Dear Colleagues,
I hope that you are keeping well. It is that time that I share with you the updates on our activities in February 2021. This time I have decided to share this update to the RPD mailing list as well since there are important updates for the Policy Development Working Group.
Updates on the AFRINIC WHOIS Database Accuracy
As you may be aware, AFRINIC published an Audit Report of all IPv4 number resources, which consisted of verifying the rightful custodianship of those resources, including both legacy and non-legacy resources that fall under AFRINIC’s service region.
In January 2021, AFRINIC reclaimed the IPv4 prefix 196.52.0.0/14, amounting to 262,144 IP addresses from Logic web Inc. AFRINIC has been informed that Logic Web Inc has retained the services of legal advisers to initiate legal actions against AFRINIC. We, therefore, await being formally served with the relevant court summons.
Regarding the ongoing court case ref: Afri Holdings Ltd & Ors v/s AFRINIC (SC/COM/WRT/000295/2020), the matter is still pending before the Honourable Judge Chambers (Commercial Division) of the Mauritian Supreme Court. However, we consider it also appropriate to add that in case someone having an interest in the matter wishes to intervene as a party therein, he/she may make an application to the Hon. The judge in Chambers citing the following cause number SC/COM/WRT/000295/2020.
In regard to the resources holding legacy status that were investigated, we request the legal successors of the organisations recorded as holders of these resources to contact AFRINIC at hostmaster at afrinic.net
AFRINIC PDP
On 06 February 2021, the Chairman of the Recall Committee announced that the two PDP Co-chairs were recalled from their positions as Co-Chairs of the Policy Development Process with immediate effect. As a direct consequence of the above, the AFRINIC PDP is in an unprecedented situation of having two vacancies for its co-chair positions.
AFRINIC, in its role as secretariat to the Policy Development Working Group (PDWG), has been asked to help facilitate the ongoing discussions on the most sensible way to resolve the current situation. We will be collecting all proposed options and compiling a staff assessment and impact analysis which will be shared on the RPD mailing list. We trust the PDWG will come together and find a suitable way forward.
I urge our resource members and our community to participate in this core component of our bottom-up, all-inclusive process that AFRINIC and its community were founded upon.
Having said that, I firmly believe that it is our responsibility as secretariat to the AFRINIC community to foster a safe and all-inclusive environment where community members, volunteers as well as AFRINIC staff feel supported and comfortable serving this community without the fear of being publicly harassed and personally attacked. I take this responsibility extremely seriously and am committed to dedicating all necessary resources towards the delivery of this safe and all-inclusive environment. We will be sharing soon a blog post that will cover steps taken by AFRINIC as well as a number of campaigns that we plan to launch this year on this key component of what any community is founded upon.
AFRINIC Mailing-list Terms of use
This comes after several concerns raised from community members on the virulence of exchanges on AFRINIC mailing lists and the growing number of one-off posts from incognito aliases. To safeguard the community from being subject to these inappropriate behaviours, we are considering developing mechanisms to verify and authenticate the mailing lists’ users.
To this end, we would appreciate your comments on the proposed AFRINIC Mailing Lists Terms of Use. You are welcome to put in your comments before 28 February 2021 at https://www.afrinic.net/20210202-afrinic-mailinglists-terms-of-use
Africa Internet Summit 2021
I am happy to announce that Africa Internet Summit 2021 (AIS’21) will be held online from 31st May - 4th June 2021. We shall communicate the details on the registration and event program in due course. I need not remind you all how important it is to get involved with these public meetings, the rich content it has to offer as well as the PDP sessions and discussions that will be held.
As a community, we should always keep in mind what unites us and why we came together in the first place. It is key for the sustainable development of our digital economy in Africa to get all diverse opinions on board and then consent on what needs to be done and the best way to accomplish our common goals.
I wish you well as we pursue our common goals and aspirations.
Kind Regards,
Eddy Kayihura,
AFRINIC CEO