Notice: Fradulent RIPE ASNs

Wed Jan 16 00:28:38 UTC 2013

Hi,

> I'm having more than a little deja vu here - Romanian LIRs have come up on this list (leave alone nanog, or various other RIPE lists) more than once in this context.  In fact 

Yes, but like I said: talk on lists is not enough

> There is an apparent pattern of large scale misuse of resources here, with a complex reporting procedure that puts the onus on the complainant to perform validation

Filling in one web form is a complex reporting procedure?

The form only contains:
- the reason (probably "Violation of RIPE Policies and RIPE NCC Procedures" or "Provision of untruthful information to the RIPE NCC")
- one of the relevant resources (can be an address, ASN or organisation object from the RIPE database) "In order to identify the natural or legal person responsible".
- a text field where you can copy&paste your report
- your contact details
- one checkbox "I confirm that the information I provide is correct and to the best of my knowledge"
- one checkbox "I allow the RIPE NCC to forward my report and attachments to the party the report is about."
- a captcha

They add a note that your contact details will never be shared with a third party, only the content of your report. They also provide a nice flowchart that shows how they will handle the report, which basically comes down to: Report-submitted -> report-accepted -> start-investigation.

I really can't see how this is a "complex reporting procedure that puts the onus on the complainant to perform validation". They don't ask for validation, only that you provide correct information on which they can base their investigation.

> that, given complaints of a widespread problem, RIPE staff is much better qualified (not to mention, paid for their time) to do themselves, on a proactive basis.

They do proactive audits and they do verification/validation of the information people write in the reports. They will take action on complaints of a widespread problem. They just need the proper information through the official channels, which in this case is a not-so-complicated web form...

Cheers,
Sander