[ARIN-consult] Consultation on New ARIN Policy Development Process

[ARIN]

ARIN is consulting with the community regarding the proposed updated Policy Development Process (PDP) for policy development in the ARIN region.

Read the proposed updated PDP: https://arin.net/participate/community/acsp/consultations/2022/20226_PDPconsultation.pdf

The PDP Working Group began in early 2020 with a goal to review the PDP and the feedback that had been received over the years, then produce a recommendation for changes based on this review.  

The primary goals of this assessment were to:  

- improve the readability of the document;
- make recommendations to resolve issues that have been noted in the current process over the past decade;
- and to resolve ambiguity in the current PDP structure.  

After this review, the Working Group decided, in consultation with the Advisory Council (AC), to embark on a rewrite of the PDP. This revision to the PDP includes extensive restructuring of the material for improved readability. We have provided a log of significant changes in this revision for community review.  

**Section 1**

- 1.1 – Purpose: Rewritten; no intended functional changes
- 1.2 – Definitions: Definitions have been added and text rewritten
- 1.3 – Roles and Responsibilities (new): Briefly defines roles and responsibilities for various groups which interact in the PDP lifecycle
- 1.3 (PDP3) – Scope: moved into to section 2 (2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.2.3.3)
- 1.4 – Principles: Updated text for clarity; no intended functional changes
- 1.5 – Board Criteria: moved into section 2.6.1  

**Section 2**

- 2.1 - Introduction (new): Notes how the PDP is drafted and how a new reader should approach each section
- 2.2 - Policy Proposal: Rewritten for clarity especially in support of Internet community members who may want to make policy suggestions, removes requirement to submit proposals via email
    - 2.2.1 - Policy Proposal Anatomy (new): Defines all the elements of a policy proposal so it can be easily submitted by a member of the Internet community
    - 2.2.2 - Criteria for becoming a Draft Policy: Better defines the criteria to advance a proposal to a draft policy
    - 2.2.3 - Author Actions: Clarifies that the author is in control of the text during the Policy Proposal phase
    - 2.2.4 - AC Actions: Clarifies the actions that the AC can take on a Policy Proposal, including that it may be deemed editorial and use the editorial update process (2.8.1)
- 2.3 - Draft Policy: Updated text for clarity, allows for a Draft Policy to be deemed editorial and use the editorial process (2.8.1) to update the NRPM
- 2.4 - Recommended Draft Policy: Updated text for clarity; no intended functional changes
- 2.5 - Last Call: Clarifies the Internet community feedback solicited by the AC during Last Call; removes the option for the community to petition a policy in Last Call to the Board.
- 2.6 - Policy Adoption: Clarifies process if a Recommended Draft Policy is remanded or rejected by the Board of Trustees
- 2.7 - Staff Implementation: Notes ARIN’s staff role in implementing the PDP and allowing for feedback from staff to the AC on policy implementation
- 2.8 - Special Actions
    - 2.8.1 - Editorial Update: Clarifies the editorial process, defines the actions of the AC, the Board of Trustees, staff and the community.
    - 2.8.2 - Policy Suspension Criteria: Clarifies the suspension process, defines the actions of the AC, the Board of Trustees, staff and the community.
    - 2.8.3 - Emergency Policy: Clarifies the suspension process, defines the actions of the AC, the Board of Trustees, staff and the community.

**Section 3**

- Moved petition initiation and counting from the Public Policy Mailing List (PPML) to ARIN’s website
- Clarified and changed timing for petition steps
- Changed of petition participants (now Points of Contact for ARIN resource holders)
- Rewrote as single petition process, petition triggers, and resulting actions are now in section 2
- Levels of support: e.g. number of required supporting members of the Internet community has been collapsed to a single threshold, 15

**Section 4 (new) Updating and Amending the PDP**

- 4.1 – Suggestions by the ARIN community should be received through the ACSP process and forwarded to the AC
- 4.2 – Notes that the PDP is adopted by the Board under ARIN’s bylaws

Please provide comments to arin-consult at arin.net. You can subscribe to this mailing list at https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-consult.

Discussion on arin-consult at arin.net will close on 6 October 2022. ARIN seeks clear direction through community input, so your feedback is important.

If you have any questions, please contact us at info at arin.net.

Regards,

John Curran  
President and CEO  
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)