[arin-ppml] Policy Proposal: Customer Confidentiality

[Alexander, Daniel]

We as a community need to answer a question. Do you think the community
needs to know the details of every user of the IP address space, or do
they just need to know the contact information of those that are
responsible for its use?

I see three recurring themes during whois discussions. The problem is
whois can only remotely serve the third item and definitely cannot meet
the needs of all three.

1)Provide a directory of all Internet users.
2)Usage transparency and validation for ARIN and the Internet.
3)Contact information for abuse, routing, etc.

The idea of whois as a directory of Internet users is ridiculous. Given
current policy, the number of public Internet users who connect through
DHCP, static IP assignments or /30 assignments that do not require swips
are in the 10's of millions. That large of a pool, not included in the
set, makes that purpose pointless.

I also disagree with the need for whois as a means of validation or
transparency for ARIN. ARIN can request whatever information they want
under the RSA. They do not need swips to confirm someone's utilization,
and if that were the only mechanism being used then we have bigger
problems to solve. If transparency is truly the goal, then it needs to
be an all or nothing, and whois has no chance of acting as a directory
for ALL Internet users.

The only purpose whois can serve, in today's world, is as a contact
directory for abuse or other issues, and this purpose has absolutely
nothing to do with the block being a /29 or larger, or whether the user
is residential or commercial. We continue to attach requirements to
swips that have nothing to do with the purpose whois can fulfill. 

Just my two cents.
Dan Alexander

-----Original Message-----
From: arin-ppml-bounces at arin.net [mailto:arin-ppml-bounces at arin.net] On
Behalf Of michael.dillon at bt.com
Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 2:26 AM
To: arin-ppml at arin.net
Subject: Re: [arin-ppml] Policy Proposal: Customer Confidentiality

> Do you think the community needs to know the details of every 
> user of the IP address space, or do they just need to know 
> the contact information of those that are responsible for its use?

When the current whois policies first came into play, back in
the days of the ARPAnet, it was important to know the details
of every user because there were annual budgets that had to
be justified. Now the world is a very different place, but we
still have this old ARPAnet policy hanging around.

--Michael Dillon
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