[arin-ppml] Policy Proposal: Equitable Distribution of IPv4 Resources before IPv4 Run out

[Scott Leibrand]

Michael,

Can you help me understand the rationale for this proposal a bit better?

As I understand it, this proposal would "lock in" the size-based 
distribution of addresses for the remaining ARIN free pool when the IANA 
free pool is exhausted.  That's straightforward enough, but I'm a bit 
unclear as to the "why".  How does locking in such ratios, and reserving 
space for each group, help ensure a more equitable distribution?

Thanks,
Scott

Member Services wrote:
> ARIN received the following policy proposal. In accordance with the ARIN
> Internet Resource Policy Evaluation Process, the proposal is being
> posted to the ARIN Public Policy Mailing List (PPML) and being placed on
> ARIN's website.
> 
> The ARIN Advisory Council (AC) will review this proposal at their next
> regularly scheduled meeting. The AC may decide to:
> 
>       1. Accept the proposal as written. If the AC accepts the proposal,
> it will be posted as a formal policy proposal to PPML and it will be
> presented at a Public Policy Meeting.
> 
>       2. Postpone their decision regarding the proposal until the next
> regularly scheduled AC meeting in order to work with the author. The AC
> will work with the author to clarify, combine or divide the proposal. At
> their following meeting the AC will accept or not accept the proposal.
> 
>       3. Not accept the proposal. If the AC does not accept the proposal,
> the AC will explain their decision via the PPML. If a proposal is not
> accepted, then the author may elect to use the petition process to
> advance their proposal. If the author elects not to petition or the
> petition fails, then the proposal will be closed.
> 
> The AC will assign shepherds in the near future. ARIN will provide the
> names of the shepherds to the community via the PPML.
> 
> In the meantime, the AC invites everyone to comment on this proposal on
> the PPML, particularly their support or non-support and the reasoning
> behind their opinion. Such participation contributes to a thorough
> vetting and provides important guidance to the AC in their deliberations.
> 
> The ARIN Internet Resource Policy Evaluation Process can be found at:
> http://www.arin.net/policy/irpep.html
> 
> Mailing list subscription information can be found at:
> http://www.arin.net/mailing_lists/
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Member Services
> American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)
> 
> 
> ## * ##
> 
> 
> Policy Proposal Name: Equitable Distribution of IPv4 Resources before
> IPv4 Run out
> 
> Author: Michael K. Smith
> 
> Proposal Version: 1
> 
> Submission Date: 05/20/2008
> 
> Proposal type: new
> 
> Policy term: permanent
> 
> Policy statement:
> 
> Upon receipt of the last allocation of IPv4 address space to ARIN from
> IANA, ARIN will reserve address space within the allocated block for
> Organizations within the defined ARIN Organizational Size determinations
> (Extra Small, Small, Large, Extra Large) based upon the utilization
> percentages for each group gathered from the statistics of the last two
> IANA allocations to ARIN.  In order to make the allocation percentages
> mathematically feasible, the percentages will be rounded to the closest
> whole number and, subsequently, the the closest bit boundary for
> assignment the maximum allocation size for the Organization size as
> defined by ARIN.
> 
> Once the final IANA allocation is received, ARIN will publish the
> allocation percentages that will be used for the final allocation to the
> PPML and ARIN website with the necessary documentation supporting the
> assignment of percentages.
> 
> Rationale:
> 
> Description:
> 
> This policy is designed to allow Organizations of the various defined
> sizes to continue to receive address allocations from the last available
> space and is slanted towards ensuring that organizations within the
> Large, Small and Extra Small groups (and more specifically, the Small
> and Extra Small groups) are able to get additional IPv4 space at the end
> of the ARIN's ability to allocate such space.  Given the statistics
> below, it is likely that Extra Large Organizations would get most or all
> of the last remaining space because given the amount they have been
> allocated to date.  This policy would help ensure that other
> Organizations had a statistically equal opportunity to receive space as
> well.
> 
> 
> Example:
> 
> Please see http://www.arin.net/statistics/index.html (Note: the
> statistics are generated from IP allocations from 2006 and 2007).  This
> policy would require statistics to be limited to the previous 2 IANA
> allocations to ARIN.)
> 
> The present distribution as of May 20th 2008 is:
> 
> Extra Large: 83.11%
> Large: 6.75%
> Small: 9.00%
> Extra Small: 1.14%
> 
> With this example, ARIN would reserve address space in the final IANA
> allocation according to those percentages, to the extent that it is
> mathematically possible within the existing range. In order to make the
> math work, rounding would give us:
> 
> Extra Large: 83%
> Large: 7%
> Small: 9%
> Extra Small: 1%
> 
> Who is affected:
> 
> All ARIN Members will be affected by this policy.  I assume that smaller
> providers will benefit from having some space available to them beyond
> where they would be with an organic allocation model, and the Extra
> Large Organizations would experience some pain because, using the model
> above, they would be excluded from being allocated 17% of the remaining
> space, even if they had all of the necessary justifications for
> receiving allocations from within that space.
> 
> Policy Enforcement:
> 
> ARIN staff will have to enforce this policy and ensure that allocations
> stay within the published percentages.
> 
> Financial and Liability Implications:
> 
> Financially, there may be additional resources required by ARIN Staff to
> allocate resources using this model.  These resources might include
> application development, staff training and tracking of allocations
> based upon the model.
> 
> ARIN may have legal liability should Organizations that were denied
> space according to the model decide to contest the legality of the
> policy in court.
> 
> Timetable for implementation:  Upon receipt of finall IANA allocation
> (roughly 2011).
> 
> _______________________________________________
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