[arin-ppml] Policy Proposal 115: Global Policy for IPv4 Allocations by the IANA Post Exhaustion

[Member Services]

ARIN received the following policy proposal and is posting it to the
Public Policy Mailing List (PPML) in accordance with the Policy
Development Process.

This proposal is in the first stage of the Policy Development Process.
ARIN staff will perform the Clarity and Understanding step to make sure
that they understand the proposal and believe the community will as
well. Staff will report their results to the ARIN Advisory Council (AC)
within 10 days.

The AC will review the proposal at their next regularly scheduled
meeting (if the period before the next regularly scheduled meeting is
less than 10 days, then the period may be extended to the subsequent
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proposal and announce the decision to the PPML.

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Draft Policies and Proposals under discussion can be found at:
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The ARIN Policy Development Process can be found at:
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Regards,

Member Services
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)


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Policy Proposal 115: Global Policy for IPv4 Allocations by the IANA Post
Exhaustion

Proposal Originator: Martin Hannigan on behalf of authors for ASO AC/NRO NC

Proposal Version: 1.0

Date: 11 June 2010

Proposal type: new

Policy term: permanent

Policy statement:

  1. Reclamation Pool

Upon adoption of this IPv4 address policy by the ICANN Board of
Directors, the IANA shall establish a Reclamation Pool to be utilized
post RIR IPv4 exhaustion as defined in Section 5. As soon as the first
RIR exhausts its inventory of IP address space, this Reclamation Pool
will be declared active.

  2. Returning Address Space to the IANA

The IANA will accept into the Reclamation Pool all eligible IPv4 address
space that is offered for return. Eligible address space includes any
addresses not previously designated for special use by an IETF published
RFC explicitly offered for return to the IANA by the RIR to which the
space is assigned or the registrant of record where no RIR holds authority.

  3. Address Allocations from the Reclamation Pool by the IANA

Allocations from the Reclamation Pool may begin once the pool is
declared active. Aggregates in the Reclamation Pool may be divided on a
CIDR boundary to the longest minimum allocation or assignment of any of
the RIRs in order to complete these allocations. Addresses that are left
over will be held in the Reclamation Pool until additional adjacent IP
addresses can be returned to rejoin addresses on CIDR boundaries to meet
minumum allocation requirements, or a minimum allocation unit is set
that allows continued allocations from the pool.

  4. RIR Eligibility for Receiving Allocations from the Reclamation Pool

Upon the exhaustion of an RIR's free space pool, an RIR will become
eligible to request address space from the IANA Reclamation Pool when it
publicly announces via its respective global announcements email list
and by posting a notice on its website that it has exhausted its supply
of IPv4 address space. Exhaustion is defined as an inventory of less
than the equivalent of a single /8 and the inability to further assign
address space to its customers in units equal to or shorter than the
longest of the RIR's policy defined minimum allocation unit. Any RIR
that is formed after the ICANN Board of Directors has ratified this
policy is not eligible to utilize this policy to obtain IPv4 address
space from the IANA.

  5. Reporting Requirements

The IANA shall publish on at least a weekly basis a report that is
publicly available which at a minimum details all address space that has
been received and that has been allocated. The IANA shall publish a
Returned Address Space Report which indicates what resources were
returned, by whom and when. The IANA shall publish an Allocations Report
on at least a weekly basis which at a minimum indicates what IPv4
address space has been allocated, which RIR received the allocation and
when. The IANA shall publish a public notice confirming RIR eligibility
subsequent to Section 4.

  6. No Transfer Rights

Address space assigned from the Reclamation Pool may be transferred if
there is an ICANN Board ratified Global Transfer Policy in force at the
time of the implementation of this policy. In the absence of an ICANN
Board ratified Global Transfer Policy, no transfers are allowed. The
definition of Global Transfer Policy for the purpose of this policy is a
Global Policy that has been processed in compliance with the Memorandum
of Understanding "MoU"[2] and Attachments as agreed to in October 2004
by ICANN and the RIRs and ratified by the ICANN Board of Directors.

  7. Definitions

IANA - Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, or its successor

ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or its
successor

RIR - Regional Internet Registry as recognized by ICANN

MOU - Memorandum of Understanding between ICANN and the RIRs

IPv4 - Internet Protocol Version Four(4), the target protocol of this Global
Policy

Free Space Pool - IPv4 Addresses that are in inventory at any RIR, and/or
the IANA

  8. Contributors

The following individuals donated their time, resources and effort to
develop this proposal on behalf of the Internet Community:

Steve Bertrand <steve at ipv6canada.com>

Chris Grundemann <cgrundemann at gmail.com>

Martin Hannigan <marty at akamai.com>

Aaron Hughes <ahughes at bind.com>

Louie Lee <louie at equinix.com>

Matt Pounsett <matt at conundrum.com>

Jason Schiller <schiller at uu.net>

  9. References

1. http://www.icann.org/en/general/allocation-remaining-ipv4-space.htm
Global Policy for the Allocation of the Remaining IPv4 Address Space,
IANA, Retrieved 27 April 2010

2. http://aso.icann.org/documents/memorandum-of-understanding/index.html
ICANN Address Supporting Organization (ASO) MoU, Retrieved 27 May 2010.

Rationale:

This policy defines the process for the allocation of IPv4 addresses
post "Exhaustion Phase"[1]. In order to fulfill the requirements of this
policy, the IANA must set up a reclamation pool to hold addresses in and
distribute from in compliance with this policy. This policy establishes
the process by which IPv4 addresses can be returned to and re-issued
from the IANA post Exhaustion Phase.

This document does not stipulate performance requirements in the
provision of services by the IANA to an RIR in accordance with this
policy. Such requirements should be specified by appropriate agreements
among the RIRs and ICANN.

The intent of this policy is as follows:
*  To include all post Exhaustion Phase IPv4 address space returned to
the IANA.
*  Allows allocations by the IANA from the Reclamation Pool once the
Exhaustion Phase has been completed.
*  Defines "need" as the basis for further IPv4 allocations by the IANA.
*  Does not differentiate any class of IPv4 address space unless
otherwise defined by an RFC.
*  Encourage the return of IPv4 address space by making this allocation
process available.
*  Disallow transfers of addresses sourced from the Reclamation Pool in
the absence of an IPv4 Global Transfer Policy to neutralize transfer
process inequities across RIR regions.
*  Applies to legacy IPv4 Address Space initially allocated by the IANA
to users including the allocations to RIRs.
*  Includes any length of fragments currently held by the IANA now or in
the future.

Timetable for implementation: Immediate