[arin-ppml] Legacy Space authority

[Joe Maimon]

Ray Plzak wrote:
> Before the RIRs it was the Internet Registry (IR) which was known as the DDN NIC (until 1993) and then the InterNIC (1993-1997) that allocated/assigned IP address space to ISPs and end users. All of the organizations that operated a version of the Internet Registry were doing so under a US government contract. ICANN arrived on the scene after the Internet Registry was supplanted by the RIRs and is not in this chain of succession.
> 
> Ray
> 

That doesnt mean that entities connecting to the internet had any legal 
obligation to bind their conduct to those organization's decisions, even 
at that time.

It simply was the only practical way to operate.