear colleagues,

This discussion has moved away from the proposal and toward questioning who is allowed to object.

Whether someone operates an ASN, uses drafting assistance, is new to the list, or is unfamiliar to long-standing participants does not determine whether their argument is valid. The PDP should examine the substance of an objection, not attempt to infer authorship from writing style or rank participants according to reputation.

Submitting text to another language model does not establish who wrote it, who contributed to it, or whether the person posting it agrees with it. A probability produced by Claude is not evidence of astroturfing. It is an automated opinion about prose.

Hendrik’s own quoted analysis concedes the important point: the distinction between authenticating the creator of an AS-SET and validating its contents is a real objection that still requires an answer. That issue does not disappear because the wording appears polished.

The request to identify which ASNs objectors “represent” also misunderstands participation. I am not claiming to represent every African operator, nor should any individual participant make that claim without authority. I am participating in my own capacity. An ASN is not a voting credential, and operating one does not give its holder a larger mandate over the policy process.

Frank’s road-rule analogy is also misplaced. Governments impose traffic laws through public authority and accept legal accountability for doing so. AFRINIC is a private registry operating a technical database. The existence of a working group does not turn that registry into a legislature or every preferred operational practice into the equivalent of public law.

The question before us remains simple: does this proposal solve the specific harm claimed, and is mandatory registry enforcement the minimum necessary mechanism?

Hierarchical naming may reduce future name collisions. That is a useful property. It does not validate the accuracy of AS-SET membership, prevent incorrect customer-cone data, or make generated filters trustworthy by itself. Those limitations should be assessed honestly rather than buried beneath accusations about who wrote which paragraph.

If the co-chairs believe several objections raise the same substantive issue, they may group them as one issue. That is reasonable. But they should then determine whether the issue has been answered on its merits. They should not discount it because the participants are unfamiliar, share a view, use similar language, or may have used writing tools.

Participation provides evidence, criticism, and warning. Familiarity does not create mandate. Reputation does not replace proof. A mailing list should not become a private club in which established names decide which speakers count.

I remain opposed to the proposal and ask that the discussion return to the proposal’s technical scope, demonstrated benefit, limitations, and proportionality.

Regards,
Thulisile

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: [Last Call] Draft Policy Proposal - Hierarchical Names
      for New AS-SETs (AFPUB-2026-ASN-001-DRAFT02) (Hendrik Visage)
   2. Re: TOR - Re:  Appeal Committee (Ben Roberts - AfriNIC)
   3. AFRINIC-37 PPM Minutes(draft) (Policy Liaison Team)
   4. [Last Call] Draft Policy Proposal ? Hierarchical Names for
      New AS-SETs (AFPUB-2026-ASN-001-DRAFT02) (Fundiswa Nadia Maseko)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2026 17:37:24 +0200
From: Hendrik Visage <hvisage at hevis.co.za>
To: Hytham El-Nakhal <hytham at tra.gov.eg>
Cc: rpd at afrinic.net
Subject: Re: [rpd] [Last Call] Draft Policy Proposal - Hierarchical
        Names for New AS-SETs (AFPUB-2026-ASN-001-DRAFT02)
Message-ID: <CF9EBF3E-F685-4543-9284-CF2C2DD71B33 at hevis.co.za>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"; Format="flowed"

Good day Hytham

  I hereby also want to thank the PDWG for their work on this proposal,
and express my support for it. I might be a ?new?  entrant/operator,
but very early in the process of setting up my BGP peering sessions,
realized the importance of hierarcical AS-SETS.

---
Hendrik Visage
Director/Owner
HeViS.Co Systems t/a Envisage Cloud Solutions
hvisage at hevis.co.za
GSM/SMS/Signal: +27-84-612-5345
InstantMessenger: https://t.me/hvisage

On 17 Jul 2026, at 0:09, Hytham El-Nakhal wrote:

> Dear PDWG,
>
>
> The Policy Development Working Group (PDWG) Chairs have initiated a
> Last Call for this proposal, following rough consensus at the
> AFRINIC-37 Public Policy Meeting held in hybrid format in Nairobi,
> Kenya on 24 June 2026.
>
>   *   Proposal Name: Hierarchical Names for New AS-SETs
>
>   *   Proposal ID: AFPUB-2026-ASN-001-DRAFT02
>
>   *   Proposal URL:
> https://www.afrinic.net/afpub-2026-asn-001-draft02.html
>
> Last Call closes on: July 31, 2026, at 23:59 UTC.
>
>
> Please note the staff observation regarding implementation
> constraints: due to the current prioritization of the MyAFRINIC v2
> deployment, physical database implementation of this policy will be
> scheduled once the MyAFRINIC v2 deployment is concluded.
>
>
> As always, we kindly request that all participants adhere to the
> AFRINIC Code of Conduct<https://www.afrinic.net/code> to maintain a
> respectful and professional environment on the mailing list.
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
>
> Haitham el Nakhal
>
> AFRINIC PDWG Co-Chair
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> RPD mailing list
> RPD at afrinic.net
> https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/rpd
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Message: 2
Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2026 17:02:17 +0100
From: Ben Roberts - AfriNIC <ben.roberts at afrinic.net>
To: Dr Nyirenda Paulos <paulos at sdnp.org.mw>
Cc: rpd <rpd at afrinic.net>
Subject: Re: [rpd] TOR - Re:  Appeal Committee
Message-ID: <494B5C33-3546-4626-AA0C-866691665CC7 at afrinic.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

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Message: 3
Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2026 20:42:47 +0400
From: Policy Liaison Team <policy-liaison at afrinic.net>
To: "rpd at afrinic.net" <rpd at afrinic.net>
Subject: [rpd] AFRINIC-37 PPM Minutes(draft)
Message-ID: <45f082df-a923-44a5-abe9-581078a83bda at afrinic.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"; Format="flowed"

*

Dear PDWG,

As requested by the PDWG Chair, the PPM minutes are available here
-https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RS9bYBb9-8uQxLb4u8LpvEUw1jZSfei5mLj01l2LS1s/edit?usp=sharing
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RS9bYBb9-8uQxLb4u8LpvEUw1jZSfei5mLj01l2LS1s/edit?usp=sharing>.

We will share the link once they are published on the website.

.

You may share your comments and feedback on the RPD mailing list
https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/rpd
<https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/rpd>or pdwg at afrinic.net .

Deadline :? 23h59 UTC 23rd July? 2026

The final minutes shall thereafter be published.

Regards

AFRINIC Policy Liaison Team

*

--
AFRINIC Policy Liaison.
t: +230 403 51 00 | f: +230 466 6758 | tt: @afrinic | w:www.afrinic.net
facebook.com/afrinic | flickr.com/afrinic | youtube.com/afrinicmedia
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Message: 4
Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2026 18:55:44 +0200
From: Fundiswa Nadia Maseko <fundiswanadia2 at gmail.com>
To: rpd at afrinic.net
Cc: rpd-owner at afrinic.net
Subject: [rpd] [Last Call] Draft Policy Proposal ? Hierarchical Names
        for New AS-SETs (AFPUB-2026-ASN-001-DRAFT02)
Message-ID:
        <CABV0QcTPPgvmjzwt9_+gW=s1ZX9S+zGQis7dcYsxYnxpLTUJSw at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

*Dear PDWG,*

I have been following this discussion with interest, and I would like to
express my concern about the direction it has taken.

The Policy Development Process should evaluate technical arguments on their
merits. Whether a participant drafted a message unaided, received editorial
assistance, or used modern writing tools does not determine whether the
reasoning is sound. Speculating about authorship instead of addressing the
substance risks distracting the Working Group from the policy questions
before it.

I am also concerned by suggestions that contributions should be disregarded
simply because of assumptions about how they were written. If there are
factual or technical errors, they should be identified and discussed. That
is how consensus is strengthened.

The questions raised by several participants remain legitimate subjects for
technical debate: whether the proposal has demonstrated operational
necessity, whether the proposed intervention is proportionate, and whether
less restrictive alternatives have been adequately considered.

I therefore encourage all participants to continue engaging with the
substance of the proposal while maintaining the respectful and professional
standards expected within the PDWG.

Kind regards,

Fundiswa Nadia Maseko
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