RIPE NCC executive board resolution on provision of critical services
ripe.net
ripe.net
I understand the desire to throw everything including the kitchen sink at Russia, but remember that sanctions are primarily directed against the ordinary public of the country, and that cutting Russia off from RIPE is not going to stop their military.
(The sheer suddenness of the flip on Russia, and its scale, surprises me. We didn't do it when they shot down a passenger jet, or carried out several terrorist attacks with chemical weapons outside the country, or when they supported Assad in Syria, or even the previous time Russia invaded Ukraine. Perhaps if something more graduated had been done earlier we wouldn't be in this position)
Back then I was shocked that one can just invade and annex part of a country in Europe and virtually nothing happens. Sure, a few minor sanctions here and there, but really nothing that would have an effect.
Obviously, the idea was to to appease Russia and try to involve it economically in order to ultimately have it become more liberal and democratic. If you look at Merkels actions in particular, she was using that exact playbook that the US had been using after WW2 in Europe and Germany in particular to great success, but failed in China, and also Russia.
So I think all previous actions have to be seen under this strategy. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and direct lies on the diplomatic level before that ("just an exercise, won't invade, calling troops back" etc.) forced the West to concede that appeasement and economic inter-dependency as a strategy failed and that if Putin's Russia succeeds with the invasion in Ukraine, Eastern Europe will be next. So the strategy changed to "Putin cannot be allowed to win in Ukraine".
We allowed them to slice that particular bit of salami, to warm the frog a little; I guess they thought it was a green light to slice further. Heck, their plan came very very close to working; the assumption was that they could land commandos at Kyiv airport, kill Zelensky, install a puppet (as previously) and then muddy the waters in the news (as previously) while the new president of Ukraine thanks them for liberating his country from the Nazis.
(this is a statement of what I believe their plan to have been, not an endorsement!)
What do you mean by this? My impression is that most western countries responded mostly the same way: with more sanctions. Are you referring to all the voluntary actions taken by NGOs/corporations?
I think the key is that the Ukraine is a democracy. Quite recently it had a president backed by oligarchs, voted that one out, counted the votes fairly, and he left office (not without some pushing and shoving, but he left). That makes this like Hitler's attack on the Czech, not like shooting down a plane or behaving atrociously in Yemen.
https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/a-look-at-some-military-a... suggests that an airport in Poland is being used as hub for deliveries from other countries to Ukraine.
This is the first significant conflict during the existence of RIPE.
All those things were awful, but relatively small and often confusing compared to the undeniable full-scale invasion they're doing now. Previously they took small bites, usually through proxies. Now they're taking a big bite, directly.
> Our staff are currently reviewing the latest EU sanctions against Russian companies and individuals. A reminder on our process: If we have reason to believe that a member is subject to EU sanctions, we freeze their membership in accordance with our published procedures. Sanctioned members are unable to request new IP resources or submit transfer requests. However, we do not de-register their existing resources or terminate their Standard Service Agreement (SSA).
If the EU want RIPE to vary from this policy, then the EU can presumably instruct RIPE to do so, in the same way as SWIFT has been instructed to stop transacting with some Russian banks.
If RIPE took action in a case like this without receiving an instruction from the EU, that would set a pretty poor precedent.
[1] https://www.ripe.net/ripe/mail/archives/ncc-announce/2022-Ma...
Have courage for principles in the face of an overwhelming preference cascade - they will serve you (and your spirit) better in the long run than retreating exactly when they matter.
I’m skeptical of neutrality to some extent when you have a war of choice by a despotic country invading a democracy…. but I’m not sure what getting involved looks like for every organization.
It's one thing for countries to ban their citizens, banks, etc from accessing Russia and vice versa, and putting infrastructure in place to enforce that.
It's something else to cut Russia off from global communication networks. Now, more than ever, we need to communicate.
If you (ab)use global networks (irrespective of where they are domiciled) as political tools, the victims of that will strive to create their own networks so that they have freedom, and the value of the existing network is diminished.
> It is crucial that the RIPE NCC remains neutral and does not take positions with regard to domestic political disputes, international conflicts or war.
> Failure to adhere to this approach would jeopardise the very model that has been key to the development of the Internet in our service region.
I could imagine it can withdraw all the IPs assigned to Russia and Belarus. What would be the consequences if so? Perhaps the collapse of the whole Internet in Russia and Belarus, as ISPs will not be able to provide their services and all websites hosted there will see their URLs being disconnected from their IPs?
The fact is that the people of Russia need to feel incredible pressure. Their lives must become incredibly difficult. Unbearable even. It's the cleanest way out of this.
Mmmmkay. Bit much on the blowing up the house to put out the fire. Personally, there are still a few nuts that deserve to flourish over there. SciHub being one of my chief concerns.
I am literally in the middle of making another backup of my copy of Scihub, this time to LTO tape.
If Russia feels too much pressure and goes into complete isolation from the West there is nothing too lose anymore and the conflict can easily escalate beyond Ukraine.
US/Europe want to avoid this due to the huge disruption it would bring economically (gas shortages etc) and the end of any hope for a diplomatic resolution.
I'd personally support more measures, but it's not as clear cut as one might assume.
We still have to share a continent, and pushing Russia into the arms of China can have huge long lasting ramifications.
But Russia could just allocate IPs as they see fit inside their network and coordinate with friendly countries on routing arrangements. Although things would obviously get difficult for third parties if the IPs are assigned to other entities.
It would be a huge disruption though.
"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality. There comes a time when silence becomes betrayal."
Ukrainian medics are treating wounded Russian troops, who came to kill and damage.
Yes. Redirect those resources to Ukraine.