[arin-ppml] Petition for Discussion of ARIN-prop-134

[Benson Schliesser]

As the author of ARIN-prop-134, abandoned by the Advisory Council during their 17-Mar-2011 meeting, I hereby initiate a Discussion Petition of this proposal per the Policy Development Process.

In support of this petition, I offer the following considerations:

(1) Proposal 134 recognizes that the community ultimately determines how "legitimate address holders" are identified.  This must be done with respect for the laws and customs of our respective nations, and in a manner that is open and transparent.

(2) Complete disclosure of the criteria by which "legitimate address holders" are recognized is a benefit to the community at large.  By publishing the standard, ARIN will enable any party to independently validate legitimacy of a purported address holder per the same criteria that ARIN will use.  This is necessary to facilitate address transfer transactions, and may be useful in situations involving routing, security, and/or other operational matters.

(3) This proposal provides a foundation for subsequent policy, inasmuch as that policy might require the identification of the "legitimate address holder" for a given address block.

It is my committed intent, as author and petitioner, to collaborate with the community on the development of this proposal.  If this Discussion Petition is successful I will welcome input from the Advisory Council and ARIN community, as well as other Internet stakeholders and legal experts.  I look forward to continued discussion and development of this proposal.

The current text of ARIN-prop-134 is included below, as posted at http://lists.arin.net/pipermail/arin-ppml/2011-February/019891.html for reference.

Cheers,
-Benson

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ARIN-prop-134: Identification of Legitimate Address Holders

Proposal Originator: Benson Schliesser

Proposal Version:  1

Date:  15 Feb 2011

Proposal type:  New

Policy term:  Permanent

Policy statement:

Add the following to the NRPM:

13.  Unaffiliated Address Blocks

13.x. Recognition of Legitimate Address Holders

ARIN will use the following criteria in order to determine whether an
organization is the legitimate address holder for a given IP address block.

13.x.1. Original Allocation Record

The original allocation records, such as those documented in RFC 1166
issued in July of 1990 or the InterNIC database received by ARIN from
Network Solutions in December of 1997, will be used as dispositive
proof, absent any contrary documentation such as those specified in
section 13.x.4 below, in determining whether an organization is the
legitimate address holder.

13.x.2 IANA Records of Legitimate Address Holders

In the event that the IANA has historical records, and/or current
records, showing the assignment or allocation of a given IP address
block to a specific organization, those records will be used as proof,
absent any contrary documentation, in determining whether an
organization is the legitimate address holder.

Further, in the event that this evidence conflicts with any evidence
from the original allocation records, or any contrary documentation such
as those specified in section 13.x.4 below, the evidence from the
original allocation record will take precedence.

13.x.3. Records Maintained on Behalf of the IANA

In the event that the IANA has delegated responsibility for the
management of an address block to another organization, including ARIN
or any other RIR, and that organization has historical and/or current
records showing the assignment or allocation of a given IP address block
to a specific organization, those records will be used as evidence in
determining whether an organization is the legitimate address holder.

Further, in the event that this evidence conflicts with any evidence
from the original allocation records, or any contrary documentation such
as those specified in section 13.x.4 below, the evidence from the
original allocation record will take precedence.

13.x.4. Formal Records Clarifying the Chain of Custody

In the event that formal records, such as public records or other formal
documents which can be authenticated or verified to include legal,
financial, and other organizational documentation, are provided to ARIN
by an organization seeking recognition of their status as the legitimate
address holder, then ARIN will consider the impact of these records as
potentially updating any evidence that may exist.  If these records
clearly document the assignment or allocation of a given IP address
block to a specific organization by direct assignment, and/or
organizational transitions such as mergers, acquisitions, business unit
restructuring, asset transfers, name changes, and so forth, absent
definitive documentation to the contrary, then these records will
determine whether an organization is the legitimate address holder.


Rationale

This proposal introduces policy that specifies how ARIN will go about
determining who a "legitimate" address holder is.  It is similar to
current procedure with 13.x.2 and 13.x.3, which specify the use of IANA
and RIR records.  It expands on the current procedures with 13.x.4,
allowing organizations to provide legal documentation of organizational
changes and/or the transfer of custody of a legacy address block.

Timetable for implementation:  Immediately