[arin-ppml] Community Networks IPv6 Assignment (2008-3 update)

[Lea Roberts]

dear PPML community -

at the last meeting, ARIN XXIII, my perception was that the majority of
the opposition to Policy Proposal 2008-3 seemed to be a concern that the
inclusion of paid staff and a large budgetary number for network
operations could lead to its misuse as a "secret business plan" or other
abuse.

in an attempt to address these concerns, I would like to offer this latest
text for discussion on the PPML.  in this version, the definition has been
changed to limit this policy to all-volunteer staffed community networks.

from the original definition, the text:
"the community network staff is at least 50% volunteer and that the annual
budget for community network activities is less than $250,000."

has been replaced with:
"the community network staff is 100% volunteers."

hopefully this should mostly address the concerns for abuse...  I will
restate here at the beginning that it is not expected for these
assignments to be globally routed, since that was also a concern.

so, I would be most interested in PPML comments regarding the following:

if you support this proposal, please say so!!

from people opposed to the previous text, how well does this address your
concern(s)?  (after struggling with various formulae for budget numbers,
it seemed that making it just simpler was the best...)

do members of this community feel that this is a "significant" enough
change that Policy Proposal 2008-3 must be put on the agenda again, and
discussed further, at the ARIN XXIV meeting in Dearborn?

thanks in advance for your feedback!

Lea Roberts
AC shepherd for 2008-3

---------------------------------------------

the full text for the revised 2008-3 follows:

Policy Proposal 2008-3 Community Networks IPv6 Assignment

Author: Advisory Council

Date: 31 July 2009

Proposal type: new

Policy term: permanent

Policy statement:

[Add Section 2.8 to the NRPM.]

2.8 Community Network

A community network is any network organized and operated by a
volunteer group operating as or under the fiscal support of a
non-profit organization or university for the purpose of providing
free or low-cost connectivity to the residents of their local service
area. To be treated as a community network under ARIN policy, the
applicant must certify to ARIN that the community network staff is
100% volunteers.

[Modify 6.5.8.1b as follows.]

b. qualify for an IPv4 assignment or allocation from ARIN under the
IPv4 policy currently in effect or be a qualifying Community Network
as defined in Section 2.8, with assignment criteria defined in section
6.5.9.

[Add Section 6.5.9 to the NRPM.]

6.5.9 Community Network Assignments

6.5.9.1 Qualification Criteria

To qualify for a direct assignment, a community network must
demonstrate it will immediately provide sustained service to at least
100 simultaneous users and must demonstrate a plan to provide
sustained service to at least 200 simultaneous users within one
year. For community networks located in rural regions or in the
Caribbean and North Atlantic Islands Sector, the numbers in these
qualification criteria may be relaxed at ARIN's discretion.

6.5.9.2. Initial assignment size

The minimum size of the assignment is /48. Organizations requesting a
larger assignment must provide documentation of the characteristics of
the Community Network's size and architecture that require the use of
additional subnets. An HD-Ratio of .94 with respect to subnet
utilization within the network must be met for all assignments larger
than a /48. These assignments shall be made from a distinctly
identified prefix and shall be made with a reservation for growth of
at least a /44. This reservation may be assigned to other
organizations later, at ARIN's discretion.

6.5.9.3. Subsequent assignment size

Additional assignments may be made when the need for additional
subnets is justified. Justification will be determined based on a
detailed plan of the network's architecture and the .94 HD-Ratio
metric. When possible, assignments will be made from an aggregatable
adjacent address block.


Rationale:

this policy was originally proposed by community network operators to
provide them with the ability to receive a direct assignment of IPv6
address resources from ARIN. the operators of such networks have
expressed their need to have a stable and globally unique address
assignment with which to number their network infrastructure. many
such networks are not able to meet the current criteria for a PI IPv6
assignment from ARIN. in an environment where connections to outside
networks may come and go, a stable internal address structure would be
very valuable. additionally, the ability to exchange routes with
others, whether locally or tunneled, and thereby have native IPv6
connectivity, would be quite beneficial. these operators were also
hopeful that, once this new class of address assignments was created,
they could pursue lower annual fees for community networks through the
ARIN Consultation and Suggestion Process (ACSP).

there could also be a number of potential benefits to allowing
community network participants to begin using IPv6 addressing. some of
these networks have many technically capable and adventurous members
who would be motivated to begin developing and/or experimenting with
the software extensions which will be needed to support IPv6 prefix
selection among multiple IPv6 prefixes when establishing remote
connections. also, participants in networks receiving such assignments
will have the necessary global-ID to experiment with the various
proposals currently being developed for separating network locater
from network ID.

also, during the more than one year timeframe that this policy has
been under consideration, other people have suggested other scenarios
where community networks would provide a valuable resource. one such
proposal was discussed at one of the Caribbean Sector meetings where
some participants pointed out the efforts were being made in remote or
sparsely populated areas to establish community networks which would
serve as connections back to educational resources for distant
learning capabilities. there are also many still wild areas of North
America where such community networks could provide improved
connectivity over telephone modems.

Timetable for implementation: Immediate.