[arin-announce] Proposed Revision to the ARIN Policy Development Process

[Member Services]

On 8 April 2008, at ARIN XXI in Denver, Colorado, Scott Bradner
presented a proposed policy development process to replace the current
Internet Resource Policy Evaluation Process (IRPEP). We invite the
entire community to review and comment on the proposed new PDP. The
presentation can be found at:

http://www.arin.net/meetings/minutes/ARIN_XXI/ppm.html

and the webcast can be found at:

http://www.arin.net/meetings/minutes/ARIN_XXI/ppm.html.

Please post any comments no later than 5 PM EDT, Friday, 9 May 2008 to
arin-ppml at arin.net.

PRINCIPLE

ARIN's Internet Resource Policies are documented community decisions
that directly determine the rules by which Internet numbering resources
are managed and administered by ARIN. Internet Resource Policies are
developed in an open and transparent manner by the Internet community.
Anyone may participate in the process - ARIN membership is not required.
The Policy Development Process (PDP) described in this document defines
how policy is established in the ARIN region.

The ARIN Board of Trustees adopts proposed Internet Number Resource
Policies recommended to it by the ARIN Advisory Council (AC) if the
Board determines that the PDP has been followed, that support and
consensus for a policy has been reached among the community, and if the
proposed policies are consistent with ARIN's Articles of Incorporation
and Bylaws and with the applicable laws and regulations.

It is important to note that Internet Resource Policies are distinctly
separate from ARIN general business practices and procedures. ARIN's
general business practices (including fees) and procedures are not
within the purview of the Policy Development Process. (The ARIN
Consultation and Suggestion Process can be used to propose changes in
non-policy areas.)

OVERIVEW

The proposed PDP is intended to bring forth clear, technically sound and
useful policy; reduce overlapping policy proposals; require both staff
and legal assessments before discussion; give adequate opportunity for
discussion prior to each public policy meeting; and provide a means of
review prior to possible adoption.  The proposed PDP empowers the ARIN
Advisory Council by shifting its scope from a policy advisory body to a
policy development body while providing checks and balances and
maintains an open and transparent process.

THE POLICY DEVEOPMENT PROCESS

1. Proposal. [15 Days, maximum]

         a. Submittal. Policy proposals may be submitted at any time.
Anyone in the community, except a member of the ARIN Board of Trustees
or a member of ARIN staff can originate a policy proposal. Policy
proposals must be sent to the policy e-mail address at ARIN. Proposals
can be submitted at any time but only proposals received more than 70
days before a Public Policy Meeting (PPM) can generate a draft policy
for consideration at that meeting.

         b. Clarity & Understanding. ARIN staff works with the proposal
originator to ensure there is clarity and understanding of what is being
proposed. The staff does not evaluate the proposal itself at this stage,
their only aim is to make sure that they understand what the proposal is
proposing and believe that the community will as well.

If understanding is reached the proposal is announced to the community
via the ARIN Public Policy Mailing List (PPML) and forwarded to the AC.
The proposal is dropped if the staff and originator cannot reach an
agreement on clear and understandable text.

In this case, the originator may make a Submittal Petition and send the
proposal to PPML and request community support to have the proposal
forwarded to the AC for review. There is no AC action in this phase.


2. Draft Policy. [30 Days, maximum]

         a. Development & Evaluation. The AC assumes ownership of all
proposals. The AC develops and evaluates proposals to only bring forth
technically sound policies that make a positive contribution to the
Number Resource Policy Manual. The AC may rewrite, merge, abandon, etc.;
for example, they may use a proposal as an idea to generate a draft policy.

If the AC intends to move a draft policy forward, it must first submit
it for staff and legal review (10 days max to perform). The AC must
understand and address staff and legal comments before a proposal may go
on. These comments may cause the AC to revise a draft policy.

         b. Selection. The AC selects the draft policies that will be
published for discussion and review by the community on the PPML. The
relevant staff and legal comments will be published along with each
draft policy.

If any member of the community, including a proposal originator, is
dissatisfied with the AC action on a policy proposal they can initiate a
Discussion Petition to move this particular proposal to the PPML for
discussion as a draft policy.

A successful petition may result in competing versions of the same draft
policy. Staff and legal review will be conducted and published for
successful petitions.


3. Discussion and Review. [25 Days, minimum]

Only draft policies selected by the AC or successfully petitioned are
open to community discussion and review on PPML. The text of all draft
policies is frozen at 10 days prior to the Public Policy Meeting. The
text remains frozen until after the completion of the Public Policy
Meeting so that a single text for each draft policy is considered at the
meeting.


4.  Public Policy Meeting. The AC presents draft policies at the Public
Policy Meeting; the successful petitioner presents theirs. Competing
proposals, if any, will be discussed together. Discussion and votes at
the meeting are for the consideration of the AC.


5. Consensus.

         a. Discussion Evaluation. [30 Days, maximum] At the conclusion
of the PPM the AC owns all draft policies, including those that were
successfully petitioned. The AC reviews all draft policies and, taking
into account discussion both on the PPML and at the Public Policy
Meeting, decides what to do with each draft policy. The AC may rewrite,
merge, abandon, send to last call, etc. The results of the AC's
decisions are announced to the PPML. Draft policies that are not
abandoned or sent to last call are placed on the AC docket for further
development and evaluation.

If any member of the community, including a proposal originator, is
dissatisfied with the AC action on a policy proposal they can initiate a
Last Call Petition to move this particular proposal to the PPML for last
call.

         b. Last Call [10 Days, minimum] The AC selects draft policies
that have support both in the community and the AC itself and sends them
to a last call for comments on the PPML.

The last call period will be for a minimum of 10 days. The AC may decide
that certain draft proposals may require a longer last call period of
review, such as those that were revised based on comments received while
the text was frozen. If the AC sends a draft policy to last call that is
different from the frozen version, then the AC will explain and justify
changes to the text.

         c. Last Call Review [30 Days, maximum] The AC determines
consensus for each draft policy by reviewing last call comments,
revisiting its decision (the AC may rewrite, merge, abandon, etc.), and
determining readiness for consideration by the Board of Trustees. If the
AC modifies a draft policy, it will be sent for another round of last
call or may be placed back on the AC's docket for further development
and evaluation.

If any member of the community is dissatisfied with the AC action on a
policy proposal they can initiate a Board of Trustees Consideration
Petition to move this particular proposal for consideration by the Board
of Trustees.

The results of the AC's decisions are announced to the PPML. The AC
forwards the draft policies that it supports to the Board of Trustees
for consideration.

6.   Board of Trustee Review. [30 Days, maximum] The ARIN Board of
Trustees reviews and evaluates each draft policy presented to it. The
Board examines each draft policy in terms of fiduciary risk, liability
risk, conformity to law, development in accordance with the ARIN PDP,
and adherence to the ARIN Articles of Incorporation and bylaws. The
Board may adopt, reject or remand draft policies to the AC. Rejections
will include an explanation. Remands will include an explanation and a
recommendation. The Board may also seek clarification from the AC
without remanding the draft policy. The results of the Board's decision
are announced to the community via PPML.

7.  Implementation.  The expected implementation date of the policy is
announced at the time that adoption of the policy is announced. ARIN
staff updates to include the adopted policy into the Number Resource
Policy Manual and implements and publishes a new version of the manual.


REMINDER: COMMUNITY REVIEW REQUEST

We invite the entire community to review and comment on the proposed new
PDP. The presentation can be found at:

http://www.arin.net/meetings/minutes/ARIN_XXI/ppm.html

and the webcast can be found at:

http://www.arin.net/meetings/minutes/ARIN_XXI/ppm.html.

Please post any comments no later than 5 PM EDT, Friday, 9 May 2008 to
arin-ppml at arin.net.


Raymond A Plzak
President and CEO
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)