[ppml] Policy Proposal: Resource Reclamation Incentives

[michael.dillon at bt.com]

> I think that for most legacy holders, the "Fees" issue is a 
> matter of principle or a minor issue.  I think that the real 
> issues from the legacy holder perspective are:
> 
> 	-	I don't get any benefit from signing an RSA

You become a legitimate holder of IPv4 address allocations.

> 	-	It subjects me to policies that could force me 
> to renumber

It frees you from being forced to renumber when some other company
decides to "borrow" your addresses due to IPv4 address shortages. 

> 	-	It subjects me to policies that could change at any time

It gives you a formal vote in ARIN policies and since you are now a
legitimate holder of address resources, other ARIN members are more
likely to listen to your point of view.

> 	-	It potentially limits my options in terms of 
> what I can do
> 		with my address space

The only option I can see that disappears is the option to sell the
addresses and this is pretty marginal if they are not legitimately
registered with ARIN.

> 	-	It costs me money

Money is not an issue here. The sums are nominal. It can cost a lot more
in lawyers fees or forced renumbering when (not if) someone takes your
addresses as we reach the point of IPv4 exhaustion.

> I think it provides some encouragement towards reclamation.
> I think that gentle reclamation efforts allowing people to 
> return address space in whatever size chunks they are willing 
> to and on whatever timetable they are willing to is more 
> likely to result in reclamation than policies which attempt 
> to force the issue.

You seem to be presenting "reclamation" as a positive thing which we
should bend over backwards to encourage and entice. I take a different
view. Reclamation is an obligation under ARIN policies which require
companies to *JUSTIFY* their address allocations. When that
justification disappears, likely due to IPv6 migration, companies have
an obligation to return the addresses to ARIN.

It is not too late for a controlled migration combined with reclamation
to prevent IPv4 exhaustion entirely.

--Michael Dillon