MANRS Community Charter
7 September 2021, Version 1.8
1. Definitions
1.1 Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (hereafter referred to as ‘MANRS’) is an Internet community initiative under the auspices of the Internet Society to improve the resilience and security of the BGP-based global routing system through the adoption of industry-recognised best practices.
1.2 The MANRS Community is comprised of organisations involved in provisioning and supporting the Internet infrastructure who implement the MANRS Actions in accordance with the established conformance criteria.
1.3 The MANRS Actions are the routing security best practices identified by the MANRS Community from time-to-time and define the minimum conformance criteria for MANRS Participants.
1.4 The MANRS Participants are those organisations that are recognised by the MANRS Community as implementing the MANRS Actions. The MANRS Community may define different categories of participants, along with corresponding actions and conformance criteria for each.
There shall initially be four categories of MANRS Participants as follows:
1.4.1 Network Operators – for organisations providing carrier services that can be identified by a unique Autonomous System Number (ASN) and present a common and clearly defined routing policy to the Internet.
1.4.2 Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) – for organisations providing physical infrastructure through which three or more Network Operators and CDN/Cloud providers exchange Internet traffic.
1.4.3 Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) and Cloud Providers – for organisations hosting and delivering Internet content.
1.4.4 Vendors – for organisations developing routing or routing-related devices.
1.5 The MANRS Partners are those organisations that are recognised by the MANRS Community as supporting MANRS through promotion, training, resourcing and/or in other beneficial ways.
1.6 The MANRS Steering Group is comprised of individuals elected by the MANRS Participants to supervise the MANRS activities including MANRS Secretariat, take decisions where empowered, and make recommendations where decisions are reserved to the MANRS Participants.
1.7 The MANRS Secretariat is the administrative personnel supporting the MANRS activities, which includes the auditing of organisations to ensure they meet the conformance criteria for MANRS participation. The Internet Society currently provides the MANRS Secretariat.
1.8 The MANRS Chair is an individual responsible for chairing MANRS Steering Committee and MANRS Community meetings, ensuring issues are brought to attention, and developing consensus within the MANRS Community.
1.9 The MANRS Deputy Chair is an individual responsible for supporting the MANRS Chair and deputizing as necessary.
1.10 The MANRS Secretary is an individual responsible for performing the administrative duties specified under this Charter, and for ensuring that the MANRS Actions are kept updated and published. The MANRS Secretary may also perform the role of a MANRS Auditing Officer.
1.11 The MANRS Auditing Officers are one or more individuals who check that organisations applying to participate in MANRS are implementing the MANRS Actions, and that existing MANRS Participants continue to meet the necessary conformance criteria.
1.12 The MANRS Advisors are one or more individuals appointed to provide specialist advice to the MANRS Steering Committee and/or to act as liaisons with relevant organisations.
1.13 The Internet Society is a US 501(c)3 tax-exempt charitable organization incorporated in the District of Columbia and headquartered at 11710 Plaza America Drive, Suite 400, Reston, VA 20190, United States. US Federal Tax ID 54-1650477.
2. MANRS Community
2.1 The MANRS Community shall have the following role:
2.1.1 to elect members of the MANRS Steering Committee, subject to Article 4.7;
2.1.2 to recall members of the MANRS Steering Committee, subject to Article 5.6;
2.1.3 to approve changes t othe categories of participation, subject to Article 5.6;
2.1.4 to approve to MANRS Actions and minimum conformance criteria, subject to Article 5.6;
2.1.5 to reject the suspension or termination of an organisation from MANRS participation, subject to Article 5.6;
2.1.6 to approve changes to this Charter, subject to Article 7.3;
2.2 An organisation does not need to be incorporated in order to be a MANRS Participant, but any other organisation over which it exercises significant control must have a distinct legal personality to be considered a separate MANRS Participant.
2.3 Each MANRS Participant shall nominate at least one individual as primary representative and may also nominate a deputy representative.
2.4 The MANRS Community shall have a mailing list ([email protected]) to facilitate communication amongst all MANRS Participants and Partners, that shall be provided and maintained by the MANRS Secretariat. Up to 5 nominated representatives from each MANRS Participant or Partner may subscribe to this.
2.5 The MANRS Community shall hold an Annual Meeting – normally in October each year – that shall be held online to facilitate participation. Additional meetings may be organised at the request of the MANRS Steering Committee or upon request of at least 10% of the total number of MANRS Participants, which may be face-to-face or online.
2.6 The organisation of meetings shall be the responsibility of the MANRS Secretary. Invitations will be sent to all MANRS Participants and Partners at least 14 days before the date of a meeting.
2.7 All MANRS Participants and Partners may attend a meeting of the MANRS Community, including any organisations under suspension.
2.8 Meetings shall be chaired by the MANRS Chair or if he/she is unavailable, in accordance with Article 3.8.
3. MANRS Steering Committee
3.1 The MANRS Steering Committee shall have the following role:
3.1.1 to coordinate the MANRS activities;
3.1.2 to make recommendations to the MANRS Community on the creation, alteration and removal of categories of participation and corresponding actions;
3.1.3 to review and make recommendations to the MANRS Community about the MANRS Actions and minimum conformance criteria;
3.1.4 to supervise the auditing process for new applicants, including making decisions on applications where conformance with the established criteria is marginal or unclear, where unanticipated circumstances occur that are not covered by the documented auditing process, and handling appeals from applicants that have been refused approval;
3.1.5 to make recommendations to the MANRS Community on the suspension and termination of organisations from MANRS participation that fail to meet the minimum conformance criteria;
3.1.6 to supervise the incident handling process;
3.1.7 to appoint the MANRS Advisors;
3.1.8 to approve MANRS Partners.
3.2 The Steering Committee shall be comprised of nine members who shall be elected by the MANRS Participants, plus a member appointed by the Internet Society.
3.3 Each elected member shall serve in an individual capacity for a term of three years (subject to Article 3.5), with their terms being staggered so that every year the terms of one third of these members expire. A general election shall be held in October each year and terms of office shall commence from the declaration of election results and run until the next general election during the year in which the term expires.
3.4 A person may only serve on the Steering Committee in any capacity for a maximum of two consecutive terms. Upon completion of these terms of office, they are not eligible to serve on the Steering Committee until at least one year has passed
3.5 In the event that an elected member resigns, is recalled or is no longer capable of performing their duties, then a special election will be held within 28 days to fill the position for the remainder of the original term unless fewer than 28 days remain. If the remainder of the original term is one year or less, it will not count for the purposes of calculating consecutive terms.
3.6 An elected member may be recalled if at least 10% of the total number of MANRS Participants request it. A recalled member is eligible to stand in any subsequent special or general election (subject to Article 3.4).
3.7 The Steering Committee shall appoint a Chair and Deputy Chair from amongst their numbers following each general election, who shall serve until the next general election the following year. A person may serve any number of terms as Chair or Deputy Chair whilst they remain a member of the Steering Committee.
3.8 In the temporary absence of the Chair, the Deputy Chair shall assume the position. If both Chair and Deputy Chair are temporarily absent or yet to be appointed, another member of the Steering Committee may assume the position. The order of precedence is determined by whoever has served the longest continuous period, and in the event of two or more members having served the same amount of time, the member elected first will take precedence.
3.9 If either the Chair or Deputy Chair resigns from the position, are no longer capable of performing their duties, or are recalled as a member of the Steering Committee, the remaining members shall appoint a replacement who shall serve until the next general election.
3.10 The Steering Committee shall meet at least once per quarter, which shall be conducted online to facilitate participation. Additional meetings may be organised, which may be face-to-face or online.
3.11 The organisation of meetings shall be the responsibility of the MANRS Secretary, who shall circulate the agenda at least 72 hours before the meeting.
3.12 Meetings shall be chaired by the MANRS Chair or if he/she is unavailable, in accordance with Article 3.8.
3.13 Meetings shall only be open to Steering Committee members, the MANRS Advisors, and the MANRS Secretary, although the Steering Committee may invite other persons to participate in parts of its meetings as guests.
3.14 Minutes of meetings shall only be available to Steering Committee members and the MANRS Secretary as confidential and sensitive issues relating to organisations and individuals may be discussed, but a summary of the discussions and decisions taken shall be circulated to the MANRS Participants.
3.15 Decision making shall normally be through consensus, although failing this; each Steering Committee member has one vote. A member may authorise another member to cast a proxy vote on their behalf, but this must be notified in advance of the meeting, and no member may vote on behalf of more than one other member.
3.16 A poll may be requested by any Steering Committee member, either at a meeting or via electronic poll. Decisions shall be made by simple majority, with the Chair having a casting vote in the event of a tie. The quorum required for valid decisions shall be five votes (not including any casting vote.
3.17 The Steering Committee will have a mailing list ([email protected]) to facilitate communication amongst Steering Committee members and with the MANRS Secretary, that shall be provided and maintained by the MANRS Secretariat.
Note: The MANRS Steering Committee replaced the MANRS Advisory Group on 1 December 2021. There was a transitional phase to allow the introduction of staggered terms for the elected members as outlined in this document along with the procedures for the appointment of the initial members.
4. Elections
4.1 The organisation of elections shall be the responsibility of the MANRS Secretary, who shall notify the MANRS Participants of vacant positions and call for nominations at least 31 days prior to the date of an election.
4.2 Prospective candidates may either self-nominate or be nominated by any MANRS Participant up until 3 days before the scheduled date of the election.
4.3 If the number of nominated candidates does not exceed the number of vacant positions, they shall be declared elected unopposed. If there are more nominated candidates than vacant positions, a secret ballot shall be held using a secure online voting method. The ballot shall remain open for a period of 72 hours.
4.4 Each MANRS Participant, provided their MANRS participation has not been suspended, may cast one vote per vacant position (i.e. if there are three vacant positions they may cast a total three votes). They may not cast more than one vote per candidate
4.5 When a ballot is held, the candidates receiving the highest number of votes in accordance with the number of vacant positions, shall be declared elected. If there is a tie for one or more vacant positions, a further run-off election will be held between those candidates only.
4.6 The MANRS Secretary will appoint a minimum of two tellers to verify the votes in accordance with Article 4.5. Candidates for election shall not be eligible to serve as tellers, and the tellers should preferably be individuals not voting in the election.
4.7 The election of candidates is subject to the confirmation of the Internet Society. In the event that a vacant position cannot be filled for whatever reason, the Internet Society may make an appointment for all or part of the term of office.
5. Community Resolutions
5.1 The MANRS Secretary shall notify the MANRS Participants of any matters requiring a resolution under Articles 2.1.2 to 2.1.6 inclusive, following which an online poll shall be held that shall remain open for a period of 14 days.
5.2 Each MANRS Participant shall have one vote per resolution, but is not allowed to vote if their MANRS participation has been suspended.
5.3 Resolutions shall be made by simple majority, except for resolutions relating to amendment of this Charter (see Article 7.2). The quorum required for valid resolutions shall be 10% of the total number of MANRS Participants.
5.4 The MANRS Secretary will announce the decision on each resolution upon the conclusion of the polling period, as well as whether a quorum was achieved.
5.5 If a proposed resolution under Articles 2.1.3 to 2.1.5 fails to achieve a quorum, the MANRS Steering Committee may resolve the matter.
5.6 Resolutions are subject to the confirmation of the Internet Society before taking effect.
7.2). The quorum required for valid resolutions shall be 10% of the total number of MANRS Participants.
MANRS Advisors
6.1 The MANRS Steering Committee may appoint a number of MANRS Advisors who can offer specialist advice and/or can act as liaisons with relevant organisations.
6.2 The number of MANRS Advisors may not exceed the number of elected members of the MANRS Steering Committee, as specified by Article 3.2.
6.3 Each Advisor shall serve in an individual capacity for a term of one year and may only be appointed for a maximum of three terms.
7. MANRS Secretariat
7.1 The daily operations of MANRS shall be delegated to the MANRS Secretariat, including the auditing processes.
7.2 The MANRS Secretariat will appoint the MANRS Secretary (and any deputies), MANRS Auditing Officers, and other personnel required for supporting the MANRS activities.
8. Implementation and Amendment of Charter
8.1 This Charter shall be effective from 1 November 2021.
8.2 This Charter may be amended if at least 10% of the total number of MANRS Participants vote within 28 days of an amendment being proposed, and at least two thirds of the total votes received are in favour.
8.3 Amendments to this Charter are subject to the confirmation of the Internet Society before taking effect.