[arin-ppml] Draft Policy 2008-3: Community Networks IPv6 Assignment – Last Call

[Member Services]

Draft Policy 2008-3
Community Networks IPv6 Assignment

2008-3 (version dated 19 August 2009) is in last call. Prior to moving
it to last call the AC asked for a staff assessment. Staff provided the
assessment to the AC. The AC reviewed the assessment and made several
revisions to the text. The AC moved the revised text to last call.

The AC asked staff to post the assessment (below) to PPML to help with
discussion.

Regards,

Member Services
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)


#####

Staff Assessment

2008-3
Community Networks IPv6 Assignment

Proposal Version (Date): 31 July 2009

Date of Assessment:   08-18-09

1. Proposal Summary (Staff Understanding)

Staff understand this policy defines a community network as providing
free or low-cost connectivity, operating as or under the fiscal support
of a non-profit or university, and run entirely by volunteers. This
policy would allow community network operators to request an IPv6
assignment of /48 or larger by demonstrating that they would service at
least 100 users immediately and 200 users within one year. In addition,
this policy directs ARIN staff to use discretion when reviewing requests
from rural regions, the Caribbean and North Atlantic Sector.

2. Comments

A.  ARIN Staff Comments

  The policy can be implemented as written.

  NRPM section 6.5.8.1.b was revised on 5 August 2008 by an unrelated
proposal (2007-21). The proposed text for 6.5.8.1.b needs to be updated
to reflect the current version of the NRPM (otherwise it would revoke
2007-21).

  ARIN staff would prefer criteria over discretion. Instead of
discretion, the policy could give clear criteria for requests from rural
regions, the Caribbean and North Atlantic Sector. For example, 50 users
now and 100 in a year (or 25/50, 10/20, etc).

  The policy would add the term “rural” to the NRPM. We suggest putting
“(population less than 2,500)” after the word ‘rural regions’. The US
Census Bureau definition:  “All persons living in [urban areas] and in
places (cities, towns, villages, etc.) with a population of 2,500
or more outside of [urban areas] are considered the urban population.
All others are considered rural.”

  B. ARIN General Counsel

  Counsel sees no material legal or litigation issues related to this
policy.

3. Resource Impact

This policy would have minimal resource impact.  It is estimated that
implementation would occur within 3 months after ratification by the
ARIN Board of Trustees. The following would be needed in order to implement:
  Updated guidelines
  Staff training

4. Proposal Text

2008-3 Community Networks IPv6 Assignment

Date: 31 July 2009

Policy statement:

[Add Section 2.8 to the NRPM.]

2.8 Community Network
A community network is any network organized and operated by a volunteer
group operating as
or under the fiscal support of a non-profit organization or university
for the purpose of providing
free or low-cost connectivity to the residents of their local service
area. To be treated as a
community network under ARIN policy, the applicant must certify to ARIN
that the community
network staff is 100% volunteers.

[Modify 6.5.8.1b as follows.]

b. qualify for an IPv4 assignment or allocation from ARIN under the IPv4
policy currently in
effect or be a qualifying Community Network as defined in Section 2.8,
with assignment criteria
defined in section 6.5.9.

[Add Section 6.5.9 to the NRPM.]

6.5.9 Community Network Assignments

6.5.9.1 Qualification Criteria
To qualify for a direct assignment, a community network must demonstrate
it will immediately
provide sustained service to at least 100 simultaneous users and must
demonstrate a plan to
provide sustained service to at least 200 simultaneous users within one
year. For community
networks located in rural regions or in the Caribbean and North Atlantic
Islands Sector, the
numbers in these qualification criteria may be relaxed at ARIN's
discretion.

6.5.9.2. Initial assignment size
The minimum size of the assignment is /48. Organizations requesting a
larger assignment must
provide documentation of the characteristics of the Community Network's
size and architecture
that require the use of additional subnets. An HD-Ratio of .94 with
respect to subnet utilization
within the network must be met for all assignments larger than a /48.
These assignments shall be
made from a distinctly identified prefix and shall be made with a
reservation for growth of at
least a /44. This reservation may be assigned to other organizations
later, at ARIN's discretion.

6.5.9.3. Subsequent assignment size Additional assignments may be made
when the need for additional subnets is justified.
Justification will be determined based on a detailed plan of the
network's architecture and the .94
HD-Ratio metric. When possible, assignments will be made from an
aggregatable adjacent
address block.

Rationale:

this policy was originally proposed by community network operators to
provide them with the
ability to receive a direct assignment of IPv6 address resources from
ARIN. the operators of such
networks have expressed their need to have a stable and globally unique
address assignment with
which to number their network infrastructure. many such networks are not
able to meet the
current criteria for a PI IPv6 assignment from ARIN. in an environment
where connections to
outside networks may come and go, a stable internal address structure
would be very valuable.
additionally, the ability to exchange routes with others, whether
locally or tunneled, and thereby
have native IPv6 connectivity, would be quite beneficial. these
operators were also hopeful that,
once this new class of address assignments was created, they could
pursue lower annual fees for
community networks through the ARIN Consultation and Suggestion Process
(ACSP).

there could also be a number of potential benefits to allowing community
network participants to
begin using IPv6 addressing. some of these networks have many
technically capable and
adventurous members who would be motivated to begin developing and/or
experimenting with
the software extensions which will be needed to support IPv6 prefix
selection among multiple
IPv6 prefixes when establishing remote connections. also, participants
in networks receiving
such assignments will have the necessary global-ID to experiment with
the various proposals
currently being developed for separating network locater from network ID.

also, during the more than one year timeframe that this policy has been
under consideration,
other people have suggested other scenarios where community networks
would provide a
valuable resource. one such proposal was discussed at one of the
Caribbean Sector meetings
where some participants pointed out the efforts were being made in
remote or sparsely populated
areas to establish community networks which would serve as connections
back to educational
resources for distant learning capabilities. there are also many still
wild areas of North America
where such community networks could provide improved connectivity over
telephone modems.

Timetable for implementation: Immediate.



Member Services wrote:
> Draft Policy 2008-3
> Community Networks IPv6 Assignment
>
> On 20 August 2009 the ARIN Advisory Council (AC) decided to send an
> updated version of Draft Policy 2008-3 to a 21-day last call.
>
> “The ARIN Advisory Council, based on comments from stakeholders
> expressed at the last three ARIN Public Policy Meetings (ARIN XXI, ARIN
> XXII and ARIN XXIII) and on the ARIN Public Policy Mailing List, having
> reviewed the comments collected, as well as the latest ARIN staff and
> legal reviews; and, updated the policy accordingly, and noting that the
> Policy Development Process has been followed, finds Advisory Council and
> Community support for Draft Policy 2008-3: Community Networks IPv6
> Assignment, and moves to it to a 21-day extended Last Call.”
>
> Feedback is encouraged during this last call period. All comments must
> be provided to the Public Policy Mailing List. This last call will
> expire at 2:00 PM EDT, 17 September 2009.
>
> The policy proposal text is provided below and is also available at:
> https://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2008_3.html
>
> The ARIN Policy Development Process can be found at:
> https://www.arin.net/policy/pdp.html
>
> Regards,
>
> Member Services
> American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)
>
>
> ## * ##
>
>
> Draft Policy 2008-3
> Community Networks IPv6 Assignment
>
> Date: 19 August 2009
>
> Policy statement:
>
> [Add Section 2.8 to the NRPM.]
>
> 2.8 Community Network
>
> A community network is any network organized and operated by a volunteer
> group operating as or under the fiscal support of a non-profit
> organization or university for the purpose of providing free or low-cost
> connectivity to the residents of their local service area. To be treated
> as a community network under ARIN policy, the applicant must certify to
> ARIN that the community network staff is 100% volunteers.
>
> [Modify 6.5.8.1b as follows.]
>
> b. qualify for an IPv4 assignment or allocation from ARIN under the IPv4
> policy currently in effect, or demonstrate efficient utilization of all
> direct IPv4 assignments and allocations, each of which must be covered
> by any current ARIN RSA, or be a qualifying Community Network as defined
> in Section 2.8, with assignment criteria defined in section 6.5.9.
>
> [Add Section 6.5.9 to the NRPM.]
>
> 6.5.9 Community Network Assignments
>
> 6.5.9.1 Qualification Criteria
>
> To qualify for a direct assignment, a community network must demonstrate
> it will immediately provide sustained service to at least 100
> simultaneous users and must demonstrate a plan to provide sustained
> service to at least 200 simultaneous users within one year. For
> community networks located in rural regions (population less than 2,500)
> or in the Caribbean and North Atlantic Islands Sector, the numbers in
> these qualification criteria may be relaxed at ARIN's discretion.
>
> 6.5.9.2. Initial assignment size
>
> The minimum size of the assignment is /48. Organizations requesting a
> larger assignment must provide documentation of the characteristics of
> the Community Network's size and architecture that require the use of
> additional subnets. An HD-Ratio of .94 with respect to subnet
> utilization within the network must be met for all assignments larger
> than a /48. These assignments shall be made from a distinctly identified
> prefix and shall be made with a reservation for growth of at least a
> /44. This reservation may be assigned to other organizations later, at
> ARIN's discretion.
>
> 6.5.9.3. Subsequent assignment size
>
> Additional assignments may be made when the need for additional subnets
> is justified. Justification will be determined based on a detailed plan
> of the network's architecture and the .94 HD-Ratio metric. When
> possible, assignments will be made from an aggregatable adjacent address
> block.
>
> Rationale:
>
> This policy was originally proposed by community network operators to
> provide them with the ability to receive a direct assignment of IPv6
> address resources from ARIN. The operators of such networks have
> expressed their need to have a stable and globally unique address
> assignment with which to number their network infrastructure. Many such
> networks are not able to meet the current criteria for a PI IPv6
> assignment from ARIN. in an environment where connections to outside
> networks may come and go, a stable internal address structure would be
> very valuable. Additionally, the ability to exchange routes with others,
> whether locally or tunneled, and thereby have native IPv6 connectivity,
> would be quite beneficial. These operators were also hopeful that, once
> this new class of address assignments was created, they could pursue
> lower annual fees for community networks through the ARIN Consultation
> and Suggestion Process (ACSP).
>
> There could also be a number of potential benefits to allowing community
> network participants to begin using IPv6 addressing. Some of these
> networks have many technically capable and adventurous members who would
> be motivated to begin developing and/or experimenting with the software
> extensions which will be needed to support IPv6 prefix selection among
> multiple IPv6 prefixes when establishing remote connections. Also,
> participants in networks receiving such assignments will have the
> necessary global-ID to experiment with the various proposals currently
> being developed for separating network locater from network ID.
>
> Also, during the more than one year timeframe that this policy has been
> under consideration, other people have suggested other scenarios where
> community networks would provide a valuable resource. One such proposal
> was discussed at one of the Caribbean Sector meetings where some
> participants pointed out the efforts were being made in remote or
> sparsely populated areas to establish community networks which would
> serve as connections back to educational resources for distant learning
> capabilities. There are also many still wild areas of North America
> where such community networks could provide improved connectivity over
> telephone modems.
>
> Timetable for implementation: Immediate.
>
> _______________________________________________
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