Hello all,

For all of our fellow APNIC members as you may or may not be aware, an important vote is currently taking place. This vote is critical to protecting the governance of APNIC, and to protect its integrity supporting over 9000 members, over another 10,000 indirect members (through NIRs) as well as the countless millions of people who rely on the internet today.

The APNIC Proposed By-law Reform 2023 contains some of the most important changes to the APNIC By-laws that have been put forward to date. These proposed reforms can be found here on the APNIC website (https://www.apnic.net/about-apnic/organization/structure/proposed-by-law-reform-2023/#proposedreforms) , however, in short they are:
  • Resolution 1 - A resolution to introduce new eligibility criteria for nominees in Executive Council elections,
  • Resolution 2 - A resolution to preserve the independence and geographic representation of the Executive Council,
  • Resolution 3 - A resolution to prevent individuals involved in litigation against APNIC from being nominees in Executive Council elections,
  • Resolution 4 - A resolution to limit the control one organisation (or corporate group) can have on the Executive Council, and
  • Resolution 5 - A resolution to introduce a new independent body, the Electoral Committee, to have oversight of nominee eligibility and conduct in Executive Council elections.
These resolutions were proposed by Karl Kloppenborg, shared far and wide, and were drafted in response to community feedback APNIC received during the last EC election in March this year. They are designed to protect, strengthen and support not only the EC and APNIC members, but the wider internet community as a whole. It is important that each APNIC member uses their vote (and in turn their voice) to vote in favor of these resolutions and to be heard on these important matters pertaining to the security of APNIC and its ability to service the Asia-Pacific region. Please, don't just vote for the sake of voting or because I am asking you to. Read through the proposed reforms, gain an understanding of their wording and how they affect the by-laws and then cast your vote.

Voting closes today at 14:30 (UTC+9:00), which is 17:30 NZST. I implore you to please use your voice and cast your vote as the stability of APNIC may very well depend on it. Should you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me either on or off-list, or via iMessage (chris@thesysadmin.dev) for those who are use Apple iOS devices.

Regards,
Christopher Hawker