[ppml] those pesky users...

[Ted Mittelstaedt]

>-----Original Message-----
>From: ppml-bounces at arin.net [mailto:ppml-bounces at arin.net]On Behalf Of
>Aaron Wendel
>Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 9:23 AM
>To: ppml at arin.net
>Subject: Re: [ppml] those pesky users...
>
>
>
>Unfortunately this is an issue that's going to have to be forced.
>Either by
>a major government or the major RIRs.
>
>It's like HDTV.  Stations are all flocking to convert channels to HDTV not
>because it's somehow better but because the FCC mandated it several years
>ago.  The same will have to happen with IPv6.  The industry is to
>widespread
>and fragmented to make a concerted effort on its own.
>
>If the RIRs gave everyone 10 years to convert or lose your ability to route
>packets you would see a transition much like the TV industry, IPv6 starting
>to pop up with IPv4 and eventually taking over as IPv4 became
>irrelevant and
>everyone converted to meet new requirements.
>

I poposed exactly this last week on this list and was shouted down.
The problem is that very few of the people who have obtained numbering
from an RIR are willing to give the RIR's the authority to dictate
how the global routing table is setup.  Of course, they conveniently
ignore that basically by default they have already done this by accepting
numbering from an RIR but people want to maintain the illusion that they
are still "free" to do as they please.

If the RIR's withdrew all management of IPv4 then it would rapidly
become an IPv4 anarchy out there with no recourse if someone else
started using IPv4 that you were previously "assigned"  That alone would
force all responsible ISPs to switchover to IPv6.  The simple threat of
withdrawing management (whois, and the like) of IPv4 should be enough to
be able to set a drop-dead date for cutting over to IPv6, it would also
provide rock-solid justification for techies to go to upper maangement
and tell them they have to spend money to update.

But you see, this is a political solution and the technologists on
this message list find that political solutions to technical problems
give them severe stomach aches, and so will not countenance them.

Ted