Worrying times indeed. Thank you for preparing and sharing the detailed documentation.
AFRINIC?? Regards, Kevin ᐧ ᐧ On Wed, 14 Jul 2021 at 12:09, Paschal Ochang <[email protected]> wrote: > Dissolution of Appeal Committees while appeals are still on board without > justification, non transparent reclamation of resources from members > without proper justification using drastic measures, installation of new > cochairs without conforming to laid down procedures. The list goes on and > on. Worrying times. > > On Wednesday, July 14, 2021, tech <[email protected]> wrote: > >> This letter is a follow-up to the unfortunate incident arising from the >> actions taken by AFRINIC (African Network Information Centre), including >> terminating our (Cloud Innovation Ltd) membership and reclaiming our number >> resources which we consider to have been totally unnecessary, unreasonable, >> and unjust. The action has not caused only serious damage to Cloud >> Innovation and hundreds of its clients' businesses, but also to hundreds of >> millions of end-users who were potentially endangered at the same time. >> >> >> >> We are pleased to announce that urgent interim relief has been granted >> to Cloud Innovation by the Honourable Judge in Chambers of the Supreme >> Court of Mauritius( herewith attached) to prevent AFRINIC from reclaiming >> our number resources in such illegal manner. As a result of which, Cloud >> Innovation will now be in a position to resume business as normal until the >> issues are resolved before the competent courts.. >> >> >> >> For the sake of clarity and transparency, we would share with you as set >> out below the background which led to the current state of affairs: >> >> >> >> - AFRINIC issued a letter to Cloud Innovation on June 23, 2020, >> accusing Cloud Innovation of policy violations. AFRINIC threatened to take >> actions and demanded an immediate response within 14 days. Despite the >> short notice, Cloud Innovation investigated AFRINIC's accusations >> carefully. Cloud Innovation did not find any policy violations of its own >> but only AFRINIC's own misinterpretation of its policy document and errors >> in understanding the nature of BGP. Cloud Innovation duly issued a response >> on 13 July 2020, within the deadline set by AFRINIC to explain the >> misunderstanding of AFRINIC’s own documents and erroneous assertions >> regarding routing. >> >> >> >> - After eight months, AFRINIC issued a letter on 10 March 2021 ( >> being the first day Mauritius went into a second national lockdown due to >> COVID-19) to Cloud Innovation, raising similar alleged breaches as >> those alleged in June 2020 but with the following warning note:: >> >> >> >> *To address the aforementioned issues, Cloud Innovation Ltd is hereby >> most formally required to promptly and accurately submit its “change >> request” in compliance with Clauses 4(a) and 2(d) of the RSA, as well as >> ensure full compliance with AFRINIC. The “change request” must* >> >> *include:* >> >> *I. Detailed utilisation information for all the aforementioned IPv4 >> prefixes including the services for which the resources are being used and >> country of service origin.* >> >> *II. Planned utilisation of your remaining IPv4 space for the next 8 >> months* >> >> *III.Your “change request”, if any, should reach AFRINIC by 12-04-2021, >> by the close of business.* >> >> *AFRINIC shall consider the merits of your request, if any, and will in >> its sole discretion determine whether to terminate the RSA as well as to >> proceed with the reclaiming of the IPv4 Number Resources allocated to Cloud >> Innovation Ltd. You are further informed that AFRINIC shall not be held >> liable for any loss or damage of whatever nature arising out of the present >> notice or any action that AFRINIC may take in accordance thereof. Your >> “change request”, if any, should reach AFRINIC by 12-04-2021, by the close >> of business.AFRINIC shall consider the merits of your request, if any, and >> will in its sole discretion determine whether to terminate the RSA as well >> as to proceed with the reclaiming of the IPv4 Number Resources allocated to >> Cloud Innovation Ltd. You are further informed that AFRINIC shall not be >> held liable for any loss or damage of whatever nature arising out of the >> present notice or any action that AFRINIC may take in accordance * >> thereof. >> >> >> >> The false accusations made by AFRINIC and our response/views are >> attached in a separate document (named:Chronology) for the benefit of all >> the community.. >> >> >> >> - As the 3rd largest member of AFRINIC, Cloud Innovation serves >> hundreds of millions of end-users through hundreds of telecoms and ISPs >> around the world. The services, such as hosting websites, counts for >> over 1.5 million websites hosted by Cloud Innovation's IP alone. Thus, >> there is no way, especially with the size of Cloud Innovation, to fully and >> wholly satisfy AFRINIC's request within the timeframe it provided. With the >> real threat of membership termination and hundreds of millions of users' >> connectivity on the line, Cloud Innovation was left with no option but to >> seek the mercy of the court in Mauritius during a period of lockdown with >> limited resources. An interim order of injunction was therefore issued by >> the Mauritius court on April 7,2021 to protect the interests of end-users >> and to forbid AFRINIC from acting irrationally. >> >> >> >> >> >> - By virtue of a judgment issued on the evening of 7 July 2021, >> the said injunction was lifted on the basis of a mere legal technicality >> basis, which was partially caused by the inability to provide a power of >> attorney to our lawyers in Mauritius during the total lockdown of >> Mauritius, a direct result of AFRINIC releasing such a letter to us on the >> first day of the Mauritius lockdown. >> >> >> >> - In order to protect our interests and the hundreds of millions >> of users of number resources registered to us, we took immediate action by >> filing an appeal against the judgment on the very next day.. >> >> >> >> - In order to safeguard its interests, Cloud Innovation had to >> again seek urgent relief before the Supreme Court of Mauritius. By >> virtue of an interim order of injunction issued on 13 July 2021, AFRINIC >> has been restrained and prohibited from terminating our membership and >> reclaiming our number resources. The said proceedings are now pending >> before the Supreme Court of Mauritius. >> >> >> >> - We welcome the urgent intervention of the Supreme Court of >> Mauritius for interim relief in order to protect our rights as a member. . >> We would like to inform those concerned that the operations of our number >> resources will revert to normal at the earliest as AFRINIC is under an >> obligation to comply with the Judge’s Order as attached. >> >> >> >> - We wish to emphasise that as an AFRINIC member in good standing, >> we consistently abide by their policy and strive to contribute to the >> community to the best of our ability. We have never intended to take any >> action against AFRINIC but are obligated to take the appropriate measures >> to protect ourselves, the hundreds of our customers, and hundreds of >> millions of end-users. >> >> >> >> - We reserve full and absolute legal rights and remedies in >> respect to AFRINIC's actions against us. >> >> >> >> We would also like to clarify that as the NRO has stated in their letter, >> "All RIRs, on occasion, face allegations of errors in implementation of >> policy or agreements, and such disputes, being routine in nature are best >> handled by the individual RIR and/or its community ", such routine >> disagreement (mostly in all the other RIRs, or AFRINIC before this >> management) is sorted by merely communicating between the tech team and the >> registration services department of the respective RIR. It has never come >> to such drastic actions before, like the RIR threatening and endangering >> the very stability of the Internet. >> >> >> >> We trust the above has shed some light on the matter for all those >> concerned. We are grateful for the continued belief and support we have >> received from all of you. >> >> >> > > -- > Kind regards, > > Paschal. > _______________________________________________ > Community-Discuss mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/community-discuss >
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