[ppml] FW: 2006-7 IPV6 Initial Allocation suggested changes-InputRequested

[michael.dillon at bt.com]

> - New organizations who do not want to use IPv4 at all and 
> start off using IPv6 addresses only, need a policy that gives 
> them permission to do so. 

Yes!

> 'To qualify for an initial allocation of IPV6 address space, 
> an organization must':
> d. be an existing, known ISP in the ARIN region OR be an 
> organization which can justify intent to announce the 
> requested IPv6 address space within one year and have/obtain 
> and AS Number.

I am concerned that this type of wording, which is typical of
the existing policy as well, places too much emphasis on the use
of IPv6 addresses on the Internet. IPv6 addresses are not intended
for use on the Internet! They are intended for use on Internet
Protocol (IP) networks. This subtle yet important distinction is
embedded in RFC 2050, section 3(a) and is consistent with RFC
1918, section 2, category 3.

Given the huge address space associated with IPv6 addresses, it
is likely that many non-Internet applications will want to use
Internet Protocol version 6. Since these applications will not
be directly connected to the public Internet and will not make
BGP announcements to the public Internet for normal operational
purposes, it seems to me that the example language above is 
overly restrictive.

There are two ways that could fix this. One is to recognize a
separate category of application for IP version 6 networks that
are not interconnected with the Internet. Then the language in
section d. above would be matched by another section which 
explicitly does not require such BGP announcements. The other 
way to fix it is to avoid such restrictive language entirely.
If so-called ISP allocations are for networks which intend to
experience steady growth, year-on-year, then we can say that
explicitly rather than restricting it only to organizations whose
business model is that of an ISP. In fact, the business model which
defines an ISP is considerably less clear in this day and age
than it was 10 years ago.

Some though experiments that might be useful:

1. According to http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/ahs/ahsfaq.html
there are about 120 million housing units in the USA, presumably
every one with its own power meter. If you wanted to use IP over
powerlines to manage these, then IPv4 doesn't have enough address
space but IPv6 can easily handle it.

2. Supply-chain networks (extranets) are becoming more and more common.
This means that enterprises interconnect their networks using IP
seperate from their connections to the public Internet. As a result
a single enterprise may need multiple assignments of globally unique 
IP addresses to accomodate connection to multiple internets.

3. Cellphones. The traditional telephone model is nearing the end of
its life as cellphones become multi-purpose personal devices. In my
part of the world it seems like a Nokia mobile phone is the most popular
MP3 player. Apple has recently announced a cellphone with a
non-traditional
interface. Sometime soon there will be demand for a personal network
address
that doesn't change throughout a person's lifetime. IPv6 seems
ready-made
to handle this role since there is a surplus of IPv6 addresses.

4. Define your own non-ISP non public Internet scenario.

--Michael Dillon