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AFRINIC · RIR Watchdog

Internet Number Resources Review by AFRINIC (Arnaud Amelina, Jean-Baptiste Millogo, Marcus Adomey)

Start here for the proposal-by-proposal record: what changed, why it mattered, who argued for what, how positions evolved, what was decided, and where the evidence still has gaps.

Source facts

Policy ID
AFPUB-2016-GEN-001
RIR
AFRINIC
Official status
Under Discussion
Normalized status
Under discussion
Introduced
Apr 9, 2018
Last source update
Oct 13, 2026
Coverage
Partial

Who actually shaped the debate?

8Total participants
4Discussion contributors
4Formal actors
7Discussion messages
3.3Effective participants
100%Top-five discussion share
2People covering 50%
3People covering 80%

BTW Analysis

BTW Analysis

What changed

No policy change can be identified or reconstructed from the supplied verified facts because the policy chronology is empty and no proposal versions, amendments, procedural events, or implementation records are provided.

What the debate was really about

The subject of the debate cannot be determined from the supplied record. There are no messages, policy rationales, participant stance timelines, or unresolved or minority arguments from which to identify the underlying issue or competing interests.

Decision vs debate

Neither a verified decision nor an observed discussion is supplied. The record therefore does not establish adoption, rejection, withdrawal, ratification, implementation, official status, decision rationale, or any relationship between community discussion and a decision.

Participation concentration

The measured dataset contains zero messages, zero discussion participants, zero formal actors, zero total participants, and zero active days. Consequently, the zero top-speaker shares, zero HHI, zero effective participant count, and zero core counts describe an empty dataset rather than broad, balanced, equal, dispersed, or decentralized participation. No durable core, occasional contributors, stance distribution, or stance transitions can be identified.

Chokepoint analysis

No procedural, institutional, or participant chokepoint can be identified from the supplied verified facts. There are no dated process events, formal-actor actions, contribution patterns, or decision records showing where influence, amendment control, escalation, or approval authority was concentrated.

Uncertainties

  • It is uncertain whether the zero counts mean that no debate occurred or only that no discussion records were captured in the measured source revision.
  • The supplied metrics do not establish whether relevant discussion occurred through channels outside the measured dataset.
  • No verified decision record is supplied, so the policy outcome and the arguments associated with any outcome remain unknown.
  • The version-bound Doctrine authority identifies its official position for this subject as partial and incomplete and therefore does not establish a substantive interpretation of the policy's evolution or outcome.

Policy evolution

DRAFT01
Unknown · Archived
Apr 9, 2018
Source facts ↗

Archived draft page metadata · The captured DRAFT01 page uses 'Review' in place of 'Audit' in its title, labels the draft Archived rather than Under Discussion, and shows Date Submitted 2018-04-09 instead of Date 18 May 2016. It also replaces the named-author list with a reference to the proposal tab. The audit, recovery, appeal and reporting clauses remain substantively unchanged, and the revision history still records the first draft on 18 May 2016; the metadata differences do not establish a new policy amendment.

DRAFT02
Unknown · Archived
Apr 5, 2018
Source facts ↗

Audit and review terminology · Draft 2 consistently describes regular reviews where Draft 1 calls them audits. The stated basis remains the RSA and allocation/assignment policies, so this terminology change alone does not establish a new recovery power.

Complaint wording and staff interpretation · The complaint clause changes from requiring investigation to warranting investigation. The added staff assessment interprets that wording as allowing staff to decide which complaints merit review and notes workload and unjustified-complaint concerns. That interpretation is identified as staff commentary, rather than an additional adopted criterion.

Express finality of arbitration · Draft 2 removes the words 'and without appeal' from the description of arbitration outcomes while retaining 'unequivocal'. The text does not define a further appeal route, so the deletion is not treated as creating one.

Staff objection to a routing-visibility ground · The added assessment says AFRINIC has no policy or contractual basis to treat lack of global routing visibility as a violation and recommends addressing that issue separately. Draft 2 still lists lack of visibility among its proposed recovery grounds; staff criticism does not itself remove the clause.

Staff objection to deleting holder history · Draft 2 adds staff concerns that removing previous-holder records conflicts with existing practice of retaining traceable history after returns or transfers. The proposed recovery clause still says records will be removed; the assessment is an objection, not a completed amendment.

Staff privacy concerns about reporting · New staff comments identify potential conflicts between full transparency or compliance reporting and NDAs, the RSA or law. The annual member-level compliance-report requirement remains in Draft 2; the assessment does not by itself replace that requirement with a privacy-qualified report.

Staff estimate for an appeal process · The added assessment estimates three to six months to create and consult on an appeal process, followed by about two months to appoint volunteer arbitrators. This is a historical implementation estimate; it is not a policy deadline or evidence that the process was established.

Staff and legal view of existing authority · The draft-2 page adds a staff/legal assessment arguing that existing RSA obligations already support review and recovery and that the proposal mainly makes the process clearer. This is the assessment's stated position, not a new legal conclusion or an expansion of authority inferred from the draft.

DRAFT03
Unknown · Archived
Apr 5, 2018
Source facts ↗

Evidence and evaluation of complaints · Draft 3 requires complaints to be backed by evidence and explicitly assigns AFRINIC staff the evaluation of the facts when deciding whether to conduct a review. Draft 2 has the complaint trigger but does not include those requirements in the operative clause.

Protection against a repeat reported review · Draft 3 excludes a member with the same resource portfolio from this reported-review provision when a full review was completed in the preceding 24 months. The qualification is attached to the Reported class; it is not described as a universal prohibition on every kind of review.

Policy references in the rationale · Draft 3 cites the Consolidated Policy Manual sections 5.5, 6.5 and 7.0 instead of the earlier standalone IPv4, IPv6 and ASN policy identifiers. This updates the rationale's references and does not itself change the resource-review criteria.

4.0
Under discussion · Under Discussion
Apr 11, 2017
Source facts ↗

Integration into the Consolidated Policy Manual · Draft 4 explicitly proposes inserting CPM section 13, including a general review-and-recovery statement and renumbered operative clauses. Draft 3 presents the rules as proposal section 3. The principal RSA/policy-compliance basis is retained.

Grounds listed for recovery · Draft 4 narrows the listed grounds to breaches of AFRINIC policies or the RSA and other legal agreements. It removes the explicit non-exhaustive framing and separate examples concerning routing visibility, a non-operating organisation and unauthorised transfers. Those deletions do not imply that conduct breaching the retained policy or agreement criteria is permitted.

Retention of previous-holder records · Draft 4 changes the post-recovery instruction from removing the previous holder's records to updating them in AFRINIC's databases. The preceding contact, rectification and three-month publication period remain.

Who may appeal a review result · Draft 4 permits reviewed members who are not satisfied to appeal, replacing Draft 3's wording about a result that does not appear fair. Both preserve the published arbitration process and describe its outcome as unequivocal.

Privacy-qualified annual reporting · Draft 4 changes the annual report from identifying reviewed members and their compliance levels to describing review activities, expressly in accordance with the Mauritius Data Protection Act and member NDAs. This is the wording of the historical proposal, not a present-day assessment of legal compliance.

DRAFT-04
Unknown · Archived
Apr 5, 2018
Source facts ↗

Duplicate draft with conflicting page metadata · Both pages identify Draft 4 and contain identical problem statement and operative review, recovery, appeal and reporting clauses. Their captured submission dates and status labels differ: 11 April 2017 / Under Discussion versus 5 April 2018 / Archived. This is a metadata discrepancy between copies, not a substantive policy amendment or an inferred chronology.

DRAFT-06
Unknown · Archived
Apr 5, 2018
Source facts ↗

Population for random reviews · Compared with the retained Draft 4, Draft 6 selects random reviews from the membership generally, removing the listed membership-category restriction. This is a comparison of the two retained texts; it does not establish which intervening draft first introduced the change.

Form of complaint evidence · By Draft 6, staff may, after assessing the evidence in a community complaint, require a sworn affidavit or a declaration before a Commissioner of Oath. Draft 4 requires evidence and staff evaluation but lacks this express option. Draft 6 does not require an affidavit for every complaint.

Transfers as an alternative during recovery · Draft 6 expressly takes account of a transfer meeting other AFRINIC-approved needs before publication for recovery and permits transfer to other members during the three-month publication period. Draft 4 mentions seeking compliance during that period without this express transfer wording.

Time window to appeal · Draft 6 adds a four-week appeal window to the dissatisfied member's right to appeal. The quoted clause does not yet specify what starts that period; the comparison does not invent a starting event.

Arbitration framework · Draft 6 refers to arbitration under Mauritius's Code of Civil Procedure and makes AFRINIC's suggestion of volunteer arbitrators conditional on a request from an aggrieved party. Draft 4 instead calls for AFRINIC to define and publish the process and pool, and describes the outcome as unequivocal. The comparison reports the proposed wording without determining present legal rights.

Reporting standard and applicable rules · Draft 6 calls the annual review-activities report meaningful and refers broadly to all applicable laws and regulations, replacing Draft 4's express references to the Mauritius Data Protection Act and member NDAs. Removing those named references does not establish an exemption from any otherwise applicable obligation.

6.0
Apr 10, 2018
Source facts ↗

Evidence coverage of the same Draft 6 · Both retained pages identify AFPUB-2016-GEN-001 Draft 6. The full page contains proposed review, recovery, appeal and reporting clauses, while the following capture contains a problem summary and revision-history notes without those operative clauses. This is a reduction in captured evidence, not evidence that the review powers or safeguards were repealed. The full Draft 6 remains the source for those provisions.

Inconsistent submission and status metadata · The full-page capture labels Draft 6 archived and gives a submission date of 5 April 2018; the summary labels the same draft under discussion and gives 10 April 2018. These conflicting page-level metadata do not establish that the proposal was reopened, nor do they date an archival or policy-status transition. Keep the discrepancy visible without treating capture order as legislative chronology.

DRAFT07
Unknown · Archived
Apr 11, 2019
Source facts ↗

A summary-only baseline limits comparison with the complete Draft 7 · The older capture contains a Draft 6 problem summary and revision history, but no operative sections. The Draft 7 capture adds the complete proposed review, recovery, appeal and reporting framework. This expands the available evidence; it does not establish that every newly visible clause was introduced in Draft 7 or that the proposal became adopted policy.

Draft 7 documents a minimum recovery period and discretionary extensions · Draft 7 specifies at least six months to return resources, except for fraudulent acquisition or unlawful usage and abuse, and requires negotiation of a longer term for cooperative members restoring compliance or needing time to renumber. Staff retain discretion over acceptable compliance and the extension length. Its revision history identifies section 13.4(A) as the Draft 7 change; the summary-only older capture cannot establish the complete prior clause.

Added staff assessment records unresolved recovery and confidentiality questions · The Draft 7 capture includes a May 2019 staff and legal assessment absent from the older summary capture. Staff seek clarity on the period allowed in fraud or abuse cases, which resources must be reclaimed, and members' ability to correct a breach or notify changes in usage; legal counsel raises confidentiality concerns about publishing recoverable resources. These are recorded assessment concerns, not evidence of adoption, rejection or an adjudicated legal outcome.

8.0
Jun 7, 2019
Source facts ↗

Eligibility for a random review · Draft 8 limits random selection to members not reviewed for other reasons in the preceding 24 months. Draft 7 selects from the membership without that qualification in the random-review clause. The separate same-portfolio restriction under reported reviews remains.

Scope of resource recovery · Draft 8 expressly confines the recovery process to the portion of addresses found noncompliant. Draft 7 directs AFRINIC to initiate recovery without that express limitation in the corresponding sentence. The six-month provision, its fraud/unlawful-use exception and the possibility of a longer negotiated term remain.

Start of the appeal period · Draft 8 clarifies that the four-week appeal period starts when AFRINIC communicates the review results. Draft 7 provides four weeks without specifying the starting event in that clause.

Captured proposal status · The Draft 7 page is labelled Archived and the Draft 8 page Expired. These are retained page labels, not evidence of the date of expiry or adoption. The comparison preserves that distinction from the operative draft changes.

Debate timeline

  1. Official version

    DRAFT01

    Under discussion · Under Discussion

    Source facts ↗
  2. Public discussion

    [rpd] New Proposal - "Internet Number Resources Audit by AFRINIC (AFPUB-2016-GEN-001-DRAFT01)

    3 Discussion messages · 3 Entities

    Source facts ↗
  3. Public discussion

    [rpd] New Proposal - "Internet Number Resources Audit by AFRINIC (AFPUB-2016-GEN-001-DRAFT01)

    3 Discussion messages · 2 Entities

    Source facts ↗
  4. Official version

    4.0

    Under discussion · Under Discussion

    Source facts ↗
  5. Official version

    DRAFT02

    Unknown · Archived

    Source facts ↗
  6. Official version

    DRAFT03

    Unknown · Archived

    Source facts ↗
  7. Official version

    DRAFT-04

    Unknown · Archived

    Source facts ↗
  8. Official version

    DRAFT-06

    Unknown · Archived

    Source facts ↗
  9. Introduced

    Introduced

    Source facts ↗
  10. Official version

    DRAFT01

    Unknown · Archived

    Source facts ↗
  11. Official version

    6.0

    Source facts ↗
  12. Official version

    6.0

    Under discussion · Under Discussion

    Source facts ↗
  13. Official version

    DRAFT07

    Unknown · Archived

    Source facts ↗
  14. Official version

    8.0

    Source facts ↗

Entities

Freshness: Stale
  1. Discussion messages3
    First activityMay 29, 2016
    Last activityJun 1, 2016
    First explicit stanceSupport
    Latest explicit stanceSupport
    Stance changes0
    Viewpoint consistencyNo validated consistency assessment
    Other policies15
    Freshness: Stale

    Identity verified: Sep 11, 2026

    Hurricane Electric · Historical
    Owen Delong, (Hurricane Electric) stated that the RFC2050 is one of the IETF documents that delegates the number policies and processes to the to RIR system.
    www.ripe.net

    Verified public profiles

    Discussion messages
    3
    First activity
    May 29, 2016
    Last activity
    Jun 1, 2016
    First explicit stance
    Support
    Latest explicit stance
    Support
    Stance changes
    0
    Viewpoint consistency
    No validated consistency assessment
    Other policies
    15

    First explicit stance: Support → Latest explicit stance: Support · Stance changes: 0

    Viewpoint consistency: No validated consistency assessment

    1. May 29, 2016 · Unclear

      [rpd] New Proposal - "Internet Number Resources Audit by AFRINIC (AFPUB-2016-GEN-001-DRAFT01)

      Which I have repeatedly referred to as IPv4 Life Support because that?s essentially what it is. … Keeping the protocol artificially alive with machinery while it (and everyone who uses it) suffers from an ever progressive degradation of its capabilities.

      Source facts ↗
    2. May 31, 2016 · Support

      [rpd] New Proposal - "Internet Number Resources Audit by AFRINIC (AFPUB-2016-GEN-001-DRAFT01)

      I have already expressed support for the policy.

      Source facts ↗
    3. Jun 1, 2016 · Support

      [rpd] New Proposal - "Internet Number Resources Audit by AFRINIC (AFPUB-2016-GEN-001-DRAFT01)

      I?ve already expressed support for this policy. I?ve already expressed support for keeping AfriNIC resources for Africa.

      Source facts ↗

    Total policy messages: 168

  2. GH.-GNONKOTO Serges PATRICK · Identity unresolved
    Discussion messages2
    First activityMay 26, 2016
    Last activityMay 30, 2016
    First explicit stanceSupport
    Latest explicit stanceSupport
    Stance changes0
    Viewpoint consistencyConsistent
    Other policies0
  3. Honest Ornella GANKPA · Identity unresolved
    Discussion messages1
    First activityMay 27, 2016
    Last activityMay 27, 2016
    First explicit stanceUnknown
    Latest explicit stanceUnknown
    Stance changes0
    Viewpoint consistencyInsufficient evidence to assess consistency
    Other policies0
  4. madhvi Gokool · Identity unresolved
    Discussion messages1
    First activitySep 22, 2014
    Last activitySep 22, 2014
    First explicit stanceUnknown
    Latest explicit stanceUnknown
    Stance changes0
    Viewpoint consistencyInsufficient evidence to assess consistency
    Other policies0
  5. * Amelina A. A. Arnaud AUF/TogoRER * Jean-Baptiste Millogo Orange Burkina * Marcus ADOMEY University · Identity unresolved
    Discussion messages0
    First activityUnknown
    Last activityUnknown
    First explicit stanceUnknown
    Latest explicit stanceUnknown
    Stance changes0
    Viewpoint consistencyNo explicit position stated
    Other policies0
  6. Amelina Arnaud · Identity unresolved
    Discussion messages0
    First activityUnknown
    Last activityUnknown
    First explicit stanceUnknown
    Latest explicit stanceUnknown
    Stance changes0
    Viewpoint consistencyNo explicit position stated
    Other policies0
  7. Amelina Arnaud Ilunga Kabwika Serge Jean-Baptiste Millongo Wafa Dahmani · Identity unresolved
    Discussion messages0
    First activityUnknown
    Last activityUnknown
    First explicit stanceUnknown
    Latest explicit stanceUnknown
    Stance changes0
    Viewpoint consistencyNo explicit position stated
    Other policies0
  8. Amelina Arnaud - Ilunga Kabwika Serge - Jean-Baptiste Millogo - Wafa Dahmani · Identity unresolved
    Discussion messages0
    First activityUnknown
    Last activityUnknown
    First explicit stanceUnknown
    Latest explicit stanceUnknown
    Stance changes0
    Viewpoint consistencyNo explicit position stated
    Other policies0

Sources and coverage

Official policy sources

Public discussion archives

  • afrinic-rpd
    Earliest captured
    Aug 4, 2004
    Latest captured
    Aug 25, 2026
    Last refresh
    Oct 14, 2026
    Coverage
    Source coverage is incomplete.
    Loading
    13,116
    Known gaps
    0
  • www.afrinic.net
  • afrinic-africann
    Earliest captured
    Aug 3, 2026
    Latest captured
    Oct 2, 2026
    Last refresh
    Oct 14, 2026
    Coverage
    Source coverage is incomplete.
    Loading
    2,619
    Known gaps
    0
  • afrinic-afripv6-discuss
    Earliest captured
    Aug 17, 2015
    Latest captured
    Sep 18, 2026
    Last refresh
    Oct 14, 2026
    Coverage
    Source coverage is incomplete.
    Loading
    2,538
    Known gaps
    0
  • afrinic-announce
    Earliest captured
    Aug 18, 2015
    Latest captured
    Sep 18, 2026
    Last refresh
    Oct 14, 2026
    Coverage
    Source coverage is incomplete.
    Loading
    2,497
    Known gaps
    0
  • afrinic-community-discuss
    Earliest captured
    Sep 11, 2015
    Latest captured
    Dec 29, 2019
    Last refresh
    Oct 14, 2026
    Coverage
    Source coverage is incomplete.
    Loading
    3,127
    Known gaps
    0
  • afrinic-dbwg
    Earliest captured
    Aug 4, 2026
    Latest captured
    Oct 6, 2026
    Last refresh
    Oct 14, 2026
    Coverage
    Source coverage is incomplete.
    Loading
    961
    Known gaps
    0
  • afrinic-dnssec-ops
    Earliest captured
    Aug 18, 2015
    Latest captured
    Dec 1, 2016
    Last refresh
    Oct 14, 2026
    Coverage
    Source coverage is incomplete.
    Loading
    307
    Known gaps
    0
  • afrinic-icp2-review
    Earliest captured
    Apr 10, 2025
    Latest captured
    Nov 10, 2025
    Last refresh
    Oct 14, 2026
    Coverage
    Source coverage is incomplete.
    Loading
    0
    Known gaps
    0
  • afrinic-measurement-wg
    Earliest captured
    Feb 1, 2018
    Latest captured
    Nov 22, 2024
    Last refresh
    Oct 14, 2026
    Coverage
    Source coverage is incomplete.
    Loading
    138
    Known gaps
    0
  • afrinic-mira
    Earliest captured
    Nov 17, 2020
    Latest captured
    Nov 22, 2024
    Last refresh
    Oct 14, 2026
    Coverage
    Source coverage is incomplete.
    Loading
    0
    Known gaps
    0
  • afrinic-ois-wg
    Earliest captured
    Sep 9, 2021
    Latest captured
    Nov 22, 2024
    Last refresh
    Oct 14, 2026
    Coverage
    Source coverage is incomplete.
    Loading
    0
    Known gaps
    0
  • afrinic-rpki-discuss
    Earliest captured
    Jan 15, 2016
    Latest captured
    Apr 23, 2026
    Last refresh
    Oct 14, 2026
    Coverage
    Source coverage is incomplete.
    Loading
    154
    Known gaps
    0

Coverage

Partial
Earliest captured: Aug 4, 2004
Latest captured: Oct 14, 2026

Freshness

Freshness: Stale · Last refresh:

Known gaps

  • www.afrinic.net: Source coverage is incomplete. · The source boundary has not yet been reached.
  • www.afrinic.net: Source coverage is incomplete. · The source boundary has not yet been reached.
  • afrinic-rpd: Source coverage is incomplete. · The source boundary has not yet been reached.
  • www.afrinic.net: Source coverage is incomplete. · The source boundary has not yet been reached.
  • afrinic-africann: Source coverage is incomplete. · The source boundary has not yet been reached.
  • afrinic-afripv6-discuss: Source coverage is incomplete. · The source boundary has not yet been reached.
  • afrinic-announce: Source coverage is incomplete. · The source boundary has not yet been reached.
  • afrinic-community-discuss: Source coverage is incomplete. · The source boundary has not yet been reached.
  • afrinic-dbwg: Source coverage is incomplete. · The source boundary has not yet been reached.
  • afrinic-dnssec-ops: Source coverage is incomplete. · The source boundary has not yet been reached.
  • afrinic-measurement-wg: Source coverage is incomplete. · The source boundary has not yet been reached.
  • afrinic-rpki-discuss: Source coverage is incomplete. · The source boundary has not yet been reached.