[PDB Gov] Risk of excessive DE-CIX influence on PeeringDB

[Barry O'Donovan]

This discussion needs to be decoupled from the candidates, as I’d 
happily give either my vote.

This is simply a matter of good (corporate) governance: there should be 
a limit of one on people serving as directors from the same 
organisation.

As it stands, bylaw 2.3.2 
<https://docs.peeringdb.com/gov/legaldocs/2026-01-14_PeeringDB_Bylaws.pdf> 
prevents members who are affiliated with each other having more than one 
vote. It surely then makes no sense to have two directors from the same 
org 🤷‍♂️

  - Barry






On 14/04/2026 11:45:14, "John van Oppen via Pdb-gov" 
<pdb-gov at lists.peeringdb.com> wrote:

>Why would we force this or make a rule vs just letting the voting community decide?     2/5 is not an organizational risk, perception only risks should be handled through the voting process in my mind.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Pdb-gov <pdb-gov-bounces at lists.peeringdb.com> On Behalf Of Theo Voss via Pdb-gov
>Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2026 9:43 AM
>To: Stephen McManus <smcmanus at peeringdb.com>
>Cc: Chris Caputo <ccaputo-dated-1786549804.27c661 at alt.net>; pdb-gov at lists.peeringdb.com; Chris Caputo <ccaputo at alt.net>
>Subject: Re: [PDB Gov] Risk of excessive DE-CIX influence on PeeringDB
>
>+1, 5 seats should represent the entire PeeringDB community. Having them
>+occupied by 2 people from
>the same company creates an unhealthy imbalance from my POV.
>
>Best regards,
>Theo Voss, Inter.link
>
>-------- Original Message --------
>On Tuesday, 04/14/26 at 18:40 Stephen McManus via Pdb-gov <pdb-gov at lists.peeringdb.com> wrote:
>+1 to the perception problem. I would not consider running while Alex Corso as we both work at Meta. I like working with both Yolandi and Arnold but imo we should have a rule to prevent >1 sitting board member from the same organization.
>
>I think a looser rule for committee membership could be considered as well if we do consider that: > 2?
>
>-Steve
>
>>  On Apr 14, 2026, at 11:50 AM, Chris Caputo via Pdb-gov <pdb-gov at lists.peeringdb.com> wrote:
>>
>>  At https://docs.peeringdb.com/gov/misc/2026-04-14_election.html I see
>>  that two DE-CIX personnel are running for the 5-person PeeringDB
>>  Board, based on their names also being present on
>>  https://www.de-cix.net/en/about-de-cix/the-team:
>>
>>   - Arnold Nipper, Chief Technology Evangelist and Co-Founder
>>
>>   - Yolandi Cloete, Interconnection Community and Academy Manager
>>
>>  While board members are expected to serve independently of their
>>  affiliations, I am concerned about the potential risks of 2/5th's of
>>  the PeeringDB Board having the same conflict of interest.
>>
>>  Thus I ask that either Arnold or Yolandi rapidly consider withdrawing
>>  from this election prior to the end of the April 14th 23:59:59 UTC
>>  2026 call for candidates, just over 8 hours from now.
>>
>>  I am sure both individuals are upstanding, but the perception of
>>  capture by DE-CIX is, in my opinion, not a good look and not a good
>>  risk for the PeeringDB community to be faced with.
>>
>>  Since I don't see Yolandi as even subscribed to pdb-gov@, I will
>>  forward this to her after sending to the list. (Arnold is subscribed.)
>>
>>  Thank you for your consideration.
>>
>>  Chris
>
>
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