An update on the AfriNIC situation

Mon Aug 30 23:08:36 UTC 2021

> On Aug 30, 2021, at 07:44 , Mark Tinka <mark at tinka.africa> wrote:
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> On 8/30/21 16:19, Owen DeLong via NANOG wrote:
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>> You may not like Lu and/or his business model. I’m not a fan of his business model myself, but it is technically permitted under existing policy.
> 
> And yet you continue to work for and support him in this capacity.

Yes… Because it is permitted by the rules as they exist.

Just as I would fight for the rights of those I disagree with to express their views in the US under the first amendment rights granted by the US Constitution.

If one is to believe in the rule of law, one must not attempt to distort the law to punish those you do not like if they are compliant with the law. Instead, work through the legitimate processes as they exist to change the laws.

There are a variety of possible ways in which the AFRINIC community could develop legitimate policies which would be problematic for the business model of Cloud Innovation (or at least require some changes to their business practices). However, no such policy has yet come to consensus and attempting to inflict policies which don’t exist on any resource member and revoke that member’s resources according to said non-existent policies is just plain wrong. As I have stated before, I think that AFRINIC’s willing to engage in practices not supported by the bylaws, CPM, or RSA is the greater threat to the RIR system, so I oppose AFRINIC on that basis. Quite literally, IMHO, in the interests of this very community.

I get that it’s popular to dislike Lu. He’s not a particularly likable guy at first blush. He’s arrogant, profit focused, and comes from a non-technical business background. But this isn’t a popularity contest. This is about the very soul of the AFRINIC and whether we want an organization that operates according to its governing documents, or one which substitutes the ideology and judgment of its staff in place of the guidance from the community in order to carry out a vendetta against a member that is unpopular.

So yes, I continue to work for and support Lu in this capacity because in this case, I believe AFRINIC has overstepped its mandate and acted contrary to its own policies and bylaws as they are written. I am standing up for what I believe to be right, even though I don’t particularly like the side that puts me on in this case. I tried my best to make this clear before things escalated. I did everything I could to avert this escalation, but I faced even more problematic egos on the AFRINIC side than on the Cloud Innovation side.

I am here doing what I am doing because I have ethics and morals. Because even though I often disagree with Lu, in this case, he happens to be right and AFRINIC must not be allowed to act so irresponsibly in this matter.

Owen