[ppml] [GLOBAL-V6] Re: Just say *NO* to PI space -- or how to make it less destructive

[Michael.Dillon at btradianz.com]

> > If you are interested in understanding this then start here 
> > http://nys-stlc.syr.edu/lawlibrary/antitrust/antitrustbasics.aspx
> 
> This includes important gold nuggets such as ".. whether the practice 
> complained of _unreasonably_ restrains competition", "The true test 
> of legality is whether the restraint imposed is such as _merely 
> regulates_ and perhaps thereby promotes competition ..."

Yes, of course. All laws are like that, especially in a country
like the USA which relies heavily on common-law and case-law 
precedents. People who live and work in the ARIN region tend
to develop a gut feel for what is legal and what is not based
on their experience in business and exposure to local media.
I don't think it is productive to try and second guess on this
list, what an American judge might decide.

> No, the discussion has been recently brought up at least on those 
> lists, and it would seem unwise to repeat it on every list.  Even if 
> each region made its own policies, it might be much easier for 
> everyone (IMHO) if the discussion was held on a common list, and then 
> when the time comes, folks would each go to their own individual RIR 
> to make their informed or uninformed decisions.

On that, I disagree with you. That kind of centralised system defeats
the bottom up nature of the existing RIRs. 

> Based on observations in v4 land, there are sites that specifically 
> want to do something other than the first option, and I specifically 
> want to preclude them from doing so.

It is probably not too late to suggest that the ARIN AC
include the same "no deaggregation" language as was used
for IPv6 LIRs. This was discussed tangentially at the meeting
and I don't recall any of the speakers objecting to that.

On the other hand, ARIN policy cannot restrict what two peers do
between themselves. At this point in time, the global routing
table is merely a convenient phrase used in routing discussions.
There really is no such thing. Nobody manages the global routing
table. There are no explicit agreements on what can or cannot
be announced into the global routing table. And so on. If that
were to change then your issues would be perfectly within scope.
However, this would require the ARIN Board of Trustees to agree
to undertake this activity. Interestingly enough, this does seem
to be within ARIN's scope if you read items 2, 3, 4 and 6 of
the purposes in the ARIN Articles of Incorporation.

Assuming that there was to be an RIR function which produced
guidelines for management of the global routing table, how
would it operate and how would it ensure industry-wide consensus
on those rules? 

--Michael Dillon