Governance
APNIC faces tough questions on ICP-2 update, finances, and governance at AGM 2025
APNIC’s Executive Council has been grilled over its failure to proactively engage members of the Asia-Pacific internet community on the topic of ICP-2’s long-overdue update. Speaking at the AGM held this week during the APRICOT event, Lu Heng, CEO at LARUS Ltd, was just one vocal member of the audie…
Headline
APNIC’s Executive Council has been grilled over its failure to proactively engage members of the Asia-Pacific internet community on the topic of ICP-2’s long-overdue update. Speaking at the AGM held this week during the APRICOT event, Lu Heng, CEO at LARUS Ltd, was just one…
Context
APNIC’s Executive Council has been grilled over its failure to proactively engage members of the Asia-Pacific internet community on the topic of ICP-2’s long-overdue update. Speaking at the AGM held this week during the APRICOT event , Lu Heng, CEO at LARUS Ltd, was just one vocal member of the audience who wanted to hold APNIC to account. “I’ve been here all week, and I’ve not been approached even once to discuss ICP-2, one of the biggest updates taking place in this industry for years,” he said. “And many of the principles outlined in the report do not have the agreement of the community. Are we really going to push ahead with this aggressive timeline when the community disagrees with so much?”
Evidence
Pending intelligence enrichment.
Analysis
Also read: Interview with Lu Heng: The man who wants to decentralise IP addresses and save the internet Also read: Sponsor shock at APRICOT dinner: Canceled member now top supporter Kenny Huang, APNIC Executive Council chairman, offered some explanation: “These things go through many stages, and some stages need more time to compile the data, so there may not have been time to consult all the necessary stakeholders, but we will address this in the future.” But Lu had more points to make. Some of the proposals were illogical and unrealistic, he suggested. “It says that the RIRs [Regional Internet Registries] need to cooperate with ICANN and so on. But that’s like asking the criminal to cooperate with the police.” He also pointed to the disconnect between the Regional Internet Registries. “The five RIRs operate entirely independently – independent back-end systems, independent billing systems, independent databases of members – they are not data sharing, there is no data escrow, so if an RIR fails there is no practical way to take over the membership and continue to guarantee uniqueness. This is a heavy burden considering the value of the assets in question – $200 billion.”
Key Points
- APNIC leadership faced scrutiny at the AGM over a lack of community engagement in updating ICP-2 and concerns about RIR accountability.
- Financial inefficiency and office costs were also criticized, with suggestions to cut expenses by downsizing operations and increasing remote work.
Actions
Pending intelligence enrichment.
