[arin-ppml] Policy Proposal: Predictable IPv4 Run Out by Allocation Window

[George, Wes E [NTK]]

I don't have issue with the idea behind this proposal, but I do have a few points to make on the specifics.

First, I'll make the obligatory comment about this potentially causing IPv4 deaggregation because the block allocations will be smaller, but that's unavoidable and likely of limited impact with this few addresses left, so probably doesn't matter, but someone had to say it. :-)
On a more serious note, what would be done if a requestor normally asks for a /22 or similar sized block for their year, but now doesn't qualify for that much space due to the reduction in time. Is ARIN going to be allocating /24s now? There probably needs to be a lower limit on size for this and similar proposals.

Second, is there a waiting period enforced on this policy? Say a requestor gets their 3/6/9 month supply and for some reason exhausts it before the end of that period. Are they still allowed to come back for additional addresses assuming they can justify them or must they wait until exactly 3/6/9 months after their prior request? There's no mention of a waiting period in this policy, but that figures into other policies, so I thought I should confirm.

Last, I recommend that the hard and fast dates be changed to something related to the remaining amount of IPv4 address space. One of the few things that we know for certain is that no one knows exactly when we'll get to IPv4 exhaust (until after it happens), especially in light of all of the policies flying around to make it yet harder to get IPv4 allocations. Therefore I do not support a specific date, even if it is based on the best projections of the moment. If the date is overly aggressive, it will mainly result in a lot more administrative overhead for both ARIN and its requestors without really affecting who gets what space, and if the date is conservative, the policy will not take effect until it's too late.
This needs to be controlled by how much space is left. Perhaps in order to make this policy more effective, it should start when IANA is down to X /8's available, where X > 2 but less than the current value, and get tighter as subsequent /8s are allocated to RIRs.
Also, it should have a termination period, again based on the available pool of IPv4 addresses. While I agree that availability of IPv4 addresses will start becoming more and more irrelevant, if there are still people using them, and more become available as the migration to IPv6 progresses, there's no reason to continue wasting everyone's time with tiny allocation windows.

Thanks,
Wes

-----Original Message-----
From: arin-ppml-bounces at arin.net [mailto:arin-ppml-bounces at arin.net] On Behalf Of Member Services
Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 3:55 PM
To: arin-ppml at arin.net
Subject: [arin-ppml] Policy Proposal: Predictable IPv4 Run Out by Allocation Window


      Starting on 1 July 2010, a gradual reduction in the allocation
      period will be applied as follows:

      As of 1 July 2010, they may choose to request up to a 9 month
      supply.

      As of 1 January 2011, they may choose to request up to a 6 month
      supply.

      As of 1 July 2011, they may choose to request up to a 3 month
      supply.


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