[arin-discuss] Team Cymru

[Paul Vixie]

> ... Just pointing out that Team Cymru exist and continue to provide services
> related to IP addresses that IANA and the RIRs do not provide, even though
> they could.

can you provide one or more specific examples, and show in at least one case
how ARIN might be able to do a better job?  to the best of my knowledge, cymru
is staffed by "the" experts in their field, and their services are free.  but
if there's some value ARIN can add, then, that ought to be investigated.

> ... There seems to be tacit agreement that because Team Cymru does a good
> job and is trusted, the RIRs don't try to usurp their work.

nope, nothing like that.  ARIN thinks it ain't broke, so, ARIN doesn't fix it.

> They've changed domains, revamped their website, added a nice graphical
> dashboard, etc. Well worth an explore to see if there are any services there
> that your company can make use of.

there's a potentially disturbing implication here, which is that the services
you think the RIR's could provide, that you think cymru is providing now, are
not free from cymru.  if you can substantiate that, then there may in fact be
work for ARIN here, in that if there's something ARIN can do as a simple public
benefit, that ARIN's members would otherwise have to pay commercial rates for,
then the "value add" i mentioned earlier above would be "don't have to pay",
and if so, then that's *definitely* something that ought to be investigated.
if on the other hand it's not "simple" then "don't have to pay" would be well
balanced and exceeded by "it's really quite difficult to provide that service."

(this follows from my personal belief that monety ought to follow uniqueness,
i.e., that a supplier's cashflow and equity growth should come from being the
only, or the best, supplier of a particular service, and not from inertia or
from unnecessary exclusivity on public goods or public databases.  this is a
personal position, not an ARIN BoT position, nor an ARIN organizational
principle.)