[ppml] Address Space versus Routing Slots

[Jason Schiller (schiller@uu.net)]

On Sat, 6 May 2006, Martin Hannigan wrote:

> At 08:17 PM 5/4/2006, David Conrad wrote:
> >Hi,
> >
> >On May 4, 2006, at 7:53 AM, william(at)elan.net wrote:
> > > I agree with Michael - IPv6 PI is not perfect but we desperately
> > > need such
> > > policy to help in adoption of IPv6 in the US - or otherwise we will
> > > run
> > > out of ipv4 space before majority are ready.
> >
> >I'm curious: what do people think will happen when IANA allocates the
> >last unused /8?
> 
> 
> Nothing. The commodity market for IPV4 will move above ground prior
> to that and instead of faking asset acquisitions and lying on applications,
> we'll see blocks openly traded in commodity or auction markets. Legacy
> space will have value and people will exploit that. Real money will
> exchange hands.
> 
> The registry/registrar mess is a whole lot of fun to watch. Perhaps it
> makes sense to work on the conversion now and let the market decide when
> it's time for v6 based on value of V4?
> 
> -M<

Not that I disagree, but what will be the impact of the IPv4 commodity
market in relationship to the routing table and the concepts of good IPv4
stewardship?

First off, it is likely that those with large amounts of legacy will sell
off small unused chunks of that space.  "So you need a /22 to turn up a 
new customer, and I've got this legacy Class B.  I could sell you the .26,
.113, .117, and .118 subnets."

This results in de-aggegragtion and many more specific in the routing
table.  

This also makes the only justification for IP space how much money you
have.  This means poor companies (or countries) may be left out in the
cold increasing the digital divide, and spinning up the efforts of
WSIS and the UN.  It is also possible that rich companys might stockpile
the  remaining addesses.  What would happen if say Cogent bought up all of
the remaining space?  Can you see other ISPs hanging out the "no address
vacancy, please try Cogent" sign?

___Jason