Governance
‘Trust is gone’: Is the RIPE NCC still fit for purpose?
‘Trust is gone. We have to expect that we are now working in an untrusting environment.’ These ominous words, uttered by Randy Bush, an outspoken stalwart of the internet community for many decades, are an apt precis of the mood that prevailed at the RIPE 88 conference in Kraków, Poland. Amidst the …
Headline
‘Trust is gone. We have to expect that we are now working in an untrusting environment.’ These ominous words, uttered by Randy Bush, an outspoken stalwart of the internet community for many decades, are an apt precis of the mood that prevailed at the RIPE 88 conference in…
Context
‘Trust is gone. We have to expect that we are now working in an untrusting environment.’ These ominous words, uttered by Randy Bush, an outspoken stalwart of the internet community for many decades, are an apt precis of the mood that prevailed at the RIPE 88 conference in Kraków, Poland.
Evidence
Pending intelligence enrichment.
Analysis
Amidst the leafy, quiet surrounds of the Metropolo Hotel in the suburbs of the city, Bush, a 2012 inductee into the Internet Hall of Fame and one of the architects of the modern internet, boomed his thoughts via a live stream into the room where the topic of discussion was: ‘Building A Stable Future for the RIPE NCC’. That rather tepid title doesn’t capture the question at the heart of the debate: RIPE NCC is no longer fit for purpose, so how does it need to change? Also read: RIPE 88 kicks off in Kraków with questions around RIPE’s future RIPE NCC is the secretariat or administrative body for the RIPE community, a collection of internet professionals and engineers from Europe and some parts of the Middle East. Its core service is to maintain a database of IP addresses, to ensure their uniqueness, so that data sent over the internet goes where it’s meant to go. Without this, the internet would collapse.
Key Points
- At RIPE 88 in Kraków, Poland, a long time member of the board called for major changes to the structure of the RIPE NCC.
- Created in the 1990s, the RIPE NCC may no longer be fit for purpose, and Remco van Mook invited suggestions for improvements.
- Already suffering from financial pressures and account security issues, some questioned the adequacy of the organisation.
Actions
Pending intelligence enrichment.
