[ppml] Proposal for the creation of a working group.

[Leo Bicknell]

In a message written on Wed, Oct 10, 2007 at 10:00:07AM -0400, Thomas Narten wrote:
> IMO, the process for getting globally-coordinated policies adopted
> locally within each region has signficant flaws. For starters, in an
> ideal world, it takes 2 cycles in each RIR to get something done. So
> we are talking something like 18 months to 2 years in practice. Can
> you say "miss the window of opportunity"?

I'm afraid Thomas has hit the nail on the head.  I actually think
it's a bit worse; each RIR is developing its own "style" and thus
it's harder and harder to make a global policy fit in a way that
makes sense.  ARIN has been tweaking the IPv6 section of the policy
manual since it was adopted as a more-or-less global policy, for
example.  Policy proposal 2007-12 (IPv4 Countdown, from our friends
in Japan) encountered as much difficult in the ARIN region due to
it's formatting and style not matching ARIN's as it did for content
reasons.

I've also been vocal over the years that our process for ARIN to
pass a global policy of putting it in the ARIN policy manual first
is broken.  For ARIN to forward it on as approved we have to adopt
it and put it in our policy manual, even though all four other RIR's
may reject it.  That would leave us in a position of having to do
another policy cycle to remove it.  There's no mechanism (in any
RIR that I know of) to say "We approve this policy, and will put
it in our policy manual as soon as all 5 RIR's have approved it."

I have actually mused recently to several people in private that
we may never see another global policy passed.  The barriers get
larger as the RIR's policies drift further from a common base and
as there are more RIR's.  Travel costs have accelerated in recent
years with airfair, and hotel rates seeing double digit inflation
over the past 2-3 years.  What's worse, is more and more of the
large issues (e.g. "IPv4 end game") leave the RIR's with a prisoners
dilemma of sorts, and human nature rarely overcomes those situations.

Today the NRO's job is one of auditor, they certify that all 5 RIR's
have passed a global policy.  I have to wonder if the world would
be better served if it were transformed to where the NRO could set
binding policy for all 5 RIR's.  Now that's a can of worms.

-- 
       Leo Bicknell - bicknell at ufp.org - CCIE 3440
        PGP keys at http://www.ufp.org/~bicknell/
Read TMBG List - tmbg-list-request at tmbg.org, www.tmbg.org
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