[arin-ppml] A compromise on legacy space?

[John Curran]

On Sep 9, 2008, at 6:26 PM, Lee Dilkie wrote:
> ...
> As for all the other services ARIN provides, outreach, meetings, etc,
> etc. Frankly, legacy owners don't need, or use, any of it.
>
> Is there an way to create a separate "legacy" RIR to simply maintain
> existing legacy records, whois and in-addr. Minimal staff (one would
> likely suffice). Let them paid the costs. I find that the arin-ppml  
> list
> is obsessed with issues from the 90's while matters for 2010 and  
> beyond
> are languishing.

The legacy owners are the only ones with a say in the matter,
even for address blocks that they hold.   As was noted earlier,
the whois information serves the community at large, and this
includes folks involved in anti-spam/abuse activities, various
law enforcement types, and the public at large.   Just having
a discussion on the appropriate policies for privacy of WHOIS
data requires significant notice to many stakeholders and an
appropriate public forum to discuss the topic.

A long time from now (in an Internet far far away) there may
be such stability in policies for address space and related
directory matters that it would be possible to "skinny down"
ARIN into very simple registry function.  There would remain
a good question of how to meet the educational & outreach
aspects of ARIN's mission, but that's fairly straightforward
to handle in related organization or in a fee/service model.

Until that time, there's no particular reason that legacy
address holders should have any different treatment than
the many holders of the many end-user assignments that also
haven't changed over the years, and all of the above need
a fair and open policy forum even for maintenance of the
status quo.

/John
(personal sentiment only)