[ppml] Address Space versus Routing Slots

[Michael.Dillon at btradianz.com]

> I don't like the idea of creating property rights for IPv4 addresses 
(and
> giving title to existing holders).  However, I do think we'll have to
> legitimize a market for transferring registrations between organizations
> when said organizations contractually agree to do so (for monetary
> considerations or otherwise).  If we put in place reasonable policies 
for
> such transfers, I think we reduce the likelihood of the courts stepping 
in
> and turning IP addresses into property.

This is indeed something that ARIN may need to
support by changing policies at that time. Currently
companies can sell networks and the addresses transfer
along with the rest of the SOFT assets. But in the
IPv4 twilight scenario, companies are likely to be 
selling network equipment which is not capable of
robust IPv6 support in its existing configuration.
The buyers presumably are buying the equipment in
order to stretch the lifetime of existing IPv4 services
that they cannot migrate to v6 for technical or for
ECONOMIC reasons. It seems reasonable for ARIN to
consider a policy by which the company who is
exiting the v4 world can also transfer v4 addresses
to the company buying the equipment. Provided that
the recipient can demonstrate a need for the QUANTITY
of addresses being received. This may not be the
total number of addresses being given up.

Of course, this is all very hypothetical at this
point in time since we do not know if there will
EVER be a shortage of IPv4 addresses. If there is
no shortage, then all talk of monetizing IPv4 
addreses seems a bit early to me.

--Michael Dillon