Interesting Point of view - Russian police and RIPE accused of aiding RBN

Suresh Ramasubramanian ops.lists at gmail.com
Sat Oct 24 07:00:39 UTC 2009


http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/russian-police-and-internet-registry-accused-of-aiding-cybercrime-2165

Some quotes from the article -

Internet registry RIPE NCC turned a blind eye to cybercrime, and Russian police
corruption helped the perpetrators get away with it, according to the UK
Serious Organised Crime Agency

[...]

"RIPE was being paid by RBN for that service, for its IP allocation," he said.
"Essentially what you have - and I make no apologies for saying this is - if
you were going to interpret this very harshly RIPE as the IP allocation body
was receiving criminal funds and therefore RIPE was involved in money
laundering offences," said Auld.

[...]

"All we could get there was a disruption, we weren't able to get a prosecution
in Russia," admitted Auld. "Our biggest concern is where did RBN go? Our
information suggests that RBN is back in business but now pursuing a slightly
different business model which is bad news."

[...]

"Where you have got LIRs (Local Internet Registries) set up to run a criminal
business- that is criminal actvity being taken by the regional internet
registries themselves. "So what we are trying to do is work with them to make
internet governance a somewhat less permissive environment for criminals and
make it more about protecting consumers and individuals," added Auld.
RBN looked legitimate, says RIPE NCC

In response to the comments that it could be accused of being involved in
criminal activity, Paul Rendek, head of external relations and communications
at RIPE NCC said that the organisation has very strict guidelines for dealing
with LIRs.

"The RBN was accepted as an LIR based on our checklists," he said." Our
checklists include the provision of proof that a prospective LIR has the
necessary legal documentation, which proves that a business is bona fide."

etc




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