Dear Colleagues, At its meeting on the 19th of March 2015, the RIPE NCC Executive Board decided to propose a continuation of the current charging scheme model for 2016 but with a reduced annual fee of EUR 1,400. We are publishing the draft charging scheme to allow the membership to discuss the proposal. The board will meet on the 1st of April 2015 to review the discussions and will then propose a final charging scheme for the membership to vote on at the forthcoming General Meeting. The draft charging scheme is available at: https://www.ripe.net/gm/DraftChargingScheme2016 The main points of the draft charging scheme are as follows: - The "one LIR-one fee" model continues - The annual fee is reduced by 13% to EUR 1,400 - The sign-up fee remains at EUR 2,000 - The charge of EUR 50 per Provider Independent (PI) assignment remains - AS Numbers continue to be excluded from the separate PI charge - Legacy Internet resource holders who join the RIPE NCC will pay the annual fee of EUR 1,400 and the sign-up fee is waived - An annual EUR 50 fee per legacy Internet resource assignment will apply to legacy resources that are registered via a sponsoring LIR - Legacy Internet resource holders wishing to sign a direct contract with the RIPE NCC will pay the sign-up fee of EUR 2,000 and the annual fee of EUR 1,400 Board Reasoning -------------- The board believes that retaining the current "one LIR-one fee" model allows continuity and predictability for members. The RIPE NCC sees continued growth in the membership, and this allows the annual fee to be reduced by 13% from EUR 1,600 to EUR 1,400. The substantial reduction in the annual fee will be of benefit to all those who sign a contractual agreement with the RIPE NCC. The EUR 50 charge for PI assignments remains. This keeps the charging scheme in line with RIPE Policy. The RIPE NCC also continues to see significant work with PI assignments and the board believes that the EUR 50 fee is justified in covering the work the RIPE NCC carries out regarding PI space. 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. The current model allows legacy Internet resources holders to join the RIPE NCC and add their legacy resources to their LIR account. This is beneficial for the RIPE Registry and for the membership as a whole. The board wishes to continue to allow legacy Internet resource holders to join the RIPE NCC for the same annual fee while having the sign-up fee waived. For those wishing to sign a direct contract with the RIPE NCC, the same annual fee and sign-up applies as for those wishing to become RIPE NCC members. This reflects the work that the RIPE NCC needs to carry out in such cases while the reduced annual fee makes signing such a contract more affordable for the legacy resource holder. Next Steps --------- The board will closely follow any discussions on the draft charging scheme up to the 1st of April 2015. At this point, the board will convene and review the discussions. Following this board meeting, a final RIPE NCC Charging Scheme will be published that the members will vote on at the General Meeting on the 13th of May 2015. The board encourages members to provide feedback on the draft charging scheme on the<members-discuss@ripe.net> mailing list. We look forward to hearing your feedback. Best regards, Nigel Titley RIPE NCC Executive Board Chairman