[ppml] Policy Proposal 2007-17 - Staff Assessment

ARIN staff spoke with the author of this proposal here at the ARIN XX 
meeting. As a result of that conversation, we will be posting a revised 
staff assessment. We will update the staff understanding and remove 
staff comments 2 and 3 in the revised assessment.

Respectfully submitted,

Member Services
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)


Member Services wrote:
> Policy Proposal 2007-17
> Legacy Outreach and Partial Reclamation
> 
> ARIN Staff Assessment
> 
> The assessment of this proposal includes comments from ARIN staff and
> the ARIN General Counsel. It contains analysis of procedural, legal, and
> resource concerns regarding the implementation of this policy proposal
> as it is currently stated. Any changes to the language of the proposal
> may necessitate further analysis by staff and Counsel.
> 
> I. Proposal
> 
> Policy Proposal is available as Annex A below and at:
> http://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2007_17.html
> 
> II. Understanding of the proposal
> 
> ARIN staff understands that the proposal would modify NRPM Section 4.6.
> Ignoring the parts that concern fees and waivers, the proposal would
> change the current policy by removing the defined timeframe for
> returning address space to ARIN.
> 
> III. Comments
> 
>    A. ARIN Staff
> 
>      1. There is currently an aggregation policy in NRPM 4.7. This
> proposal seems to be confusing and perhaps contradicting that existing
> policy.  Does this proposal  replace the existing aggregation policy 4.7
> in NRPM?
> 
>      2. The policy seems to suggest some type of fee waiver which does
> not belong within policy.  See ARIN General Counsel comments below.
> 
>      3. ARIN’s current practice requires a signed Registration Services
> Agreement (RSA) from organizations receiving number resources.  The
> proposed policy should clarify this requirement in section 3.
> 
>    B. ARIN General Counsel
> 
> “I have reviewed this policy and believe it poses no significant risk of
> litigation by outside parties.
> 
> However, in my non-legal opinion, acting as counselor to the Board and
> AC, the policy does something I have never previously seen and
> encroaches on how ARIN has operated by custom.
> 
> To date, the ARIN Board of Trustees has unilaterally debated and set the
> rates of payment for any ARIN services. Overall, this policy proposal
> substitutes a policy with specific numerical promises. This would
> impinge on the Board's ability to holistically adjust such economic
> numbers, for example, to create a new incentive by going even further
> than the policy, or less than the policy to achieve its aims. The author
> and AC might consider substitution of an alternative draft policy that
> gives strong directional adjectival guidance to the Board, but does not
> contain specific amounts. For example, and I believe consistent with the
> proposed policy, the policy adopted can make clear the community is
> sending clear guidance that the economic inducements for legacy address
> holders to sign a new and publicly available alternative RSA for legacy
> holders can be accomplished more deftly by providing an RSA, not a
> policy. The discussion approved to accompany the policy can contain
> non-binding but specific recommendations for this purpose, which the
> Board would probably welcome. An RSA is a contract. ARIN can
> unilaterally bind itself in such contracts, promising consistent future
> terms, including any promise ARIN chooses to make to not charge for
> certain services. But the RSA can also be phased out, not impacting
> contracted parties, but not be available for future parties who do not
> sign up. Such flexibility in the RSA, with the Board following
> aspirational policy is a correct direction for the continued development
> of this proposal.”
> 
> Resource Impact – Minimal
> 
> The resource impact of implementing this policy is viewed as minimum.
> Barring any unforeseen resource requirements, this policy could be
> implemented within 30 - 90 days from the date of the ratification of the
> policy by the ARIN Board of Trustees.  It will require the following:
> 
> -  Updates to Registration Services Guidelines will be required
> -  Staff training will be required
> -  Tracking tools for the return of the space
> 
> Respectfully submitted,
> 
> Member Services
> American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)
> 
> 
> ##*##
> 
> 
> Annex A
> 
> Policy Proposal 2007-17
> Legacy Outreach and Partial Reclamation
> 
> Author: Owen DeLong
> 
> Proposal type: modify
> 
> Policy term: permanent
> 
> Policy statement:
> 
> Modify section 4.6 as follows:
> 
> 4.6 Amnesty Requests:
> 
> ARIN will accept the return or relinquishment of any address space from
> any existing address holder. If the address holder wishes to aggregate
> into a single block, ARIN may work with the address holder to arrive at
> an allocation or assignment which is equal to or smaller than the sum of
> their existing blocks and which best meets the needs of the existing
> holder and the community. The organization returning the addresses shall
> have 12 months from the date they receive their new addresses to return
> the addresses under this policy. Organizations may request no more than
> 2 six month extensions to this time, which, may be granted at ARIN the
> discretion of ARIN staff. There shall be no fee for returning addresses
> under this policy. Further, organizations returning addresses under this
> policy shall receive the following benefits:
> 
> 1. If the organization does not currently pay ARIN fees, they shall
> remain fee exempt.
> 
> 2. The BoT shall develop an incentive program to encourage such returns.
>   Such incentives may include fee reductions and/or other such
> mechanisms as the BoT deems appropriate.
> 
> 3. Any organization returning address space under this policy shall
> continue under their existing RSA or they may choose to sign the current
> RSA. For organizations which currently do not have an RSA, they may sign
> the current RSA, or, they may choose to remain without an RSA.
> 
> 4. All organizations returning space under this policy shall, if they
> meet other eligibility requirements and so request, obtain an
> appropriate IPv6 end-user assignment or ISP allocation as applicable,
> with no fees for the first 5 years. Organizations electing to receive
> IPv6 allocation/assignment under this provision must sign a current RSA
> and must agree that all of their IPv4 and ASN resources are henceforth
> subject to the RSA. Organizations taking this election shall be subject
> to end-user fees for their IPv4 resources not previously under an ARIN
> RSA. If they are already an ARIN subscriber, then IPv4 resources
> affected by this process may, instead, be added to their existing
> subscriber agreement at the address holder's discretion.
> 
> Rationale:
> 
> The current amnesty policy does a nice job of facilitating aggregation,
> which was the intent when it was drafted. However, as we approach IPv4
> free-space exhaustion, the community now has an additional need to
> facilitate address reclamation.
> 
> A very high percentage of underutilized space is in the hands of legacy
> holders who currently have no benefit to joining the ARIN process.
> Further, there is an unfortunate perception that doing so will require
> force the legacy holder into certain future disadvantages. This proposal
> attempts to resolve both of those issues while also providing some
> incentive to legacy organizations to start using IPv6 resources and
> bring their IPv4 resources into the ARIN process.
> 
> This policy attempts to provide some benefit and remove most of the
> costs of making partial IPv4 returns. It also attempts to provide an
> incentive for these IPv4 holders to join the ARIN process.
> 
> It is suggested that the BoT adopt fee incentives such as the
> elimination of 2 years of ARIN fees for each /20 returned.
> 
> Timetable for implementation: Immediate
> 
> _______________________________________________
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