Dear colleagues,
Following from the police order the RIPE NCC received in 2011 to "lock" a set of specific registrations in the RIPE Database, the RIPE NCC took the State of the Netherlands to court. The court found the RIPE NCC's claim to be inadmissible on procedural grounds, which meant that our legal argument was never examined and we were unable to gain clarity on our position. You can find more information on this series of events here:
https://www.ripe.net/internet-coordination/news/about-ripe-ncc-and-ripe/ripe-nccs-case-against-the-state-of-the-netherlands-dismissed
While we are disappointed with the outcome, the RIPE NCC carefully weighed the options and decided not to appeal the court's decision. We feel that the time and resources needed to pursue this matter further would outweigh the likelihood of a clear result.
As a result of this experience, the RIPE NCC has re-affirmed the principles that guide how we will act if presented with similar orders in future.
The RIPE NCC:
- Remains committed to protecting the interests of its members
- Will only execute legally binding orders
- Will judge each order on its own merits
We have published a document on our website that outlines how we will handle such orders in future:
https://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/ripe-588/
Kind regards
Axel Pawlik
Managing Director