5.3%
Turnout decides this
Only a small share of members usually votes at a General Meeting. A few hundred ballots can set the fee for everyone.
RIPE NCC General Meeting archive
RIPE NCC · Charging Scheme · Member vote
One LIR.One vote.Equal fee.
The RIPE NCC is an association of equal members. Its 2027 budget should be funded by an equal fee — not by how many IP addresses a member holds.
- Vote window
- 20–22 May 2026
- Who votes
- RIPE NCC members (LIRs)
- Initiative
- Independent member campaign
01
The proposal
The 2027 Charging Scheme is on the ballot. Option A keeps one equal fee for every LIR.
02
What we are against
Option B ties your fee to the IP resources you hold — turning the registry into a meter.
03
Why now
Members vote at the General Meeting on 20–22 May 2026. The result sets the fee for every LIR.
Why equal fee
Five reasons to back Option A
An equal fee keeps the RIPE NCC true to what it is — an association of equals.
An association of equals
The RIPE NCC is a Dutch association. One member, one vote — and, logically, one fee.
The service is identical
The registry, the LIR Portal and RPKI cost the same to run for a small LIR as for a large one.
A predictable, transparent budget
Members multiplied by a flat fee equals revenue. No surprises and no modelling games.
No barrier for small LIRs
An equal fee is known in advance and never punishes growth or new members.
Aligned with the IPv6 transition
A resource-based fee taxes address holdings — exactly what the community wants to move beyond.
Against tiered
Five problems with a resource-based fee
Tying fees to resources changes what the RIPE NCC is.
The registry becomes a meter
A resource-based fee turns a neutral registry into a metered utility.
It punishes historical allocations
Holders of legacy /16 blocks would face a retroactive tax on decades-old allocations.
Membership cost becomes unpredictable
Transfers, audits and market prices would all feed into your yearly bill.
It creates a conflict of interest
The RIPE NCC would gain a financial incentive to keep IPv4 addresses scarce.
It is a direct tax on IPv6
Charging per resource discourages exactly the migration the internet needs.
Two ways to fund the RIPE NCC
Option B
Resource-based fee
- The bill scales with address holdings
- Cost shifts with transfers and audits
- Rewards keeping IPv4 scarce
- Hard to forecast year to year
Option A
Option A
Equal fee
- One fee, the same for every LIR
- Stable and known in advance
- Neutral on IPv4 and IPv6
- A simple, transparent budget
Context
2012
This debate is not new
The RIPE NCC has used an equal fee model for most of its history. Changing it now is the real departure.
RIPE NCC charging scheme historyHow to vote
Three steps to vote
- 01
Register for the General Meeting
The GM is separate from the RIPE 92 conference — registration is free and optional.
Register for the GM - 02
Read the agenda and log in
Review the Charging Scheme item, then log in to the GM voting system.
Open the GM agenda - 03
Vote for Option A
Choose Option A — an equal membership fee for every member.
Read the charging scheme options
Voter registration closes Wednesday 20 May, noon UTC. Voting runs from Wednesday, after the GM opens, until Friday morning.
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Most members never hear about the vote. One message to a colleague can change a ballot.
RIPE NCC Charging Scheme vote — please consider Option A
FAQ
Questions members ask
Isn't it fairer if large LIRs pay more?
Large and small LIRs use the same registry and the same services. It does not cost the RIPE NCC more to serve a member that holds more addresses.
What about ability to pay?
The RIPE NCC is a registry, not a redistribution scheme. The membership fee is modest for any organisation that holds IP resources; ability to pay is not what the fee should measure.
What about IPv6 — should it count?
No. Charging per resource would tax IPv6 adoption and work against the transition the whole community supports.
Won't an equal fee push out small LIRs?
An equal fee is fixed and predictable. It is a resource-based fee — open-ended and hard to forecast — that puts small and new LIRs at risk.
What if the RIPE NCC needs more money?
Then members can vote to raise the equal fee. Funding the budget and metering resources are two separate questions.
Who is behind this site?
An independent group of RIPE NCC members. This site is not affiliated with the RIPE NCC. Contact details are in the footer.