Hello John
Congratulations for making this public statement in a very clear and
fair way based on facts that happened and real evidence.
I don't really agree every time I read stuff like "Every RIR should
resolve their own problems". Obviously there is some specific stuff of
the region and the legal system each RIR is based on and that must be
dealt by each RIR, but in general RIRs operate em very similar ways and
if there is a threat or a tentative do subvert the proposal of a RIR all
other RIRs, NRO, ICANN and any organization that is committed to
stability of the internet have the duty to position themselves in the
right side, share important information that can contribute to clarify
the scenario to all stackholders and keep IP resources as fair as
possible among any end-user organization. A bad scenario for a RIR has
the potential to be replicated to any other so why it is important in my
view that each one position themselves in the defense of the right
principles that guide the operation of any RIR.
I want to take the opportunity to reinforce to all following this topic
and that participate on policy making process the importance to keep
both eyes opened to tentatives of any possible actors that may not
necessarily be committed to continuous Internet development, to provide
internet connectivity and services to people in general and that may try
to use the policy making process to change rules only for their
personal/financial interests.
Once again congratulations Team ARIN for the well written and clear
statement.
Regards
Fernando
On 27/08/2021 10:55, John Curran wrote:
ARIN Community -
In response to questions about the dispute in the AFRINIC region,
please refer to the following article (link and text attached below –
<https://teamarin.net/2021/08/27/afrinic-and-the-stability-of-the-internet-number-registry-system/
<https://teamarin.net/2021/08/27/afrinic-and-the-stability-of-the-internet-number-registry-system/>>
FYI,
/John
John Curran
President and CEO
American Registry for Internet Numbers
===
August 27, 2021
AFRINIC And The Stability Of The Internet Number Registry System
By John Curran - President and CEO, American Registry for Internet
Numbers, Ltd. (ARIN)
As many in the community are aware, the Regional Internet Registry
(RIR) that serves Africa (AFRINIC) has been involved in litigation
with a company known as “Cloud Innovation” operating out of the
Seychelles and under control of an individual named Lu Heng (who
resides primarily in Hong Kong.) Disputes between RIRs and their
customers do occur from time to time, and it is best that such
disputes are resolved within that RIR, its community, and/or
the applicable legal and courts system if necessary.
ARIN does not normally comment on disputes or related litigation
occurring at another RIR, but this matter has become quite different,
as it is both highly public and has potential for significant impact
to the overall stability of the Internet number registry system and
thus to ARIN and its community. Therefore, I address the ARIN
community to provide insight into the nature of the dispute, to
highlight some troublesome aspects of the ongoing litigation, and
finally to reiterate ARIN’s unwavering support to AFRINIC and the
African networking community.
The Dispute and Litigation
In 2020, AFRINIC completed a registry audit to confirm that number
resources were properly reflected in the registry; and as a result,
determined that it required additional information from Cloud
Innovation regarding its utilization of previously issued Internet
number resources. This sort of resource review is not uncommon among
the RIRs, and ARIN has its own resource review process that is similar
in nature. Upon reviewing the information provided by
Cloud Innovation, AFRINIC determined that the resources were not being
utilized for the purposes for which they were issued and noted that
they would be revoked (after a suitable time to allow customer
migration off those resources.) Mr. Lu and his businesses disputed
AFRINIC’s authority to enforce this provision of its customer
agreement and instead engaged in several legal actions in the courts
in Mauritius to prevent having to return the address blocks to AFRINIC.
As noted earlier, normally disputes are routine in nature and are
generally best resolved by the individual RIR, its community, and/or
the applicable legal & courts system. However, among the motions that
Cloud Innovation has made is one that currently freezes AFRINIC’s
accounts and thus has the potential to hamper AFRINIC’s operations and
ability to serve both the community in Africa as well as the global
community that relies upon the Internet number registry system. ARIN
takes stability of the Internet number registry system very seriously;
and considering this risk, we are compelled to provide this update to
the ARIN community as it needs to be aware of these developments and
potential implications. I must also share some of ARIN’s knowledge
related to this matter as it informs and directs our stance going
forward.
Prior Dealings with ARIN
ARIN has first-hand experience and insight into Mr. Lu’s business
practices in seeking IP number resources. Mr. Lu, through Cloud
Innovation, Ltd., received 6.2 million IPv4 addresses from AFRINIC in
four different installments[1]; however, it is worth noting that in
2013,Mr. Lu, through his company Outside Heaven, Ltd., also approached
and sought over one million IPv4 addresses from ARIN. ARIN ultimately
refused to provide any resources to him and his business for two main
reasons: First, during the review of his application to justify the
provision of Internet number resources, Mr. Lu refused to provide ARIN
with information that was repeatedly requested on a number of
occasions; and second, the information provided by Mr. Lu was
misleading and inconsistent. In addition, Mr. Lu had no meaningful
business establishment in the ARIN region; and based on his own
representations, it was clear the intended use of the IPv4
addresses—if they were issued—was for business activities outside the
ARIN service region. Given the seriousness of potentially false
statements made to ARIN to obtain number resources, ARIN attempted to
engage in appropriate due diligence with which Mr. Lu was unwilling to
cooperate. ARIN refused his application for IPv4 number resources.
Use of the AFRINIC Resources Out of Africa
ARIN has reviewed the utilization of the number resource blocks issued
by AFRINIC to Cloud Innovation and determined that the overwhelming
majority of the approximately 6.2 million IP addresses issued have not
been used within the African continent. While there are cases of
entire address blocks being routed from an ISP in South Africa, Cloud
Innovation also has announced more specific routes from ISPs in Hong
Kong and the United States. Because more specific announcements take
routing precedence, this rendered the routing announcement at the
South African ISP moot and resulted in the vast majority of the
traffic usage being outside of Africa. Such a result is not surprising
as Cloud Innovation has indicated that they predominantly “lease” the
IP address space to other parties rather than utilize it to provide
connectivity services directly.
It is apparent that Cloud Innovation’s use of the issued number
resources is not being used for the purpose for which they were
issued; and as such, it appears that AFRINIC is within its rights per
the registration services agreement to reclaim them so that they may
be used for the benefit of the African community. This is among the
issues that will need to be considered by the Mauritian court, as well
as whether there was fraud in the inception of the contractual
process when the resources were issued. Because AFRINIC is directly
involved in the litigation, it has quite properly limited its public
comments on the ongoing litigation with Mr. Lu and his companies.
However, Mr. Lu, and parties related to Mr. Lu, have not limited their
actions to the courts and have maintained a steady stream of confusing
and inconsistent misinformation to the public that apparently distorts
the issues to cast AFRINIC in a most unfavorable light. Neither the
AFRINIC nor the ARIN communities should expect a quick answer from the
courts, but it will ultimately yield a ruling. In the interim, as
procedural motions are being sorted out, the community should not make
judgements about the court proceeding until the substantive issues are
addressed.
Joint RIR Stability Fund
The RIRs have committed to mutual assistance, in kind and financial,
to ensure operational continuity of the Internet number registry
system; and in 2015, the RIRs established a Joint RIR Stability Fund
as a prudent contingency measure towards long-term Internet number
registry stability. The Fund has been established through voluntary
pledges of funds from individual RIRs’ reserves, and upon an RIR’s
duly submitted request for support from the Stability Fund, the funds
may be made available to support that RIR’s registry and policy
development activities. There is in excess of $2M USD of financial
support collectively pledged from the RIRs for this purpose; and in
addition, support can also be provided in-kind (e.g.,
through operational staff for support of operational activities if
needed.)
If AFRINIC requests support in accordance with the Joint RIR Stability
Fund, ARIN will support such a request. Furthermore, and without
reservation, ARIN stands by its unwavering commitment to support
AFRINIC and will take any and all measures necessary to ensure
that neither the African networking community, nor the global Internet
number registry system, is operationally impacted during this period.
AFRINIC was formed (and has accomplished so much) for the benefit of
the African networking community and ARIN stands with the community in
dealing with those who seek to disrupt or exploit it for their own
benefit.
[1]
154.80.0.0/12 (Issued 07/24/2013)
45.192.0.0/12 (Issued 12/1/2014)
156.224.0.0/11 (Issued 12/22/2015)
154.192.0.0/11 (Issued 09/16/2016)
===
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