Thanks Ronald. I have forwarded your message to the members-disc...@ripe.net list, as I believe it's on-topic. Let's see if the moderators agree :)
-- Regards, Terrence Koeman, PhD/MTh/BPsy Darkness Reigns (Holding) B.V. Please quote relevant replies. Spelling errors courtesy of my 'smart'phone. ________________________________ From: "Ronald F. Guilmette" <r...@tristatelogic.com> Sent: Wednesday, 13 May 2020 11:51 To: nanog@nanog.org Subject: RIPE NCC Executive Board election > Many of you here may be dues-paying members of both ARIN and RIPE. > > Those of you who are may wish to be aware of the fact that there will > be an election held on (I believe) May 14th, just a day or two from > now, for three open RIPE NCC Executive Board seats. > > I have it on good authority that one of the candidates running for > the open RIPE NCC board seats in this election has hired legal > counsel in South Africa, and that said legal counsel has then > proceeded to threaten various officials of the City of Cape Town, > South Africa with possible legal action if they do not relinquish > to him their rights in and title to the 165.25.0.0/16 block, a > block that all historical records, including even ARIN "WhoWas" > historical records show, clearly and unambiguously, has been > legally registered to the City of Cape Town for over twenty years. > (I am assured that at no time did the City of Cape Town ever sell, > trade, or barter away their rights to this valuable IPv4 block, > and that they are defending themselves, as best as they can, against > this attempt to extort them out of their rightful prooperty.) > > Where I come from, this kind of thing is called barratry, but you > be the judge. > > In any case, prior to the RIPE election, I wanted to let you all > know these facts about the candidate in question, as well as a > number of additional startling facts relating to the people who > nominated this candidate for a RIPE NCC Executive board seat, as > documented by my friend, South African journalist Jan Vermeulen: > > https://mybroadband.co.za/news/internet/350973-man-connected-to-african-ip-address-heist-running-for-board-position-at-european-ip-address-organisation.html > > > I could go into more detail about many of the nominators mentioned > in the above article, but I don't want to make this email too long, > so I'll await some explict request for that additional info. For now > it should suffice to make at least some of the basic facts more widely > available, a task which is accomplished just by sharing the above link, > IMHO. > > > Regards, > rfg > > > P.S. I have been specifically and explicitly enjoined and constrained > from posting here anything at all that might smack of being either > partisan or of an even vaguely "political" nature, and thus, I will > refrain from doing so. I would be remiss hoever if I did not at least > note in passing that history records that in times such as these, when > people of good character and good intent are, as they rightly should be, > focused on the health and safety of themselves, their loved ones, and > their professional collegues, and when the gaze of the world is elsewhere, > persons of less than honorable intent reach for power and, with unfortunate > regularity, obtain it. > > I cannot and do not ask that those of you who have been saddled with > personal or local crises during this sad time turn away from those > responsibilities to give attention to matters of Internet governance, > however urgent those may appear at the moment. For all of us, our first- > order duty lies nearby, with family, friends, and collegues. But for > those of you who still have a few cycles to spare, I do ask that you > consider carefully the newfound and critical importance of this tool, > this Internet, in the lives of so many millions, all around the world, > and the self-evident risks of its governance being handed over, by default > or otherwise, to persons with an interest only in what is best for them > personally, to the exclusion of all else. > > P.P.S. I would be posting this info and the above link also to the > very relevant RIPE members-discuss mailing list, but as I am not a > due-paying member of RIPE, I have no ability to do so. Separately, > due in no small part to the candidate's own recent and manifest on-list > transgressions on that very list, that list has recently been switched > to a heavy-handed moderation, under which, it seems, even discussion of > the pros and cons of candidates in the upcoming RIPE NCC Executive Board > election are now categorized as "too controversial" and thus, themselves, > are now entirely off-limits. > > I cannot help but be reminded of a catch-phrase that I saw somewhere, > not too long ago: > > "Democracy dies in darkness." > -- anon
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