[arin-ppml] Policy Proposal 2008-4 - Staff Assessment

[David Farmer]

On 10 Oct 2008 Bill Darte wrote:

> Personally, I have no problem with your conclusion that a more
> generalized proposal should emerge.

Actually, I'm not sure we need to generalize it like I was thinking earlier. 
 
> Given that, the central issue is that the proposal should change scope.
> And, it has two possible solutions in time.
> 1. We can support the existing proposal and have two successful examples
> (hopefully), that being the African community support and then the
> Caribbean....and then introduce another more generalized proposal.
> Or 2. we can abandon the existing proposal because it is not general
> enough and propose the more general.
> 
> I see little service in later, compared to the former.
> 
> Bill Darte
> ARIN AC

Actually, I think we can proceed with the proposal mostly as it currently is, I 
have what I think is one small change, and maybe some clarifying language 
that optionally could be added. 

But first I need to set things up a little bit;  I've been doing some research 
and a bit of thinking about this in the past few days.  Lets take a look at what 
currently the ARIN Staff seems to understand as being included in the 
proposal.

ANGUILLA  - Caribbean Sea, CARICOM Associate Member, Caribbean 
Telecommunications Union Member Member
	 
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA  - Caribbean Sea, CARICOM full Member, 
Caribbean Telecommunications Union Member
	
BAHAMAS - Atlantic Ocean, CARICOM full Member, Caribbean 
Telecommunications Union Member	

BARBADOS - Caribbean Sea, CARICOM full Member	, Caribbean 
Telecommunications Union Member

BERMUDA - Atlantic Ocean, CARICOM Associate Member	

CAYMAN ISLANDS  - Caribbean Sea, CARICOM Associate Member, 
Caribbean Telecommunications Union Member
	
DOMINICA  - Caribbean Sea, CARICOM full Member, Caribbean 
Telecommunications Union Member
	
GRENADA  - Caribbean Sea, CARICOM full Member, Caribbean 
Telecommunications Union Member
	
GUADELOUPE  - Caribbean Sea

JAMAICA  - Caribbean Sea, CARICOM full Member, Caribbean 
Telecommunications Union Member

MARTINIQUE  - Caribbean Sea

MONTSERRAT  - Caribbean Sea, CARICOM full Member, Caribbean 
Telecommunications Union Member
	
PUERTO RICO  - Caribbean Sea, CARICOM Observer
	
SAINT BARTHELEMY  - Caribbean Sea	

SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS  - Caribbean Sea, CARICOM full Member, 
Caribbean Telecommunications Union Member

SAINT LUCIA  - Caribbean Sea, CARICOM full Member, Caribbean 
Telecommunications Union Member

SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES  - Caribbean Sea, CARICOM 
full Member, Caribbean Telecommunications Union Member

ST. MARTIN - Caribbean Sea	

TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS - Atlantic Ocean, CARICOM Associate 
Member, Caribbean Telecommunications Union Member	

VIRGIN ISLANDS (BRITISH) - Caribbean Sea, CARICOM Associate 
Member, Caribbean Telecommunications Union Member	

VIRGIN ISLANDS (U.S.) - Caribbean Sea

So being only slightly hyper technical here, the BAHAMAS, BERMUDA, and 
the TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS are not actually in the Caribbean Sea 
they are in the Atlantic Ocean.  So from a precise geographic point of view 
they are not part of the Caribbean.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean

I'll grant you most people probably consider the BAHAMAS and the TURKS 
AND CAICOS ISLANDS as part of the Caribbean Region, they are in the 
same general area and mostly contagious with the Caribbean.  However, I'm 
not sure most people would consider BERMUDA as part of the Caribbean 
Region, it is 800 to 900 miles mostly north across open ocean.

Politically, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), includes the BAHAMAS 
as a full member, BERMUDA, and the TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS are 
associate members.  However,  GUADELOUPE, MARTINIQUE, SAINT 
BARTHELEMY, ST. MARTIN, and VIRGIN ISLANDS (U.S.) don't seem to 
be part of CARICOM, and PUERTO RICO is only listed as an Observer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_Community
http://www.caricom.org/jsp/community/member_states.jsp?menu=communit
y

So how about the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, well BERMUDA, 
GUADELOUPE, MARTINIQUE, PUERTO RICO, SAINT BARTHELEMY, 
ST. MARTIN, and VIRGIN ISLANDS (U.S.) are not members.

http://www.ctu.int/ctu/AbouttheCTU/MemberStates/tabid/60/Default.aspx

So, how did we come up with the list above?  What was the criteria use to 
justify them all as part of the Caribbean?

I suggest we go with a slightly expanded geographically based definition 
"Atlantic and Caribbean Region".  This is a minor change that I think more 
accurately reflects the intent and what is already understood to be included.

Now lets look at what ARIN staff hasn't been included so far;

ANTARCTICA - Southernmost Continent
BOUVET ISLAND - Atlantic Ocean 
HEARD AND MC DONALD ISLANDS - Southern Ocean
ST. HELENA - Atlantic Ocean
ST. PIERRE AND MIQUELON - Atlantic Ocean
UNITED STATES MINOR OUTLYING ISLANDS - mostly Pacific Ocean, 3 
(w/disputed claims) in Caribbean Sea

I have left out CANADA, and the UNITED STATES, as I think every one 
agrees they shouldn't be included, or if we include them, then we should just 
make the change for all of ARIN.

Of these only ST. HELENA and ST. PIERRE AND MIQUELON have  
permanent inhabitants, which totals appropriately 10,000 people.  With the 
more accurate title proposed above these could easily be included in an 
"Atlantic and Caribbean Region" without really changing the scope of this 
proposal.

Everything else has no permanent inhabitants, most are uninhibited, a few 
have temporary inhabitants, generally military personal, support contractors, 
or scientific researches.  Many are protected from development as wildlife 
refuges and nature reserves, including ANTARCTICA threw international 
treaties. Therefore, it is extremely unlikely that competitive ISP service will 
ever be an issue worthy of consideration for these other territories that have 
no permanent inhabitants.  Any number resource needed, if there ever was 
a need, for these territories can likely be met by the various governmental 
entities that administrate them or buy the provider of the infrastructure, likely 
satellite.

The possible exception might be ANTARCTICA, but any need for number 
resources that can't be met by the various governmental entities or 
providers involved, would likely be highly specialized and probably justify a 
separate dedicated policy or a special exception to policy.

So I suggest the following small change;

"4.8. Minimum Allocation. The minimum IPv4 allocation size for ISPs from
the Atlantic and Caribbean portion of the ARIN region is /22."

I believe this change provides additionally clarity that BERMUDA, the 
BAHAMAS, and the TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS are included in this 
policy.  Additionally, it is easy to justify the inclusion of ST. HELENA and ST. 
PIERRE AND MIQUELON.  

Further, I recommend including the following clarifying language at the end 
of 4.8

"Defined as covering the permanently inhabited islands contained in the 
Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, that are not part a State in the United 
States or a part of Canada."

See you in LA!



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