[arin-ppml] maintenance fees for legacy space holders

[Howard, W. Lee]

Last week, there was a lot of discussion over the $100 maintenance fee, 
and whether it was a fair amount for legacy address space holders to 
pay.   In between my day job and PPML, I've tried to pull together some 
numbers.  

There are potentially 18,000 legacy OrgIDs who could sign up to pay 
the $100 maintenance fee.  I see $885k in maintenance fees last year, 
so call it 8,850 organizations currently paying maintenance fees.  
Many more OrgIDs exist, since multiple OrgIDs can fall under one 
maintenance fee, and since many pay registration renewals instead 
of maintenance.

ARIN's audited financial statements for 2007 show $3.7 million in 
engineering expenses, out of $9.8 million in total expenses.  Roughly 
38% of ARIN's expenses are engineering expenses.  Even if all of the 
possible 18,000 legacy organizations pay $100 per year, that's less 
than 15% of ARIN's total 2008 budget, and less than half of ARIN's 
engineering expenses alone.

So, what do you get for the money?  Not just the benefits of 
engineering:
*	IP address (IPv4 and IPv6) space allocation, transfer, and 
record maintenance 
*	ASN allocation, transfer, and record maintenance 
*	Maintain WHOIS database 
*	Maintain Internet Routing Registry 
*	Maintain reverse DNS 
*	Facilitate the public policy development process, including: 
	o	Maintaining mailing lists 
	o	Facilitating elections 
	o	Holding at least two public policy meetings per year
*	Publishing, disseminating information 
*	Education and training 
*	Working with other organizations, like the other RIRs and IANA 
*	Outreach to other organizations, like ITU and IGF 
*	Outreach at other industry events, like NANOG, IETF, and various

conventions
*	R&D on potential new services like a RPKI, Project X, etc.

I believe we're being fair.  We didn't ask for anything from 2002 to 
2007, when engineering expenses totaled $14.4 million.  Some 9,000 
organizations did pay maintenance fees last year, half as many as there
are legacy organizations.  For ISPs who are legacy holders, we're asking

for a small maintenance fee, not a registration renewal.  And after 
all of that, it's still voluntary-we're not strong-arming you into 
signing the LRSA. 

While I can't make predictions about the future, I will note that we
have tried to keep revenues and expenses as close as possible, and 
may actually end up in the red this year.  If there's too much money
coming in, fees are likely to come down.

Disclaimer:  I am the Treasurer of ARIN, and that hat doesn't come 
off when I post to PPML.  But I did not have the FinCom, Board, or
staff review this post before sending it, so if they override, it's
likely that I goofed up.

Lee