[arin-ppml] ARIN's Authority - One view (was: Re: LRSA concerns)

[Howard, W. Lee]

> Untrue. I am sure that once IPv4 blocks command a price that 
> accurately reflects their value, and once they can be shifted 
> more easily from lower valued to higher valued uses, their 
> use will change dramatically.

I'm sure this only because of my ignorance of economics, but the
only measure you have of "value" is "dollars."  There are things
of value (love, air, cooperation between providers) that are not
measured in dollars.

> the issue is not 
> whether a transition is needed, but where that decision is 
> located and what role the RIRs play in facilitating it. 

I disagree with this sequencing.  The issue is not "where the
transition plan occurs" but "what the transition plan is."  If
we can agree on how to do this, we can discuss the agents to
execute the plan.

> simply suggesting that given a scarce, legacy resource that 
> everyone now needs, and an abundant, next-gen resource the 
> utility of which depends on a massive migration across two 
> incompatible standards, RIRs need to adopt policies that 
> provide accurate price signals and which facilitate shifting 

Why "price" signals?  Again, I Am Not An Economist.
I do agree that we should send the signal that everyone should
conserve IPv4 and implement IPv6.

> the remaining ipv4 resources to their highest and best uses. 
> I'm also suggesting that they refrain from exploiting their 
> leverage over both resource pools to impose a top-down 
> transition plan on operators. 

We are incapable of doing so.  *WE* can only create policies if
*WE* create policies.[1]  That is why I asked, "How can ARIN help
minimize the pain of transition?"  The pain of change isn't in 
the high cost of obtaining IPv6 address space, and the pain of
change isn't in the scarcity of IPv4.  To a large extent, it's in 
the inability of network operators to devote scarce resources 
(labor, dollars) to deployment.  To a somewhat lesser extent, 
it's in some technical issues with IPv6, including vendor support, 
network tools, and some weakness with dual-stack and translation 
mechanisms. 

I see consensus that the best answer to IPv4 scarcity is IPv6.
The policy issues with IPv6 are few.  I don't know whether 
there is consensus that extending the life of IPv4 will help
the transition, or by how much.  So, if the best answer is for
each of us to deploy IPv6, how can ARIN help?


Lee

Disclaimer: My logic and conclusions; I am not representing a
Board position.

[1] *WE* meaning those operators, and indeed the rest of the 
community.