ARIN is not/is too/is not/is too... blah.

Michael,

>I've been looking at getting a fixed IP address. Every ISP that I've
>talked to that offers this that is a local call only offers a full
>class C address block -- a full 256 addresses.

Then something is fundamentally broken.  APNIC will not allocate
additional space to a service provider who does not demonstrate they
are allocating prefixes corresponding to the customer's requirements.
I believe both RIPE-NCC and InterNIC have the same policy since it is
spelled out that way in RFC 2050.

In other words, it may be that the providers you spoke to won't
allocate longer than a /24, but if so, their lives will be getting a
bit more complicated when they try to obtain additional space.

Regards,
-drc