[arin-ppml] SWIPs & IPv6

[John Curran]

On Dec 7, 2009, at 6:44 AM, michael.dillon at bt.com wrote:
> Now tell me, what is wrong with keeping all of
> these organizatons out of the whois directory
> except for the ISP who got the allocation from
> ARIN. That ISP is in a better position to track
> something down this chain to the end, and if they
> can't do it by phoning/emailing, they can always 
> pull the plug. Simples!

Michael - 
 
Excellent use case.  I'd like to add another for comparison:

A big ISP (BigI) runs a US nationwide network, and sells transit 
services to other ISPs and hosting companies.  BigI has an ARIN 
allocation.  AcmeISP (AcmeI) uses BigI as their primary transit 
for IPv4, and received their initial block from BigI although 
success means that AcmeI may soon meet the requirements for their 
own ARIN allocation.  In the meantime, AcmeI serves a number of 
clients in the city, including a small hosting company (HostingCo)
that focuses on retail web sites. HostingCo runs some dedicated 
servers in AcmeI's main POP, and resells them integrated with 
software for small businesses.

One of those servers is rented to CorporationX and turns out, 
for reasons unknown, to be hosting the command&control server 
for a very large botnet, and as such, it needs to be taken down 
asap to mitigate untold damage being done out on the network.  
BigI has the ARIN allocation, but wants to insure that the SWIP
for AcmeI is quite visible in WHOIS, as BigI's business model 
doesn't include handling customer support for content liability
for AcmeI, and in fact, AcmeI has agreed by contract to be 
reachable for network operations purposes.  In fact, AcmeI has
the very same provisions in their contract with HostingCo, and
HostingCo has (at least in theory) a person reachable via cell
for handling their server issues.  AcmeI also wants to make sure
that HostingCo's subdelegation is very visible to the community,
so that the first call goes to the party which is most likely to
be able to solve the problem.

There's probably dozens of potential use cases, but I wanted to 
provide one that explains why the ISP getting the allocation often
wants the SWIP data to be publicly visible.

/John

John Curran
President and CEO
ARIN