Hi Nigel,
There has been discussion on charging for AS Numbers. The board believes that this discussion was not conclusive and there was not sufficient consensus to change the model that was approved by the membership in 2012. The board also believes that it should not influence addressing policy through the charging scheme, although the model can be adjusted in the future to take into account policies that have been agreed by the RIPE community.
I strongly disagree with the board here. There is already a policy that has consensus from the RIPE community that asks for this. Saying that the board will take into account future policies from the RIPE community but not one that already exists is just wrong. The RIPE NCC should implement *all* RIPE policies, not only those it chooses to implement. That way the board is actually influencing address policy through the charging scheme by adopting a charging scheme that is in conflict with RIPE address policy. The RIPE NCC and its members have deviated from RIPE policy in 2012, and this should be rectified as soon as possible. Cheers, Sander