The campaign to subvert Africa's internet registry

Summary

A few weeks ago, we were the subject of several cease-and-desist letters, and a lawsuit, for the first version of this article. Due to delays in securing representation, and delays in communication, we were forced to appear in court before we were prepared. In settlement, we agreed to unpublish the initial version without prejudice, leaving open the right to cover the same story in a new form.This time around, I am writing in a much more dry and clinical style, and ensuring that all factual claims are linked and cited in context, reserving almost all analysis, opinion and speculation until the very last concluding section. This is done merely to avoid confusion about the status of our claims, all of which are linked to sources in context, for which public resources exist. Other claims are backed up by internal sources. We did not err in our assessment of the story below, and the issue is of significant public interest.Many thanks to those who have reached out to help, and those who have provided information. We now have adequate legal counsel and are confident that we may defend our claims without trouble.‍In ten days, AFRINIC, an NGO which functions as the internet registry for the African continent, is supposed be holding its regular board elections, but these have been postponed, and await plans from the official receiver who has taken charge of the company. The organisation manages the distribution of IP addresses for the whole African continent, and apportions them to members, rationing what is, for now, a scarce resource to members who pay limited fees at no profit.The board elections allow a representative from every member organisation (private companies, universities, government bodies) to vote in a governing body. In these elections, a man is contesting for a position on the basis of cancelling its main functions, and privatising the IP addresses, so that they can be sold, rented and traded for profit without regulation.This man is Chinese citizen Lu Heng....