[ppml] IPv4 address exhaustion policy

[michael.dillon at bt.com]

> > they don't use on the public network. ARIN's main job is to 
> come up  
> > with
> > a clear and public policy on address recycling similar to 
> that used by
> > the telephony network. If you cease to use a telephone number, the
> > network operator will hold it unused for a certain period 
> of time, and
> > then reissue it to another subscriber. ARIN should have a similar
> > recycling policy for IPv4 addresses.
> >
> The problem with that theory is that ARIN isn't TPC, it's more like  
> NANPA.
> NANPA doesn't assign end-telephone numbers, they just assign
> AC and Prefixes (much like ARIN).

However, NANPA policy does have rules about how number recycling is done
such as how long an address can be held back before reuse. I'm not
suggesting that we mirror NANPA policies, just that we are not the only
people having to deal with this type of policy issue.

> i agree that ARIN should start considering policy for post-exhaustion
> management of the address space, but, I don't think that a TPC
> style reclamation process quite fits the bill.

Well, if it only fits the bill a little bit, then perhaps it is a good
starting point to work from.

> For one thing, what mechanism would you use to determine an
> address was no longer in use?  Would you use different methods
> for post-ARIN allocations/assignments vs. pre-ARIN legacy
> assignments in the ARIN region?  If so, what would you do for
> each of those cases?

Good questions.

--Michael Dillon