[ppml] ARIN IP conservation and FREE IP Addresses

[William Herrin]

On 10/6/07, John Curran <jcurran at istaff.org> wrote:
> At 10:11 AM -0400 10/6/07, William Herrin wrote:
> >That having been said, this discussion is moot. The xlarge entities
> >have the votes to keep the favorable fee structure.
>
> I have no particular viewpoint on the matter of whether our
> fee schedule needs to be changed, but want to be clear on
> the ability to change the fees.  The ARIN Board sets the fee
> schedule, and it's been generally based on the feedback we
> receive at the member meetings.  There is no formal member
> votes on these matters, although we have on occasion asked
> for a show of hands as a gauge of opinion in the room.

John,

Politics 101. You were elected by convincing the people who show up
and vote that you'll give them what they want. The board, including
yourself, was elected by the members based on the members' belief that
you and the rest of the board would act in a "fair and appropriate"
manner. In context, "fair and appropriate" means "not unfavorable to
us." Such is the character of representative democracy and the board
has done a generally good job of delivering what the voting members
desire.

Should some situation come about where the board implements a
conservation-driven fee structure, it wouldn't be 5 days before a
policy proposal showed up on this list directing ARIN to structure its
fees in direct proportion to the relevant operating costs. Nor would
that proposal have a hard time winning passage. Nor would the board
member who pushed the original fee change win reelection. This is the
political reality. The x-large members have the votes.

Don't believe it? Try to adjust the fees to support conservation and
see what happens.

Regards,
Bill Herrin


-- 
William D. Herrin                  herrin at dirtside.com  bill at herrin.us
3005 Crane Dr.                        Web: <http://bill.herrin.us/>
Falls Church, VA 22042-3004