[arin-discuss] ARIN Fee discussion

[David Williamson]

On Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 01:35:13PM -0700, Michael Smith wrote:
> "Yes," for some.  :-)  There are many providers who accept default  
> routes but still announce ARIN-assigned address space, and many of  
> these smaller players see ARIN fees as a real line item in their  
> budget.   However, for the 'multi-homing to the DFZ' amongst us, I  
> doubt the fees are felt much in comparison to acquiring the hardware  
> necessary to accept a routing table that continues to grow.

Your first statement came as a mild surprise to me.  Perhaps it shows
some bias on my part, but I find it hard to imagine qualifying for
PA/PI space directly from ARIN, but not having complete control of your
own routing (i.e., participating in the DFZ).

>From my point of view, ARIN fees are sufficiently down in the noise
that they are, ironically, a mild problem.  Big ticket items have a
budget line-item and a clear purchase process (approvals, POs, etc.).
Small charges aren't directly budgeted, so we have to sort out which
expense budget is going to pick it up, and who's got a corp credit card
to charge for the fees.

Sure, we aren't talking about large or extra-large fees, but the small
allocation fees don't seem notably onerous.  For the moment, I don't
see a strong need to change the fee schedule, although I think some
changes will be needed over the next few years, especially if we want
to use fees as a method for slowing IPv4 uptake.  (I think that would
be a mistake, however.)  If anything is necessary now, lowering fees
for small users would help the folks in the category that Michael
described above.  I doubt anyone who has medium or larger allocations
sees lowering fees as a necessity, although I'm sure everyone would
appreciate the same service for less cost. :)

This discussion has been mildly interesting, and I would support
periodic rehashing of the fee structure, but it seems to be a topic
that inspires particularly low signal to noise ratios on the relevant
lists.  I know I've started simply tuning out specific posters on this
topic.  (Here's a hint, kids: make your point, prefereably using actual
data, and then shut up.  You'll never convince those who don't agree
with your interpretation by arguing with them, and you'll lose some of
your audience in the process.)

-David