Funding - what about the second year?

[John LeRoy Crain]

 Stephen Satchell <satchell at accutek.com> writes:
 
 * If there was no track record, I'd agree with you that you couldn't
 * "guarantee" anything.  The thing is, NSI *has* information about registry
 * information, and the trends that go with it.

RIPE also has a lot of statistics on this, the only thing we can predict
about he growth on long term basis is that it will be unpredictable:-)

 * 
 * You can plan with a three-year horizon, and adjust every month if you have
 * to in order to keep things going properly.  Just because you have a
 * three-year budget forecast doesn't mean that you can't change it month to
 * month to react to changing conditions.

What use is a three year budget if you change it every month/ or every
three months?

 * Growth stopping or turning around is part of the risk of being in any
 * business, for-profit or not.  That's one of the arguments for this function
 * to be a part of government:  if the revenue stream slows down, the
 * government agency can raise taxes.
 * 

Which government? How do you get all of the involved governments to
agree on a tax? This is a proposal for the Western hemisphere not just
the USA.

 * 
 * If this were a standards body consisting in the main of manufacturers, the
 * US$1K entry fee makes sense.  Indeed, the Telecommunications Industry
 * Association wanted to see US$2400/yr from me as an individual, with
 * companies paying around US$10K or more.

You had $2400 to spare but not $1000, this is a body that is entrusted
with the stewardship of an important resource, if people don't value
it high enough to pay $1000 then, IMHO, they don't need to be a
member.
 
 * 
 * This is the Internet, though.  By "soaking" those interested in the
 * process, ARIN is raising a significant barrier to participation by the
 * users and (more or less) disinterested parties.  How many people associated
 * with the Internet do you know that (a) have an interest in the process but
 * (b) don't derive a profit from the Internet?  The *last* thing I want is
 * for ARIN to be run by people who have a financial axe to grind.

The end users of IP won't normally use ARIN directly. They should go
to their upsteam provider for addresse and these will probably be ARIN
members. Large companies who have /19's etc. may well use ARIN directly,
these people could normally afford $1000 if they chose to be members.

 * 
 * On the other hand, there is a benefit to wanting people to have some stake
 * in the process.  That's why in my strawman budget I assumed that the entry
 * tax would be US$100, not US$1000, per member.  I believe that far more
 * people would be able to afford to not do dinner and a movie twice in order
 * to participate in the process.

If you are a user of ARINs services then I can see a need to have a say
in how it works, if you're john doe from the street with a couple of IP
addresses you shouldn't need to be involved in ARIN. If you wish to be
then there's a price to pay.



Kind regards,

John Crain
RIPE NCC
These opinions are my own,
you want some, get your own.