[ppml] 2002-2: Experimental Internet Resource Allocations

[Member Services]

This policy proposal is being re-posted to the public
policy mailing list to encourage continued discussion.
This policy proposal was previously discussed on this
mailing list and at the ARIN X Public Policy Meeting.
Following previous discussions on this mailing list
and at the ARIN X Public Policy Meeting, it has been
determined consensus to pass this proposal as a new
policy has not yet been achieved.

Member Services
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)

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Policy Proposal 2002-2: Experimental Internet Resource Allocations
 
There have been a number of experimental address allocations 
undertaken in the Internet over the past decade. These 
experimental address allocations have been made by the IANA 
in coordination with standards bodies, such as the IETF, on 
an ad hoc basis. There is currently no systematic means of 
receiving other Numbering Resources on a temporary basis as 
part of a recognised experiment in Internet technology 
deployment. The following policy is proposed: 

The RIRs will allocate Numbering Resources to entities requiring 
temporary Numbering Resources for a fixed period of time under 
the terms of recognised experimental activity. 

The following criteria for this policy are proposed: 

1. Public Disclosure of Experimental Requests 

The organisation requesting the resources will have to detail 
what experimental work they are going to carry out. Such detail 
can usually be made either: 

  * by submitting a proposal that references a current IETF 
    Experimental RFC (Detail Two), or 
  * by submitting an 'experiment proposal' detailing what 
    resources are required, and what activities will be 
    carried out (Detail Three).

Such experimental proposals will, in the normal course of events 
be made public upon acceptance of the proposal by an RIR. 
Consideration will be given to non-disclosure constraints, but 
this is anticipated to be a prohibitive constraint upon the use 
of public Numbering Resources, even in an experimental context. 
The RIR will not allocate resources if the entire research 
experiment cannot be publicly disclosed as per Details Two and 
Three following.

2. Resource Coordination with Standards Development Bodies

The IETF from time to time describes experimental activities and 
associated requirements for resources that will be required by 
participants in the experiment. It is considered as being 
acceptable for the organisation to reference a current Experimental 
RFC and indicate the organisation's participation in the experiment. 

Organisations such as the IETF, who describe experimental 
activities as part of their standards development process, need to 
consider the associated Numbering Resource requirements with any 
proposed experiment, and under this proposal will need to liaise 
with the RIRs as part of the process of publishing a draft as an 
experimental RFC. 

3. Resource Coordination with Independent Experiments

For experimental proposals not covered by Detail Two, the RIR will 
require the experiment's aims and objectives to be published in a 
publicly accessible document. 

The RIRs have a strong preference for the use of an Experimental 
RFC published through the IETF, but will accept other publication 
mechanisms where the experiment's objectives and practices are 
publicly and openly available free of charges and free of any 
constraints of disclosure. 

The RIRs would also normally require that the experiment's 
outcomes be published in an openly and freely available document, 
again free of charges and free of any constraints of disclosure. 

4. Resource Allocation Term and Renewal 

The Numbering Resources are allocated on a lease/license basis for 
a period of one year. The allocation can be renewed on application 
to the issuing RIR providing information as per in Detail One. The 
identity and details of the applicant and the allocated Numbering 
Resources will be published under the conditions of the RIR's 
normal publication policy (for example, listed as a temporary 
allocation in the RIR's database). 

5. Single Resource Allocation per Experiment 

The RIR will make one-off allocations only, on an annual basis. 
Additional allocations outside the annual cycle will not be made 
unless justified by a subsequent complete application. It's 
important for the requesting organisation to ensure they have 
sufficient resources requested as part of their initial application 
for the proposed experimental use. 

6. Resource Allocation Fees

Each RIR may charge an administration fee to cover each allocation 
made of these experimental resources. This fee simply covers 
registration and maintenance, rather than the full allocation 
process for standard RIR members. This administration fee should 
be as low as possible as these requests do not have to undergo the 
same evaluation process as those requested in the normal policy 
environment. 

7. Resource Allocation Size 

The Numbering Resources requested come from the global Internet 
Resource space, and are not from private or other non-routable 
Internet Resource space. The allocation size should be consistent 
with the existing RIR minimum allocation sizes, unless small 
allocations are intended to be explicitly part of the experiment. 
If an organisation requires more resource than stipulated by the 
minimum allocation sizes in force at the time of their request, 
they should include in their research proposal why this is required. 

8. Commercial Use Prohibited 

If there is any evidence that the temporary resource is being used 
for commercial purposes, or is being used for any activities not 
documented in the original experiment description provided to the 
RIR, the issuing RIR reserves the right to immediately withdraw 
the resource and reassign it to the free pool. 

9. Resource Request Appeal or Arbitration 

The RIRs should be in a position to assess and comment on the 
objectives of the experiment with regard to the requested amount 
of Numbering Resources. The issuing RIR should be able to modify 
the requested allocation as appropriate, and in agreement with the 
proposer. In the event that the proposed modifications are not 
acceptable, the requesting organization may request an appeal or 
arbitration using the normal procedures of the RIR. In this case, 
the original standards body that endorsed the experimental action 
may be requested to provide additional information regarding the 
experiment and its objectives to assist in the resolution of the 
appeal.