[ppml] Just say *NO* to PI space -- or how to make it lessdestructive

[David Williamson]

On Thu, Apr 20, 2006 at 10:35:01AM -0700, Davis, Terry L wrote:
> I'm virtually certain that most large and/or international corporations
> won't deploy IP-v6 unless they can make the service model fit their
> business needs.

One of the things that's really bugging me in this discussion is the
criterion for determining who's an ISP (and hence qualified for PA
space) versus not.

Unless I'm wrong (and I'd welcome corrections), it appears the basic
criterion for PA space is that your must be allocating pieces of your
PA space to smaller/other organizations.  The very strong implication
is that you are providing ip transit for those organizations.

It seems to me that there are a number of organizations out there that
fit many of the characteristics of a quality ISP: highly multi-homed,
BGP clue, attached to the DFZ, etc., but that don't offer transit.
Without knowing actual routing policies, it seems that many large
service providers that have little to know business outside of their
network presence fit this category: google, amazon, ebay, etc.

Perhaps there are ways to manipulate policy sufficiently to acquire PA
space if you are one of this class of company, but they seem like a
type of company that is unlikely to provide transit to anyone, while
they have a clear business need for their own IP space.  If the network
*is* your business, why trust it to someone else?  Sounds like a
convincing need for PI space to me.  

As the thread has pointed out, many major corporations are now in the
position of the network is the business, even if it's not their primary
business.  Last I checked, Boeing still sells rather large pieces of
interestingly shaped metal, but I suspect their network is vital to
their ongoing ability to bend said metal.  The conclusion?  Many
companies are in the same boat as the previous class of orgs, and are
also going to want PI space.

My apologies for the mildly rambling stream-of-conciousness message,
but the use of 'are you a tranist provider?' as the primary
justification for IP space strikes me as broken.  Give me my own
space...I'll pay a provider to route it.  If they don't want to route
it, I'll take my business elsewhere. 

-David