[arin-ppml] Policy Question(s)

[michael.dillon at bt.com]

> Am I the only one who sees a potential problem with this?

Yes.

The rest of us sign NDAs, and ask others to sign NDAs, as a normal
part of business life.

> >You really cannot fully understand all ARIN policy unless you
> understand that
> >ARIN policy consists both of the written policy - and the
> interpretation of
> >that written policy.

I you are doing business with ARIN, you don't need to understand policy
and its interpretation because you can just ask ARIN staff. I have done
so myself on several occasions for current and former employers.

If you are not doing business with ARIN, then your ability to understand
ARIN is your problem. There is no shortage of people out there who
have had dealings with ARIN, who you can talk to. Come to an ARIN meeting
and hang out in the corridors, for instance. It is your responsibility
to educate yourself.

By the way, ARIN is in no way, like the U.S. judiciary, or the 
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation or the Court of Appeal
of the British Antarctic Territory. 

> because I have first-hand knowledge that there is, on the one
> hand,
> the law, as written, and then there is, on the other hand, the
> interpretation
> of the law, with respect to various sets of facts, and the two are
> different
> and separate.

ARIN policy is not the law.


> But seriously folks, was I asleep?  Did I fail to get the memo?  Is
> ARIN
> actually not charging for IP space anymore? 

ARIN has never charged a fee for IP address allocations.

> Funny, I could have sworn
> I saw a fee chart on their web site just the other day. 

You seem to have missed the part where it says that the fee is a 
flat rate annual subscription fee for ARIN services that members
must pay to maintain their membership in good standing. And that
the fees, unlike ARIN policies, are set by the members themselves.

You spend too much time writing flights of fancy and too little time
reading and studying that which you appear to want to understand.

ARIN may be an unusual non-profit organization, but it is not that
unusual. It functions much like any corporate entity according to
its charter, its bylaws and its policies. The most unusual thing
about ARIN is that it allows the general public to participate in
setting those policies. Other than that, it is a pretty ordinary
non-profit corporate entity.

--Michael Dillon